And yes, International Happiness Day is a real thing! The UN made it so. 🙂

And for both IHD and the Spring Equinox to happen on the same day THIS YEAR, I hope, portends happy things.

For now, to celebrate IHD, step outside and breathe the fresh air or smile in front of a mirror for as long as it takes for you to feel it.

For the Equinox, know that Spring is here. If it’s warm enough where you live, take off your shoes and stand on the ground barefoot. Imagine all of winter’s blues draining down from your body, through your feet and into the ground. Then take deep breaths and imagine the renewing earth sending its vibes upward. Then go inside and put on a pair of thick socks and drink some cocoa!

The point is, find some joy today and figure out how to manifest it every day. I’m a busy girl, but I do find little things, all day long, to keep me happy—a scented candle, pressing noses together with my cat, drinking a hot cup of coffee with my hands wrapped around it…

Tell me what makes you happy! 

So, St. Patrick’s Day was yesterday, but why not continue celebrating. And who doesn’t love a holiday that gives us a great excuse to get together with family and friends, attend the local parade, wear lots of green clothes, and drink beer. Oh, and dye rivers green!! However, there is a lot about this holiday which people don’t know. Stick around and read about five St. Patrick’s Day facts you might’ve not been aware of!

1. This holiday falls on March 17th each year because that is the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Did you know that Saint Patrick wasn’t even Irish? He was actually born in Wales. He was held as a prisoner by Irish raiders shortly after he turned sixteen years old, and this is when he found his faith.
2. Green was not always the color associated with St. Patrick’s Day. For thousands of years, light blue was the color people used to celebrate this holiday!
3. The first St. Patrick’s Day parade was held right here, in the United States. The parade tradition originated in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1737. New York followed shortly behind them, launching their first parade in 1762.
4. From 1927 to 1961, St. Patrick’s Day was a dry holiday. The Irish government banned alcohol to enforce the religious aspects of the holiday. Pubs around the country were forced to close for this day. Nowadays, approximately 11 million pints of Guinness are consumed on this holiday.
5. Chicago dyes their river green for the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day. The dye they use is plant-based, allowing it to return to its normal color in approximately thirty hours.

Hopefully, you learned a few fun facts, and March 17th will have more reasons to celebrate in the future! Now I wish I could say I wrote a romance book about St. Patrick’s Day, but the closest I can come is my Navy SEALs of Little Creek series, where two of the heroines work at a local pub. Below you can find an excerpt from Issued (complete with a GREEN cover).

Issued

Excerpt from Issued…

I’m sorry. 

Two words that should be simple enough to say. But putting my business on display for the public isn’t my thing. Though, after Brittney’s scene two nights ago, people who don’t even know a thing about me now know I’m broken. Leave it to my ex’s sister to tell the world I’m the emotional equivalent of Humpty Dumpty after his fall from grace. All of my pieces are glued back with such haphazard carelessness that I can’t remember what it feels like to be whole. Or what it feels like to go through life without falling apart, without being forced to admit my own weakness.

I drag my hands over my face, my heart in my throat, as I do my best impression of a kicked puppy in the middle of Shaken & Stirred. Taya catches sight of me, slams down her tray, and turns on her heel to stalk off in the opposite direction. My body trembles, and I dig my nails into my scalp, wishing for the hundredth time that my stubborn wife had acknowledged me when I’d tapped on her door last night. Or the night before. This whole thing could have been handled in private. Although, shit, guess that cat had gotten out of the bag two days ago. Until then, Bear had been the only one who knew about my TBI, but now everyone knows. Everyone who was within earshot of our table.

But the way Taya leapt to her feet to defend me. She’d been all fiery eyes and blazing cheeks, a hellcat ready to attack on my behalf. Hope bubbles in my chest for a second before I viciously squash the feeling. Taya deserves someone normal, someone who can stand up to the light of her scrutiny without cutting her on all his ragged, imperfect edges. She deserves someone better than me.

But right now, we need to put on a performance for my superiors and any of the committee attending the function later tonight. My jaw aches and I’m grinding my teeth together as I flag down the hostess. “Can you get her? It’s important. Please?”

She turns, flinging her hand at me in a dismissive wave. “Sure.”

Inara heads into the back. Despite her snarky claim that she cares more about cucumbers than what I think is important, a minute later, Taya makes her way toward me. I force a smile, but the muscles in my face tighten and twitch. Taya stops in front of me, her forehead a collection of unhappy little wrinkles. With one hip cocked and her arms folded beneath the small swell of her teacup breasts, she’s the personification of feisty disapproval in a server’s apron and non-slick shoes.

“What do you want?”

