We’re delighted to have you join us at the Fuzzy hangout, Faith. To get us started, I have some questions for you to ponder, the sorts of things all of us, readers and writers alike, wonder about. So kick back, pour yourself a cup of coffee and spill. (Your thoughts, not the coffee.)

 1) What was it that made you want to be an author? Are you one of those writers like me whose been scribbling since childhood, or did the burning desire to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard strike far later in life?  

I’m like you. I’ve been writing something or another since the sixth grade. Of course, I did not get serious about it, by actually following though on a book until 2000.

2) And a follow up question, are you a diehard romantic (like me) and is that what prompted you to write romance?   Have you ever written in another genre or considered it?   

I am a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to reading. It has to be romance, but I have tackled different genres since I first found “Mann Of The Medical Wing,” a Harlequin romance my brother’s wife had. I was fifteen. Now, I pretty much read paranormals, time travels, and historicals. And they just happen to be what I love to write! However, I may get around to writing a non-fiction book sooner or later.

3) Also along those lines, what draws you to write paranormal romance? And how do you come up with your ideas? I’m assuming a fabulous imagination enters in.   

I never thought I would ever pen a vampire romance. I am a chicken at heart, (Me too :) and don’t like to look at scary things, but I wanted to enter a contest, and after taking a nap one afternoon, I dreamed about a guy who seemed to be a vampire. He was a bit arrogant, handsome, and oh so possessive…lol.  After I wrote “Kensington’s Soul” the first book in my “Bound By Blood, The Legends” series, I was hooked. How do I come up with these ideas? Well, it’s like this. My brother asked me if I just had stuff rattling around inside my head. I told him yes, and that was as good thing or I wouldn’t be able to write.

4) Do you ever struggle with writer’s block, and if so, what are some of your coping strategies?  Apart from bribing yourself with chocolate, as some of us do. 

Beth, I don’t think I do, or I haven’t in a long time. For me it’s mostly finding the time to write at the moment. But for me when I did get it, reading a book, chocolate, all kinds of things helped. A tip an instructor gave me years ago when I did an article on his solution for writers block, is to turn off the monitor and just let your fingers type. At that time back in 2001 or so, I needed that advice, and it did help! And one of my problems is turning my characters off…lol. They like to jabber in my head way too much when I’m supposed to be doing something else.

5) Is there someone in your life you consider to be your inspiration, or many such individuals?   

There are several someones! First I would have to say God, his son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Without the peace of mind this heavenly host brings, I couldn’t write. Next on my list would be my daughter, who took care of her dad while he was sick so I could work. I know it was hard on her, and I hated it so badly. She is awesome.  Then there is my brother Rod. He has always believed in me, and makes me feel like I’ve arrived…lol.  Of course, there are so many authors out there who have supported me, picked me up when I got rejected, and gave me sound advice!

6) Do you base any of your characters on people you know?  Of course, as it says in the start of our books, ‘any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.’  

Actually, I don’t. I do however use unusual names of people I meet.

  

7) What would you consider to be your favorite book you’ve written?   

Well, I love my first book, which has yet to find a home. It is a medieval. After that it would be “Dunbar’s Curse” the second book in my vampire series. And I love “Viking, Go Home.” A time travel with, you guessed it, a Viking. I am especially pleased with the first book in my “Immortal Executioner” series. It allows me to explore how archangels work and how they look on the evil that is in the world. Of course, readers will love the Highlander hero who fights demons.

8) Who are some of your favorite authors? Favorite books?   

Okay, let’s see, I know Beth Trissel is one of them! You rock with your time travels. (Awww, shucks.) And let’s just say I love a lot of the paranormal authors out there. If I tried to list them we’d be here a week…lol.

9) How do you--or have you--coped with rejection?   

Well, I’ve learned not to get as upset as I did with my first two or three…lol. I wanted to rip my manuscript apart. Now, I leave it alone for a day or so and go back and then read the reasons why it was rejected. Sometimes you can find a beacon of inspiration in the editor’s words, and then again sometimes you just write up a scene and kill people off…lol.

10) Any new projects you’re at work on, or new directions you’d like to tell us about?   

Oh yes, I am working on a series that will deal with the Archangel Michael heading up a group of immortal executioners. I also have book coming out with Siren Bookstrand in May 2011. It is also a paranormal.

Wow.  Fascinating, Faith, and you're an amazingly productive author.  An inspiration to us all.  I've decorated this post with your lovely covers and didn't get all of them up here.

Thank you so much, and for having me back here! I love you and this blog!  Hugs!

