Hello readers, today I stumbled upon the Sue Vincent Rodeo Classic. This literary rodeo invites participants to write a 99 word story or poem using the image below as a prompt. Sue is an amazing writer and an inspiration to all who know her, and purely because of her, I've jumped in with a poem. 

When I gazed upon this beautiful image, I wished I could fly. Wouldn't it be fun? It was that sentiment that prompted my 99-word poem. I've entitled it Deja vu. I hope you enjoy it. 💙

​Hello readers! 

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I would share a few more reviews of The Culmination. There is nothing that warms a writer's heart more than a comment, no matter how brief, that simply communicates job well done.

​After months and months of crafting a story, a writer hopes someone somewhere likes what she or he has written. Every reader is drawn to certain genres and my latest is a political thriller that tackles complicated international concerns. Not everyone is interested in such topics. When I saw the reviews coming in, I was relieved and delighted. 

I'm deeply grateful to everyone who has acknowledged my work over the years, but today I want to especially thank three reviewers who recently posted their comments. They are all writers of series, though each has also written numerous stand-alone books. John W. Howell is an extraordinary Thriller writer, and he co-authored the first book of The Contract series.  Jacquie Biggar is an aclaimed Romance and Suspense writer, and she is a USA TODAY best selling author. Billy Ray Chitwood writes nail-biting murder mysteries and much more. These writers are some of my favorites, and I highly recommend them. My sincere thank you, John, Jacquie, and Billy Ray. 💗

Author Suzanne Burke provides another extraordinary photo prompt and invites contributions for her 'Fiction In A Flash Challenge.' This week's image is a rocky shoreline (image on the lower left sode). My response is a simple Tanka poem of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. 

When I saw this prompt, I immediately thought of lovers separated by tragedy. I envisioned them bridging time by visits to a familiar rocky shoreline. I've entitled my poem, Forever. 

If you'd like to participate, please click on Suzanne's name and you'll travel to her website, where she provides information about the prompt. All the best!

Each week author Colleen M. Chesebro invites writers to participate in her #TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE. Because today is the Inauguration of the President of the United States, my Tanka (syllables 5/7/5/7/7) is entitled HOPE. It's been a long, difficult year, and whether or not we identify as a Republican, Democrat, Independent or Libertarian, I suspect all of us know heartache. I also believe only we the people can heal that pain. 💗

If you'd like to participate in this challenge, Colleen's name is linked to her blog site, where she hosts information of all sorts. We'd love to have you join us. 

My poem:

I'm super pleased to welcome author Vashti Quiroz-Vega to my site today. She's touring the blogsphere with her latest book, The Rise of Gadreel. It's the third book in the Fantasy Angels Series. This one promises to continue the ancient battle between good and evil while including fictionalized biblical accounts to highlight the stakes. 

Welcome to Blog Reflections, Vashti! Could you tell us a bit about the book? 

​Hi, everyone! Welcome to the 2nd day of my book tour. Thank you Gwen for being a fabulous host!

The main character in The Rise of Gadreel is a fallen angel. Gadreel was never evil, but she fell into the wrong crowd and did bad things, influenced by her close friend Lilith. After her fall from grace, she had plenty of time to ponder her many mistakes. Remorseful and ashamed, she no longer wanted to follow those evil creatures that got her exiled from her home in heaven. She escaped them and has looked for ways to make amends and find God's forgiveness, ever since. She and Dracúl, son of fallen angels, found each other and became close friends. Together, and with the help of three unlikely allies; Thomas, Golem and Sabina set out to save mankind from an evil force that has awakened and threatened to end the world, as we know it.

Now that you're a little more familiar with Gadreel, I'd like to introduce you to some of the other characters from The Rise of Gadreel.

Thomas:
Thomas was once the youngest of a group of Cathar monks living in a monastery. He was a cantor and tended to the gardens. When his brethren discovered certain scrolls not admitted into Catholicism, they began to document them. The church accused them of heresy, and one night, warrior monks attacked the monastery. All the monks, including Thomas, were forced out to the courtyard where they were burned alive. Since then, the monastery has been haunted by the spirits of the monks who were wrongly accused and suffered a terrible death. Thomas is a kind soul who still sings and tends the gardens, but many of the ghosts have grown restless and furious against God and the church. Their souls have been mutated into something evil and corrupted, and Thomas is trapped in the monastery with them.

