Bundle up and have a wonderful week. ❤️

Hello, blog friends. 

If you live in the U.S.A., I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. In Northern Arizona where I live, my husband and I enjoyed a feast with the fireplace blazing. It's gotten quite chilly here. Evenings dip below freezing, and the temps slowly rise to the high-forties in the afternoon. When the winds pick up, it's mighty cold.

I live at an elevation of 5,000 feet, and snow-capped mountains surround the area. The seasons are all distinct and beautiful. I mention this because writer Colleen Chesebro has sent forth an invitation to compose a poem focused on the current season - as experienced in our particular locale.

My contribution is a simple tanka (5-7-5-7-7). With my intro to this geographical area, I hope you'll have a special appreciation for what I try to convey in just a few words. Enjoy! 

Have a wonderful weekend and cuddle up! Winter is just around the corner. 😊

Hello, blog friends. 

Last week I promised to share a bit about the inspiration for writing The Gift with today's post.

The story takes place in the late 1940s and 1950s. World War II had ended. A young high schooler falls in love with a college student and becomes pregnant. With that development, the story begins. 

The Gift is fictional, but the inspiration emerged from real-life situations. I was conceived during the post-war celebrations in San Diego. Mom was nineteen, Catholic, and ashamed. When she told her father of the pregnancy, he embraced her and said, "Often the first baby arrives early, but all the rest arrive on time." She married my dad and had eight more children, and just as my grandfather had predicted, they were all on time.  

Fifty years later, while I was an administrator at Fairfield University in Connecticut, another nineteen-year-old gave birth. Because of her shame, she told no one of her situation and was found unconscious in the dormitory. The baby did not survive. Her mother came immediately and offered much love. Three years later, she graduated with honors. 

A year after the above tragedy, I received an anonymous phone call indicating that another freshman student was pregnant. I met with this child and took her to the doctor. Like the other student, she had received no care during the pregnancy. The doctor told her that she was due any day. After much urging, the student called her parents. Her mother arrived about an hour later and shouted her disapproval, yelling that she'd have a doctor induce labor, then they'd give the baby away, and no one would know of the pregnancy. The scene haunts me still. I don't know what happened to this very guilt-ridden young woman, because her mother withdrew her from the university immediately.

What about the fathers? The first young woman broke up with her boyfriend. The second never knew the father of her baby, because she had passed out at a party and had been raped. 

The Gift focuses on the power of love. It alone can release the tentacles of shame. In my novella, I tried to capture that dynamic by offering a contrast through the characters:  acceptance/rejection and tenderness/mercilessness. ❤️ It pleases me immensely to read your reviews and see that, in one way or another, love is underscored in the wintery Christmas story. A special gift is on its way to Priscilla Bettis for having identified the inspiration. 
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​I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have much to be grateful for, and I hope you and your family find ways to celebrate this truth. 

Since most of us are busy with holiday preparations, I've closed the comments for today.  

I look forward to traveling to your blog and reading your poetry. Let's dream a bit and make it a wonderful week. Rain or shine, cold or warm, we've so much to be grateful for. 
​❤️

Hello, blog friends!
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Today I have the extraordinary pleasure of welcoming author ​D. Wallace Peach to my blog. Her novella, The Seas of Time, is the fourth book in the Harbor Pointe series, and today is Release Day. I've already turned it's pages and can attest that this is an entrancing, 5-Star read. 

Most of you know Diana, but here's a few brief facts about her. She lives in an area much like the fictional town of Harbor Pointe. She and her husband reside in a log cabin, tucked away amongst the tall evergreens and emerald moss of Oregon's rainforest. They've befriended two owls, a horde of bats, and the occasional family of coyotes.

A long-time reader, best-selling author D. Wallace Peach started writing later in life when years of working in business surrendered to a full-time indulgence in the imaginative world of books. She was instantly hooked.

In addition to fantasy books, Peach’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of the arts in her local community, organizing and publishing annual anthologies of Oregon prose, poetry, and photography.

BLURB:

In 1858, a ship carrying ice from Alaska wrecked off the coast of California, and little does Taliah Keldan realize how that tragedy will impact her life in 1972.

When Tali decides to quit college and become a civil rights activist, her disappointed parents encourage her to think it over. What better spot for contemplation than at her aunt and uncle’s Harbor Pointe Inn, a charming seaside getaway with its own lighthouse? The place is under renovation and empty of guests. All she’ll have to deal with is the construction crew.

But the inn is far from peaceful.

Tali discovers an old Bible hidden in the lighthouse keeper’s cottage. Strange prayers angle down the margins, all but one ruined by the sea. When she deciphers the crude writing, a dark portal gapes open to a pre-civil war night when an escaped slave in a foundering ship prayed to his voodoo God. A winged creature emerges from the watery void, and her stay transforms into a nightmare.

With the aid of the construction foreman, Tali is determined to send the beast back through time, a choice that will risk their lives, test her convictions, and change her future.

If the above sounds exciting, I can assure you that it is. Below are a few links that will lead you to Diana and The Seas of Time: 


IMPORTANT LINKS:  AMAZON      WEBSITE      BLOG 

Hello blog friends,

My husband and I have been on the road this past week, visiting with his adult children in Southern California. It was delightful to reconnect and learn of all the developments in each family - new jobs, recent moves, fun projects, and much more. 

The drive to and from was a tad demanding (7 hours each way), and unfortunately, due to WiFi complications, I could not visit your blogs. BUT, I hope to catch up on sleep AND each of your posts this week. 😊

​On Saturday, we celebrated Veteran's Day with two of Larry's kids. He was all smiles and full of stories of time past, making the day one to remember.

I hope this past week blessed you with good health and plenty of laughter. I'll stop by for a visit sometime over these next few days. All the best to you and yours! 

Hello dear blog friends!

I hope you're keeping warm during this late autumn season. Temperatures in my area have dipped, and nights can be very cold. I often wrap a favorite quilt around me.  

With the season in mind, writer Colleen Chesebro invites us to select at least one descriptive word (Kigo) from her list to use in a poem. I've chosen long nights, autumn winds, and quilt.

Below is a simple tanka, with syllables of 5-7-5-7-7. I'd love to know if you relate to this seasonal experience. 

Have a wonderful week and bundle up! 

Blessings to all. ❤️