Faith

 

For more on Faith please visit her website at: http://www.faithvsmith.com/

During the mid-nineties, I often traveled to Russia and Belarus for business and I was quite impressed by the Russian culture and hospitality. As a frequent visitor to these exotic places, I collected pictures and notes and decided to set my new book in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

With my heroine, Dr. Jillian Burton, you will discover a different civilization, visit interesting cities and towns, marvel at the Russian architecture, taste the exotic food, toast with vodka, wear a fur chapka, experience many of the local customs, and fall in love with a gallant Belarusian doctor.

In Minsk, I often toured the bazaars, malls and boutiques. The amber jewelry captured my attention and I bought a few items f0r myself. With the strong exchange rate of the dollar, Belarusian articles were not expensive at the time. Soon my whole family and several friends asked me to bring them back an amber piece: earrings, pendants, necklaces, or brooches. I even found a small amber elephant that delighted my daughter. Belarusian friends advised me to wear an amber necklace in winter to keep warm.

Amber is known to radiate heat to the skin. Most amber is golden yellow to golden orange, but green, red, violet, and black amber have also been found. Amber is the fossilized resin of trees. Transparent to translucent, amber usually occurs as nodules or small, irregularly shaped masses, often with a cracked and weathered surface.

One of my colleagues bought an amber belt-buckle containing an insect imbeded in the amber. Although I didn’t care for an amber brooch with an insect or lizard trapped in it, this type of amber is more rare and expensive. Insects or moss, lichen or pine needles could have been trapped millions of years ago while the resin was still sticky. Air bubbles may give amber a cloudy appearance, but heating the amber in oil will clear this. When rubbed, amber produces a negative electrical charge that attracts dust. This is one way of determining whether the Amber is natural or not.

Amber has been attributed a number of medicinal uses, but today it is used almost exclusively for jewelry. The most famous despots of amber are in the Baltic region, particularly along the coasts of Poland, Russia, and Lithuania.

The Amber Room in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo, near Saint Petersburg is a complete chamber decoration of amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors.

Due to its singular beauty, it is sometimes dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World". It covers more than 55 square meters and contains over six tons of amber.

Here is a short synopsis for my new contemporary romance, set in Belarus. PRESCRIPTION IN RUSSIAN:

Dr. Fyodor Vassilov is a thirty-eight year old widower and devoted family man with four little boys who need a caring mother. Still emotionally crippled by the loss of his wife, Fyodor can’t allow himself to get close to a woman again. Having a fling is okay but love? Forget about it! He has to protect his kids, and his heart, from any further harm.

Jillian Burton is an American pediatrician on an official mission to improve health care conditions in Belarus. A few years ago, she lost her son and her illusions about men, marriage and family, and she won’t risk being hurt again. Feeling guilty about her son’s death, she travels to third-world countries to cure and save children but she never allows herself to get emotionally attached to a child.

Fyodor’s mother presses him to marry a healthy woman who wants a big family and loves children. The last woman who fits the bill is Jillian, a woman who considers herself incapable of mothering a child, a doctor who can’t stop roaming the world.

When Fyodor and Jillian work together in Belarus, their cultures clash and their painful memories still hurt, but their attraction defies all odds. Can love overcome duty and guilt?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.

Rx IN RUSSIAN is a new release at TWRP in print and ebook.

http://www.monarisk.com/

Hi Everyone,
Lots of great deals for this lovely Monday. First, the freebies:

Blockbuster express offers a free DVD rental on Monday. Use code MONDAYCOMP

Sign up for Earth Fare's new Welcome Home club. You'll immediately be issued a free coupon for 1 lb. of homemade rotisserie chicken salad with a $10.00 purchase. Hurry, though, as this deal ends in a couple of days.

CVS is offering a free gift of either candy or beverage with your twitter account.
Here's the link:
https://secure.ed4.net/cvs/enroll/social/signup.cfm

CVS is also offering a free Essence of Beauty gift through your Facebook account.
https://www.facebook.com/cvsbeautyclub?sk=app_161582440546564

Sam's club is offering a free sample of Huggies. If you have no need for it, pass it on to a homeless shelter.
http://www5.samsclub.com/showcase/KC-Baby-Showcase.aspx

Hi everyone,
It's another Sunday of fabulous savings, so here goes:

First the Freebies:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is offering a free "Celebrate Urban Birds Kit", for bird lovers as well as a fun activity for kids.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/celebration/GettingStarted/kit

For that special man in your life, Mercury magazines is offering a free subscription to Car and Driver magazine:

http://www.mercurymagazines.com/pr1/121/121572

The every day steal at Old Navy is their comfy t-shirt for $4.99. Comes in assorted colors. Orders of $50.00 or more ship free.