Sabina:
Sabina's mother was a white witch, a beautiful and caring woman. One day she became ill. White witches from all over the country came to their village to try to save her, to no avail. Sabina never knew her father and so became orphaned once her mother died. The people of the village loved Sabina's mother and took care of her child. A year later, a woman named Helga arrived at the village claiming to be Sabina's aunt from her father's side. Since no one had ever met Sabina's father, they assumed the woman spoke the truth. Helga took the child to her home in the woods, and even though Sabina was a child, she soon became aware that this woman was nothing like her mother. Instead, Helga was a bad witch who practiced black magic
and meant to do her harm. Unbeknownst to Sabina, she had come from a long line of white witches and had potent magic within her. Her aunt forced her to practice day and night and develop her magic, all along planning to take it from her. When Sabina finally understood Helga's plan, she began to study and practice both black and white magic, developing her strength and knowledge in secret.

A couple of years later, she escaped Helga's house where she lived in fear and had been imprisoned. Shortly after her escape, she was adopted by a pair of Lilituens who inducted her to a mighty coven of witches. Despite growing up in fear and being surrounded by evil, Sabina's mother's influence remained strong in her, and she used her powers to do good for mankind.

Golem:
As a boy, Vikings raided Golem's village. They murdered his father while he watched and hid. When another pirate grabbed his mother, he was compelled to rescue her. Golem ran to his mother, grabbed her hand, and tried to pull her away from the Viking who held her captive. He laughed as the boy struggled and hacked off his arm with his ax. Then he chopped his mother's head clean off––Golem's small, severed hand and arm still in her grip. Golem fell unconscious and was left for dead. An older couple, Abraham and Madrona, rescued him and nursed him back to health. They raised him as their own, and he grew into a strong, self-sufficient, one-armed man in their home. When the old couple died, Golem inherited a small stone figurine with supernatural powers, which he used for the good of mankind.

​Thank you, Vashti, for visiting today and offering a glimpse of your third book in the series. I wish you continued success!

CONTACT INFORMATION
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• Website

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• Twitter

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• Facebook 

 

• Amazon 

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• ​Instagram

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• BookBub 

Each week, author Suzanne Burke offers a writing prompt and encourages interested readers to respond with a story or poem or a simple one-line comment. Her Fiction In A Flash Challenge now stretches across the planet, from Australia to Europe to Africa and to the United States. If you'd like to join in the fun, please click on the link above and you'll travel to her site where you'll find helpful information.

This week's image is a lantern. I've situated the image within a larger picture of a cabin in the woods. My haiku poem (5-7-5 syllables) is called Home.

This week Author Suzanne Burke's image for her Fiction in a Flash Challenge is a set of swings covered with snow. As I sat with the image, I felt the sweetness of children swinging high and tried to capture that emotion in a haiku poem of 5-7-5 syllables. 

Perhaps you'd like to respond to the challenge as well. Just go to Suzanne's website and follow her encouraging suggestions. It's a lot of fun and you'll meet some amazing writers. 

My contribution is entitled: First Snowfall.  

Author Suzanne Burke offers another great prompt, this one of an airplane. My response is a Tanka poem, syllables of 5-7-5-7-7. Perhaps you'd like to join in this exercise. It's great fun and you'll meet a number of writers. Just click on Suzanne's name and you'll travel to her website. 

My poem is below. I've entitled it Forsaken. 

It happened at the stroke of midnight. We said our goodbyes to 2020 and greeted 2021. We tossed our hopes to the heavens and asked for good health, financial security, and peace on earth. Then some of us realized that 2020 left us a gift. Through the ups and downs of the past year, we had grown more patient, more understanding, more loving, more compassionate. In a sense, we found ourselves. Could this be 2020's gift?  

I believe 2021 will be a year of radical change, and the most important development is occurring within each of us now. The politicians may continue to rant, the radical groups may still threaten, but the difference is this -- fewer and fewer of us are listening. Next year at this time, I wonder what gift we will claim.
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My year begins with much gratitude. I launched my latest book, The Culmination, during a time of personal difficulty. I frankly didn't know what to do, but then a miracle occurred. Writers came forward, offered to help, and proceeded to announce the book to their readership. Several of them read and then reviewed the book. I am forever indebted to their collective generosity. 

Below are two of the reviews:  

​"The Culmination is the third book in the Contract Series. I loved all the books, but this one topped them. It touched me on a level of reality and fear, bringing the idea of hope in our current cold social climate. It starts after the second book and an assassination attempt. There is a group determined to cause mayhem and stop anyone in their way, including heads of state. There's not only exciting action but developing relationships and political intrigue. I found a lot of what was going on in the story relevant for current times. Where Ms. Plano took this story is a place where I could imagine the right things being done in the middle of chaos. I loved the American Vice President with her logic and heart. Beautifully written and thought-provoking with scenarios all too familiar, some heartbreaking, and some tender. This book not only scared me but offered an optimistic option at the same time. I highly recommend it and the whole series." ~ D.L. Finn