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=26194&vid=1&pid=634295

I hesitate to mention this next deal, because of the credit card issue involved. However, for those who might be interested, BritishAirways.com is offering 50,000 miles for a Visa Card sign-up. If you use the card and spend $2500 within the first 3 months, they will add an additional 50,000 miles to your account. Considering the expense of air travel, this may be enough for 2 flights to Europe. A $75.00 membership fee will probably apply.

Feeling lucky? Check out SweetiesSweeps. Her website and newsletter list the free sweepstakes offered daily. You never know--this might be your lucky day! :)

Favorite quote: "I can't afford to save any more money".

How swiftly time slips away! I had intended to post a blog on yet another great experience at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in September of 2010, but never got that “round tuit.” Of course, being the piano lover, the recital was piano. The guest artist was Henri-Paul Sicsic, a Canadian pianist. My friend Beda, who shares with me a love of sports cars, and I went straight from work in the Medical Center (very near Rice), sashayed into the Lillian H. Duncan Recital Hall and took our seats.

I wish I could YouTube this performance for everyone to hear. The program was all-Chopin, beginning with the Mazurka in C-sharp Minor, Op. 41, no.1. When the pianist played Sonata No. 2, in B-flat Minor, Op. 35, Marche funebre: Lento, I learned something new. This is the traditional funeral march. It was so eerie, played first hand, on a concert stage that I actually shivered. This link will take you to a YouTube performance by the master pianist, Arthur Rubenstein playing the March funebre: The Funeral March.

Being a writer of dark paranormal fiction, this piece resonated with me. Though my vampires never died in the traditional sense, they were transformed from normal meat-and-potatoes kind of folk to eternal hunters by a blood-borne pathogen (another story). I could imagine my British lord, concert pianist and vampire playing Chopin’s Funeral March on a dark, lonely night when eternity weighed too heavily on his shoulders. If you’d like to meet Morgan, please visit my web site for a free read, called Vampyre Hunt. http://www.lindanightingale.com/

As I pen these words, I am listening to Mr. Rubenstein’s rendition, and even now, I shiver, thinking that the young Chopin, who died at 39, wrote his own funeral march. His grave monument in Clesinger is Euterpe (Greek muse of music) weeping over a broken lyre.

On a happier note, maybe in my next blog, I’ll write about the romance between the immortal Chopin and the novelist George Sand (Aurore Lucile Dupin, later Baroness of Dudevant, 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876).

There are several movies about this love affair, none of them historically accurate, but my favorites are Impromptu and Chopin: Desire for Love. Don’t expect a history lesson. These films are romantic fantasies, but both feature his music.

How much do you know about wine? My expertise consists of recognizing a white or red wine or a rose Zimpfandel. Yes, I know my colors. Two weeks ago we visited Napa Valley and I listened with fascination as wine experts explained the properties of their wines and allowed us to taste samples. I usually don’t drink. One can of beer or a glass of wine greatly improves my mood. More would make me tipsy. Imagine, by 11:00 am I already drank three glasses, by 1:00 pm I added four more, and by 4:00 pm I totaled ten glasses of delicious wines. Yes, I was giggling, kissing my husband and loving every bit of the beautiful Napa Valley. In spite of the daze shrouding my brain, I learned a few things about vines, grapes and wines: The smaller the grape, the more concentrated the flavor. Skin color and thickness give wine (red and rose) its color and its aromatic qualities. Acid and sugar level in the fruit determine the wine’s sweetness and percentage of alcohol. An average temperature of 57-59o F is ideal and good vineyards need very well drained soils. Slopes which have concentrated sunlight and better drainage are more suited to vines than flat lands.

PRESCRIPTION IN RUSSIAN available in print at the Wild Rose Press.

Excerpt: Fyodor handed Jillian her shot glass and raised his. “Welcome to Belarus. I’m sure we will have a great working relationship.”

Jillian considered her shot glass without touching it. A deep scowl furrowed between her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Is there a bug floating in it?”

“You expect me to drink this, straight? No ice, no water, no orange juice?”

“Why would you spoil the taste of vodka? We always drink it straight. Try it.” He clicked his glass against hers. “Nazhtrovia.”

She sighed, stared at the clear liquid in her glass, and slowly raised her drink.

“It’s not a medicine. Believe me, you will like it. Nazhtrovia.”

“Cheers. I mean Nazhtrovia.” At first, she sipped it slowly, then took a good swallow, choked, coughed, and cleared her throat. “Not too bad.”

Fyodor laughed. “You will get used to it.” With time, she would get used to their vodka and hopefully to their food and traditions. Maybe she could get used to him and his children. Bozha moy, Good God, what was he thinking?

Cursing himself, Fyodor grabbed his shot glass and emptied it. She’d just arrived in his country and had acted as the conscientious delegate, dedicated doctor, and perfect guest, but otherwise she’d been assertive, poised, reserved, and somewhat aloof. Da, but she had lovely eyes and fabulous assets. And he was hard-put to deny his attraction.

Blurb:

An American Pediatrician

A Russian Surgeon

A woman who lost a son and frantically avoids marriage and family

A man with four adorable sons who badly need a mother

Can attraction and love overcome guilt, duty, and a clash of cultures?

“Mona Risk writes heroes with heart, heroines with spunk in stories and settings that are simply unforgettable!" -- Roxanne St. Claire, Killer Curves, National Bestseller.

Hey, Danica! Welcome to the Pink Fuzzy Writers place this Monday morning. What do you have there? Oh, my! What a hot cover.

Does everyone have something to drink and munch? Take it away Danica!

The Moral of the Story

Do you remember when you were little and you read Aesop’s Fables? There was always a moral to the story, some lesson to be learned that I suppose our teachers and parents hoped we would take with us when we left that classroom. I’m sure I learned something, but I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was. However, I have discovered that as a writer, I follow almost the same formula Aesop did in his storytelling.

When I began to write, I never set out to write a story with a moral. Why would I want to? I was writing about romance and how love conquers all! But then I realized there’s a moral in every romance.

As readers, we want characters in the books we read to be complex and flawed; who wants to read about perfect people? Not me. I want someone who has issues, like me (not necessarily my issues, but you know what I mean). I want to read about someone who triumphs in the end and yes, love conquers all. As a writer, however, I never made that conscious connection. It was only during a recent discussion with someone that I discovered that I write modern day romantic fables.

In the first book of my Veil series, Ruby: Uncut and on the Loose, the heroine has a painful past and she believes being independent from everything and everyone is the only way to be. The hero has…well, a hero complex. He’ll sacrifice everything, even his own love, to make the world a better place. The moral of that story was discovering what’s really important in life. It’s learning to compromise, not just with a loved one, but also with yourself. Deep, huh?

The second book, Succubus-in-Waiting was perhaps a little more blatant than that. That book was about acceptance and prejudice. The heroine knows she’s different, a freak. And really, how could anyone want her because of that? The hero hates succubi because of what one did to his brother. The moral of this story is that hatred and prejudice can blind you to what’s right in front of you. It’s also about accepting and loving who you are, no matter how different you are from “normal” society.

Then we get to the third book, Lifestyles of the Fey and Dangerous. This book is darker than the first two. When I wrote it, I didn’t even ponder a moral or the darkness. I just knew the heroine was going to have to overcome an awful lot. Why? Because I made her an assassin who was out to kill the hero (who, by the way, has his own demons to deal with). How could an assassin be a lovable heroine? How could a former bad guy (the hero) become a sympathetic hero? I made them suffer. There. I said it. I tormented them and then I threw them together and made them fall in love. The moral of this book is that no matter how horrible things can be, how utterly hopeless things seem, there’s always hope. It may not look the way you expected it to, but it’s there just waiting for you to find it.

I never set out to do any of this. It was never my intention to delve deeper into the underlying themes of my stories, but I find I can’t help myself. My brain wants to pick it apart to see what I was really thinking and I was amazed. So to my fellow writers, have you noticed any morals in your stories that you hadn’t before? To the readers, I have to ask the same question. What morals have you discovered in reading romance and has it ask the same question. What morals have you discovered in reading romance and has it helped you in your day-to-day lives?

I'll be giving away a hand-painted mask to one (or possibly two, depending on how many comments) commenter.

The buy link for the book is http://bookstrand.com/lifestyles-of-the-fey-and-dangerous.

http://danicaavet.wordpress.com/

http://danicaavet.blogspot.com/


Hey let's get lots of comments and make her give away 2 masks!

It's that time of the year again.


Color abounds in my neighborhood just north of Atlanta and all around Georgia.






Pollen paints our cars and porches and we complain, cough, sneeze, wipe our eyes, and even grin!

I wish I could name the blooms in the pictures, but I'm not good at that.