"I describe The Culmination as a political thriller with a strong military influence. There are many challenging situations presented in the plot by the author Gwen M. Plano. These situations are designed with action in mind and are very intriguing. The worldwide stage on which these situations play out serves to keep the reader riveted to the end. This story is a continuation of The Contract Thriller series and does reflect the title. It almost feels as if this book has been the end goal of the other two. I have read all three and can say that a reader must not have read the other two to enjoy this one thoroughly.
     The scope of the plot is vast. The reader moves from what appears to be simple situations of trouble to complex machinations that could lead to World War Three. The story involves multiple nations and heads of state. There are some surprising moments, as well as a tender love story.
     If you like a book with plenty of action, compelling characters, political intrigue, military maneuverings, and a compelling love story, this one is for you." ~John W. Howell

                                                                   ~ ~ ~ ~
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My most sincere Thank You to all who commented during the blog tour or tweeted the book's arrival or encouraged me through emails or reviews. Thank you one and all! I hope I can do the same for you. 💗

• Staci Troilo  

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• Joan Hall

 

• Mae Clair​

 

• Sally Cronin

 

• Harmony Kent​

 

• John Howell​

 

• Sarah Stuart​

 

• Jan Sikes​

 

• C.S. Boyack 

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• D.L. Finn​​

 

• Marcia Meara

A few hours from now we'll be celebrating the arrival of the New Year, and I have a confession to make. Though I write military/political thrillers and follow the deployments of our carrier strike groups and track tensions across the Middle East, my heart resides with mystics. They often see the world more clearly than I might, but when they point to the truth, I know it to be so. I think we all do. Let's travel a bit...

Hidden away in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, at an elevation over 8,000 feet, is the small town of Snowmass. Some 2,000 people live there, along with a community of Trappist monks. Fr. Thomas Keating was a member of this community until his passing two years ago.

I've followed Keating's work for years. He was a prolific writer, beloved by many. He helped people learn the art of meditation and contemplation. Recently a friend introduced me to his Welcoming Prayer. I had not known of it until she read it to me. She proceeded slowly, pausing at each word, and as she did so, I felt my heart release. Because of this, I share it below. 

In two more days, we'll say our goodbyes to 2020. A few cities have canceled their fireworks displays, but others have chosen to celebrate. Within the United States, there are many extravaganzas that will be broadcasted. I just might stay up long enough to add my heartfelt cheers.  

If you're like me and will be staying home for the celebrations, maybe you'd like to consider one of these possibilities: Houston and Omaha promise memorable ceremonies, Las Vegas always lights up the sky, and New York City throws a grand party and is a personal favorite. Whatever your decision might be, I suspect we'll each remember this New Year's Eve for decades to come. 

With celebrations in mind, author Colleen Chesebro challenges writers to create a final poem for 2020 focused on HOPE. Maybe you'd like to offer a few lines and if so, just click on Colleen's name to travel to her blog site where she provides guidelines. Here's my simple contribution, a haiku of 5-7-5 syllables.  

It's hard to believe we'll finish the year in just three more days. I look back and wonder where the time went. What happened to the seasons? To spring, summer, fall, now winter. Did time forsake us, because we measure it through family events that never were? Is that why it's all a blur? 

The months passed slowly then quickly, punctuated by the little things of life - the robins feeding beneath the oak tree, the chipmunks hoarding their acorns, the lizards darting to and fro, and in the skies, the eagles soaring high. Yes, 2020 gifted us with the little things of life that we were often too busy to see.  

With all the challenges of the year, I wonder if maybe we were being drawn to our true home, to our beautiful planet - of mountains and streams, of deserts and forests, of wildlife and home-life of you and me. 

Just for fun, I'm going to do a countdown to New Year's Eve. After all, 2020 is definitely a year we won't forget, but I'm hoping we can we let it go. Maybe like a bottle thrown out to sea, we can toss it far from us and face the year - free. That sounds great to me. The year wasn't all bad, but there were the forgettable elements along with the memorable. Here's my take: 

​If you're like me, you've wondered about resolutions. I usually don't make any, but this year is different. Because of everything we've faced, because of medical challenges and isolation, because of not being able to be with family and friends, because of all this and more, we've found ourselves again. Now we listen more intently and love across the miles. In many ways, we've become more present in our absence.  

My resolution is to remember what 2020 taught me and consider every moment a precious gift. How about you? What are your resolutions?

Dear readers,

This year has been one of solitude and reflection. Much of the time, we worried on behalf of loved ones, our country, and ourselves. We listened, more than usual, to those who claimed to know or should have known about the virus, about threats, about injustice. Then many of us stopped listening. We retreated within ourselves and dug deep for truth. It was then that we discovered the others, the truth seekers. People like you and me.  