Hey, did you think I would wax poetic? Nah, I'll let nature do the work for me.

Enjoy from the safety of your computer. The pollen count was over 3,000 before the rain earlier last week and it's climbing back up past 1,000, even as I write!

Did you hear the latest news? A major New York publisher is distributing Kindles to all epubbed authors and asking them to promote a New York Bestselling author on their websites. Yep, I will take care of Roxanne St. Claire. I don't mind. She's been my favorite author for years. The world is turning upside down. Isn't that wonderful? So who would you take under your wing now?

Okay, so I am babbling. APRIL FOOL!!

Do you know how April Fool's Day originated? In sixteenth-century France, the start of the new year was observed on April first. It was celebrated in much the same way as it is today with parties and dancing into the late hours of the night. The First April Fool's Day Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, and the new year fell on January first.

There were some people, however, who hadn't heard or didn't believe the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April first. Others played tricks on them and called them "April fools." They sent them on a "fool's errand" or tried to make them believe that something false was true.

Poisson d'Avril In France today, April first is called "Poisson d'Avril." French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs. When the "young fool" discovers this trick, the prankster yells "Poisson d’Avril!" (April Fish!)

April Fool's Day in the USA Americans play little tricks on friends and strangers alike on the first of April. One common prank on April Fool's Day, or All Fool's Day, is pointing down to a friend's shoe and saying, "Your shoelace is untied." Teachers in the nineteenth century used to say to pupils, "Look! A flock of geese!" and point up. School children might tell a classmate that school has been canceled. Whatever the trick, if the innocent victim falls for the joke the prankster yells, "April Fool! "

April Fool's Day Jokes: The "fools' errands" we play on people are practical jokes. Putting salt in the sugar bowl for the next person is not a nice trick to play on a stranger. College students set their clocks an hour behind, so their roommates show up to the wrong class - or not at all. Some practical jokes are kept up the whole day before the victim realizes what day it is.

Most April Fool jokes are in good fun and not meant to harm anyone. The most clever April Fool joke is the one where everyone laughs, especially the person upon whom the joke is played.

When I was in college, my best friend and I told about fifty students that the dean summoned them to his office. They gasped, opened scared eyes and went pronto to meet him. The dean frowned at first, then laughed and finally told the last one to bring Mona and Vicky to his office. We stopped laughing for a few minutes when he asked: "Exactly what are you trying to do? You are expelled." When he saw our terified expressions, he burst out laughing and said: "April Fool!!"

What was the last April Fool you played on a friend? Can you share?

My new contemporary romance is up for pre-order and that's NO April fool.

PRESCRIPTION IN RUSSIAN at the Wild Rose Press. Dr. Fyodor Vassilov is a thirty-eight year old widower and devoted family man with four little boys who need a caring mother. Still emotionally crippled by the loss of his wife, Fyodor can’t allow himself to get close to a woman again. Having a fling is okay but love? Forget about it! He has to protect his kids, and his heart, from any further harm.

Jillian Burton is an American pediatrician on an official mission to improve health care conditions in Belarus. A few years ago, she lost her son and her illusions about men, marriage and family, and she won’t risk being hurt again. Feeling guilty about her son’s death, she travels to third-world countries to cure and save children but she never allows herself to get emotionally attached to a child.

Fyodor’s mother presses him to marry a healthy woman who wants a big family and loves children. The last woman who fits the bill is Jillian, a woman who considers herself incapable of mothering a child, a doctor who can’t stop roaming the world.

When Fyodor and Jillian work together in Belarus, their cultures clash and their painful memories still hurt, but their attraction defies all odds. Can love overcome duty and guilt?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.

Being passionate about the past, I relish a connection to those who’ve gone before us.  I’m fascinated with history and love old homes, historic sites, all that ties us to the richness of bygone ages.  Intrigued with herbal lore, I often use it in my writing.  Herbs influenced every facet of life in pre-modern times and have changed little over the centuries. When I hold an aromatic sprig of rosemary in my hand, I’m touching the same plant beloved by the ancients. Some heirloom roses hail from the glory days of Rome.

To further that sense of oneness, and for their many uses, I grow a variety of herbs.  Thyme, basil, sage, and chives are a few in my kitchen garden.  Lavender and scented geraniums are wonderful for their scent alone.  Ladies once wafted the delicate perfume of toilet water.  Porcelain bowls filled with colorful potpourri scented musty parlors.

Before taking the leap into penning novels, I wrote vignettes on rural life.  I’ve compiled these into a work of non-fiction and may self-publish.  At one time, I also had a modest herb business and gave talks on herbal lore to local groups much as Julia Maury did in my light paranormal romance Somewhere My Love.

Back to my herbal enterprise, with the faithful assistance of my long-suffering mother we grew and dried herbs and flowers for wreath making and potpourri which we sold in the fall.  Herbs and heirloom flower seedlings were raised in the small greenhouse my hubby built me and sold in the spring.  Any profits were swiftly overrun by subsequent visits to the allergist,whom I’ve seen regularly for years now and still get four shots at a crack.  It seems I developed every allergy latent within me by exposure to all these pollens.  *Note, If you’re allergic to ragweed, avoid an herb called Sweet Annie and the Artemisia family.  But I’m considered to rank in the top ten percent of allergy sufferers in the nation, so what are the odds of that?

After being run indoors and my gardening curtailed, I took up writing and have used my love of plants there.  I’m still an avid gardener, though with shots, meds and limits.  Is it spring yet?  My nose says yes. 

A garden is never so good as it will be next year. ~Thomas Cooper

An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider 
all the other choices in life. ~Cora Lea Bell

This book attracted my notice because of my Chinese connection with the past.  Not only did I spend my early childhood in Taiwan where my parents taught English, but my grandmother was born and raised in China by her missionary parents.  My mother and father also taught English there at a later time, but I didn’t accompany them on that trip.  Their home has always been open to hosting students from China, many of whom have become our friends over the years.  My grandmother spoke Mandarin all her life and never forgot it, and my mother also learned the language.  She can chat  with waiters in Chinese restaurants.

City of Tranquil Light by Bo Caldwell, although a novel, reads as if it were a biography and the reader is an integral part of the day-to-day experiences of Edward and Katherine Kiehn. Especially meaningful is that the story centers on these two Mennonite missionaries who went to China early in the 20th Century, as did my great-grandparents, only they traveled there even earlier in 1891 under the Southern Presbyterian Church. They initially met on the voyage over, but were posted to different cities.  After my great-grandfather made an exceedingly difficult trip to visit her, my great-grandmother decided to accept his marriage proposal because she loved him,  and to spare him another horrific journey which included a canal boat with an opium addict, as did one trip described in the book.

An extremely moving part of the story concerns the sickness and death of Edward and Katherine’s young daughter, almost more than they could bear and forever in their hearts and minds. My great grandparents had five children born in China, with one stillborn. Their oldest son, after finishing college and seminary in the United States, returned to China to serve as an itinerate pastor, as had his father, visiting small villages where Christ was not known.  Another son completed medical school and returned to China to work with his mother, also a doctor.  Highly unusual for a woman in that era.  She’d been tried early on by villagers who brought a boy to her nearly dead from a worm infestation. Knowing it was a test, she laid him out on the ground where all could see, and gradually gave him something to make the worms leave his body, curing him.  And won their respect.

Eventually all members of our family were forced back to the states in 1939, after Japan invaded China and war ravaged the land. Living in China makes an enormous impact on Americans, as it did on those in Ms. Caldwell’s book upon whom she based her story, and as it’s made on our family.  A hospital now stands on the spot where my great grandmother practiced medicine and their stillborn child is buried.  Many descendents of missionary families who’d served there at that time were invited back to a celebration of its founding in 2005.

My parents have a camphor wood chest, not as elaborate as the one described in the book, but as fragrant, that they bought while teaching school on Taiwan. They (and I) can attest to the feelings of love expressed in the book that flowed between the Chinese friends of Edward and Katherine and which the couple reciprocated with all their hearts.

*Photographs are of me as a child in Taiwan with my doll tied on my back like the peasant women who carried their infants that way while at work in the rice paddies.

*My great-grandmother, Annie Houston Patterson and my Great Uncle Houston

*My grandparents, Henry and Margaret Mack,  my mom and uncle.  My grandmother grew up in China, returned to the states for higher education and married.   She and my grandfather traveled back to China and stayed with her parents for a time, later journeying as missionaries to the Philippines.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw The King’s Speech about George VI (Queen Elizabeth’s father), and what a super movie! Albert, called Bertie by his family, chose to be George when he suddenly became King on December 11, 1936 at the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. He had never expected to be King, but if Edward had stayed on the throne, Elizabeth II might never have come to reign.

When I was a young girl, Edward VIII (called David by the family) was such a romantic hero that I read anything about him that I could find. He gave up a throne to marry the woman he loved.