As Christmas approaches, I find myself immensely grateful for all who have reached out across the divides of COVID to say hello, to offer a hand. In particular, I'm grateful for the writers who have accompanied me this year. I may not have known you, were it not for the virus, for the solitude, for the desperate need to understand.

Through memoirs, like Kathleen Pooler's Just the Way He Walked, I realized that it's an illusion to think we walk alone with our sorrows. Her beautiful testimony opened doors within my heart. Jill Weatherholt's romance novel gave me hope in humanity, in innocent love. Sally Cronin's books made me feel as though I had a sister across the Atlantic Ocean. Marcia Meara introduced me to the angels' emissaries, and John Howell helped me see how they travel through time. Karen Ingalls took me through life's struggles and showed me the face of redemption. There are so many other authors I could mention, and I'm sure you could as well. 

This year I've read dozens of books, and without exception, each writer stretched my world wider. They helped me see the mysteries hidden behind smiles, the possibilities locked in hearts, the beauty in every person. I traveled with them to outer space, to countries never seen, to times long past or yet to be. 

To all the writers, Thank You. I'm immensely grateful for all that you've given me this year. Whether you sell volumes or not, whether your reviews are all 5-stars or not, you have made a difference in my life and so many others. May you and all have a very joy-full Christmas. 

Blessings,
Gwen
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I'm delighted to spotlight fellow author and friend, Jan Sikes. Her latest book, Ghostly Interference, now adorns the shelves of Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I have my copy and I'm  excited to read it. The cover caught my attention right away, but more importantly, I'm drawn to the book because of Jan's track record as a multiple award-winning writer. 

Let's grab a cup of coffee, put our feet up, and find out about this mystery book. It's all yours, Jan!  

​​I thank you from the bottom of my heart, Gwen, for loaning me your blog space to talk about my new book!
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It is built into our human nature to seek out perfection in life. To many, that means a good-paying job or career. To others, perfection is found in the solitude of nature while some seek perfection in music or relationships.

In Ghostly Interference, I wrote a scene where Jag Peters was having lunch with his best friend Tai. The direction of the conversation turned toward what Jag truly sought in life, and how he hoped that included Rena Jett. After all, he’d just quit his corporate job and was adrift and seeking. 

​Here's what Tai said to him:

​Tai paused as steaming plates were set in front of them. “You know, Eastern religions teach that we are born many times. Perhaps you and this girl have unfinished karma from other lifetimes.”

“I only know about this life and I want this girl in it,” Jag said. “I’d like for you to meet her.”

“How will she feel about your best friend being gay?”

Jag shrugged. “How should she feel? You’re a great person and Rena will know that.” Seeing the doubt in Tai’s eyes, he continued. “She’s not hung up about gays like her biker friends.”

“That’s good because I make no apologies for who I am and never hide how much I love Stefan. If gay marriages were legal in Texas, you’d be my best man at a wedding tomorrow.”

Jag grinned. “Yeah, I know. You two have a true partnership. That’s what I want with Rena.”

Tai sighed. “Nothing in life is ever perfect. There are simply perfect moments that you have to grab onto.”

“I’m not looking for perfection. But, I am grabbing at the moments.”

“That’s the key to it all.”

The waiter interrupted to refill their glasses.
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                                                                  * * *
Then later that same evening, Jag had the chance to say the words to Rena:

Rena leaned back and closed her eyes. “I guess there is no such thing as perfection in life.”

Jag replied, “Tai was talking about that very thing this morning. He said there are only perfect moments and that’s what we grab onto.”

“This is a perfect moment.”

“Almost.” Jag reached for her hands, pulled her up and waited for her to nestle beside him. “Getting closer to a perfect moment.”

She raised her face and he claimed her lips.

Between kisses, he whispered, “Now this is a perfect moment.” 

​BOOK BLURB
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Jag Peters has one goal in his quiet comfortable life—to keep his karma slate wiped clean. A near-miss crash with a candy apple red Harley threatens to upend his safe world. He tracks down the rider to apologize properly. Slipping into a seedy biker bar, he discovers the rider isn't a "he", it's a "she", a dark-haired beauty.

Rena Jett is a troubled soul, who lives in a rough world. She wants no part of Jag's apology, but even while she pushes him away, she is attracted to him. When he claims to see a ghost—her brother—can she trust him? And could her brother's final gift, a magical rune stone with the symbol for "happily ever after" have the power to heal her wounds and allow opposites to find common ground—perhaps even love?

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BOOK PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON: https://amzn.to/39PA7hP  
BARNES & NOBLE: https://bit.ly/37GqqzD  
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SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
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http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CS9K8DK  (Author Page)