“King Edward VIII did something that monarchs do not have the luxury of doing - he fell in love. King Edward was in love with Mrs. Wallis Simpson, not only an American, but also a married woman already once divorced. Yet, in order to marry the woman he loved, King Edward was willing to give up the British throne - and he did.

To some, this was the love story of the century. To others, it was a scandal that threatened to weaken the monarchy. In reality, the story of King Edward VIII and Mrs. Wallis Simpson never fulfilled either of these notions. Instead, the story is about a prince who wanted to be like everyone else.” King Edward VIII. This is quoted from History 1900’s at the link included.
King Edward VIII was born Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David on June 23, 1894:

A few facts about Edward VIII.

Birthplace: White Lodge, Surrey, England

Died: 28-May-1972

Location of death: Bois De Boulogne, Paris, France

Cause of death: Cancer - Throat

Remains: Buried, Frogmore, Windsor, Berkshire, England

He was the first monarch to become a qualified pilot. He created The King's Flight (now known as 32 (The Royal) Squadron) in 1936 to provide air transport for the Royal family's official duties.

The above article goes on to say that Edward had a predilection for married women. In 1918, he met Mrs. Winfred (Freda) Dudley Ward, and for sixteen years she was his mistress. He also had a long term romantic relationship with Viscountess Thelma Furness. It was at the Viscountess’ party that he met Wallis Simpson. For seven years, he and Wallis had a not-very-private affair.

By 1936, it became evident that he would marry her.

However, his family and his Cabinet opposed the match, the government threatening to resign en masse if the relationship continued. As head of the Church, he faced opposition there as well. Eventually, Edward realized that he must choose between the Crown and Mrs. Simpson. A twice-divorced woman would not be acceptable as Queen.

Wallis Simpson didn’t mean for the King to abdicate yet on December 10, 1936, Edward signed the Instrument of Abdication. His brother immediately named him Duke of Windsor.

On June 3, 1937, after her divorce was final, the Duke of Windsor married Wallis Simpson in Paris, France.

He reigned less than a year: January-December 1936.

He was very handsome, blond and blue-eyed, and still, to me, a very romantic figure. I just ordered A King’s Story, the Memoirs of the Duke of Windsor, and can’t wait to read it.

Linda Nightingale, Author of Black Swan, a spicy vampire story.

As the title suggests, gypsies play an important part in “Gypsy Charm.” In fact, if not for the old gypsy woman, Mrs. Lee, there’d be no story at all. It’s she who engineers and choreographs the entire event, though she only appears at the beginning and the end.

So who are these people we always associate tambourines, golden earrings, and crystal balls…violins and exuberant dancing…and “Cross my palm with silver”? Where did they originate? And where do they now live?

Originally, they were thought to come from Egypt (Egyptians…Gypsies…get it?) and were supposedly exiled for giving refuge to the infant Jesus when He was brought to Egypt to escape King Herod’s wrath. Now, they’re believed to have come from India, perhaps the province of Rajasthan, migrating to northwest India around 250 BC, before beginning a westward trek in 500 AD. In 1322, they’re mentioned in writings as Atsinganoi (Untouchable) living in Crete; in 1360, a fiefdom in Corfu is mentioned as having only Romany serfs. By the 14^th century, they were in the Balkans, where they were enslaved until around 1856; by the 16^th century, they’d reached Scotland and Ireland, and by the 1860s, large-scale immigrations to the United States had occurred. Correctly, Gypsies are called Romany, from the word “Rom” meaning “Man.” Someone who isn’t gypsy but associates with them and speaks their language is called a Romany Rye (Ri).

In Europe, the Romany were subjected to ethnic cleansings and herded into concentration camps. In a process called the Porajmos, they were killed on sight or sentenced to forced labor. An estimated 1,500,000 Romany died during World War II. Though they were treated more fairly in Tsarist Russia, during the Communist Regine, they once again were labeled a “socially degraded stratum.”

Traditional Romanies place a high value on family life and the strict regulation of social behavior as ordered by the Marhime or Hindu purity laws. There is a rom baro (tribal leader), who rules over each extended family. Most Eastern Romany are Catholic or Orthodox Christian or Muslin, while Western Romany are Catholic or Protestant. They speak Romani, an Indo-Aryan language but because the people are so widespread now, many are forgetting the language and speak a mixture called Calo or Angolormani. There are attempts now to standardize the language.

Even today, there is extreme prejudice and discrimination against Romanies, in Central and Western Europe, where they are considered the “nomad emergency” and responsible for high crime rates. Even as late as 2004, they are actually considered a high security risk in some places and gypsy women in some countries could be legally sterilized without their consent.

Gypsy names are divides into two groups: Trade and common. There are only two trade names –Cooper and Smith—which have been translated from the Rom language. Common names for gypsies are Lee, Grey, Boswell, Herne, Lovell, Marshall, Stanley. A name may have been adopted because it was similar to a Romani one, it resembled a town from which they originally came, or it was the name of the noble under whose protection they lives.

Mrs. Lee is the gypsy matriarch in Gypsy Charm; her grandsons David, Isaac, and Tomas are all Grays. Unlike their real-life counterparts, the Romany of Gypsy Charm lead a fairly uneventful and safe life, though Grandma Lee appears to keep things lively enough.

Gypsy Charm is available from Class Act Books, http://www.classactbooks.com/Gypsy-Charm-by-Icy-Snow-Blackstone-EPub_p_281.html.

Blurb:

Early on, Essie McBane set her standards high and waited for true love. She never expected the answer to her prayer to literally fall from heaven in the shape of a warrior angel with chestnut curls and a celestial body. As much as she’d love to teach the divine creature a thing or two about sex and lust, can she be responsible for leading him into temptation?
Sinfully handsome Cam-ael, an angel, is wounded in the second war between heaven and hell and plummets into the arms of a beautiful human. But Cam knows he must return eventually, no matter how much he likes the material pleasures of earth. Not to mention the sensual pleasure he’s found with Essie.
But when his mortal feelings for Essie draws a demon into the midst, can Cam protect her or will he learn the true meaning of the word sacrifice?

COMING MAY 20TH, 2011 from The Wild Rose Press, The Wilder Catalog!

For an excerpt and the HOT cover, please visit Bianca Swan’s Blog.

Deer Eating Your Plants?

Last fall the young deer scampered in my yard and others. Then they were graceful, lovely creatures.

Now they are monsters. Now I know why my plants didn't bloom well last spring or summer. I'm not a good gardener, but a few plants live year after year in spite of me. I enjoy them and look forward to their blooms.

Yesterday I realized many tender shoots were chopped off! Yes, gnawed so low I doubt they will bloom this year. Did the monsters in deer's clothing eat the lovely yellow dandelions? Of course not! They chomped on my daffodils and other plants I can't name. They found shoots from iris bulbs. Yes, I had some I separated and replanted.

That set me off on a quest to make the deer feel unwelcome.

A buried memory of a friend filling her menfolk with beer, an easy task, and sending them outside to water the perimeter of her garden teased at the edges of my mind. Hmmm. I suspect some of our ladies were concerned about me when I asked them if they knew anything about deer and human urine. (snicker)

Scarlet suggested googling the info.

Because I was up to my crossing eyes in editing for a client, I decided to ask for help from our gardening expert. Beth mentioned human hair as a thing deer don't like. That was easy. I scrambled around and cleaned enough hair from my vacuum cleaner and the floor of my car to scatter in some plants. Bet I can find more hair tomorrow if I groom my sweaters and clean the floor.

I took pictures in my neighborhood to show the colors of Japanese magnolias, pear trees, and a slew of other colorful foliage. Too bad I can't find the tiny camera that hides with my cellphone.

Trust me, there are deep purple, white, lilac, pale pink and deep pink, yellow and other colors in trees and bushes around me.

Now about those pesky deer. Maybe I should .......

Happy Monday, all!

Anything bugging you this week?

Deer eating your plants?

In less than two weeks our school will be observing Spring Break. I've been thinking about it for a while now, making plans and lists. There are so many things I want to do, that I feel pulled in different directions.

The yard needs work, the house needs work. My office is a mess and could so use a good cleaning.

But the thing that needs the most work is my mind. I need to put my house in order, so to speak, but not my real house. No, what I'm talking about is the virtual house of my mind.

There are things I need to do, things I must do, and things I want to do. My problem is time allocation. I tend to get bogged down on the small stuff, to ignore the really important things that will propel my writing career in the direction I want it to go.

I find it is so easy for me to get side tracked and lose sight of my goals. So, I think I'll sit down with my planner and mark out a certain amount of time each day to devote to writing. There are other things I've allowed to slide, like meeting with my critique partner, which has got to be pulled to the front. I need the stimulation afforded by interaction with someone who "gets it."

So, when I start off with spring cleaning this year, it's my mind that is going to be dusted of cobwebs first. Then I'll go and tackle the real stuff. What about you? What are your plans for the spring? How do you stimulate your creativity and prime the pump for getting the job done?