“There’s a mandatory work party and I need you to come with me.” Not the best start, but I’m fully prepared to apologize and grovel for a date rather than show up in front of my commanding officer without Taya on my arm. This is my shot to prove that I’m committed to the IPP program.

“No.”

“Please?”

“No.”

I want to turn around and leave, but I’m already down to the wire. Maybe I’ll just toss her over my shoulder and make a run for it. Taking a deep breath, I try again. “I know you’re mad, but I need your help. We don’t even have to talk or stand next to one another. We’re basically carpooling to an open bar. This is important. If my C.O. doesn’t think I’m trying to make the IPP program work, I’m screwed.”

Her body slumps, but her eyes remain locked with mine. “When?”

“Tonight.”

“Are you serious?” Her voice is high pitched and more than a little accusatory. “You literally waited until the last second?”

“Not exactly.” I glance at the time on my phone. “We actually have about three hours.”

Buy links:
https://www.amazon.com/Issued-Navy-Seals-Little-Creek-ebook/dp/B085Q51PLS
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/issued-paris-wynters/1136625248
https://books.apple.com/us/book/issued/id1502152322
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Issued?id=SobVDwAAQBAJ&hl=en_US&gl=US

UPDATE: The winner is…Beckie!
*~*~*

©Diana Cosby 2022

Each season at the marsh is unique.  During winter, the birds search for food, or shield themselves from the cold.

At times deer will venture out onto the cold, frozen marshlands in search of food.

Red Tailed Hawks glide through the skies on currents of air or perch on branches as they scour the marshland.

I love the song of the Red-winged Blackbird, which to me is heralding the approach of spring.

Mallard Ducks, as many waterfowl who live at the marsh, huddle in crevices against the cold but love to come out and bask in the warm rays when the sun’s out.

Seagulls live at the marsh year-round.  I find their calls as I walk along the grassy lands peaceful.  Take care, and I wish you the best.

Contest

***ONE winner will be drawn from everyone who posts on my guest blog post about, ‘Winter At The Marsh!’ on Delilah’s blog between 13^th March 2022 – 20^th of March 2022, and will win a tote.”

About Diana Cosby

A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated into five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series and The Oath Trilogy, she released the bestselling The Forbidden Series.

Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.

Diana Cosby, International Best-Selling Author
www.dianacosby.com
The Oath Trilogy
MacGruder Brother Series
The Forbidden Series

Social Media
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Diana-Cosby-Romance-Author-150109024636/?ref=ts

For those who haven’t tried audio, it is one of the fastest growing segments of literary options, ideal for busy people who still want to enjoy a good book, so you really should. I’ve been blessed with several great narrators, with books in a variety of genres – although I consider myself primarily an epic fantasy writer – finding the right narrator has had it’s ups and downs.

I use ACX/Audible because it gives you the option to do a royalty share, a combination of share and pay up front or paying the narrator their stated fee. I do a royalty share because it gives the narrator and me a stake in the success or failure.

Choosing a narrator, for me, is a matter of matching the audition and voice to a given project, finding if your styles mesh, and the narrator’s interest in the project. Two of my narrators give me different voices for different characters, and another changes the timbre of voice. Make certain you discuss expectations – not just for time, but how it will be delivered. One narrator recorded several chapters, didn’t post them for my review, and had to go back to clearly delineate what character was speaking. Communication is important, in both directions. One gives me his ‘raw’ version – mistakes, flubs, pronunciation errors or questions – and sometimes he’s really funny. And, periodically he sends me his ‘blooper’ reel which is a riot.

It wasn’t a new experience for me, many of my books are in audio, but hearing another interpretation of what I’ve written has been a fascinating experience. In at least one case, the voice for a favorite character is now the narrator’s interpretation, another caught the characters’ accents perfectly (and his voice is like melted butter, smooth, warm, and rich).

Both Director’s Cut and Fire Season are in production for the audio versions so I can’t attach the retail samples yet, but they are both out in print.

Fire Season
A Paranormal Reverse Harem

Excerpt from Fire Season…

The wildfire consuming the forest had a voice all its own. Each did, Ari had found. He listened to the hungry, angry roar, the crack of tree limbs giving way, the small explosions as burls within the trees’ boles burst. The sound surrounded him, spoke to him. Ari kept half an eye on the rapidly spreading inferno. The canopy of leaves and pine needles above him and his people was still intact but in the near distance he could see licks of flame swirling around trunks, reaching higher. The tops of other trees burned like torches. Another ignited even as he watched.

The heat of the blaze, the parched air, baked him within his gear. He could barely breathe, despite his air bottle.

On this part of the mountain the rough, uneven terrain worked against them, kept them from using the tanker and trucks – the vehicles were too far away, the hoses couldn’t reach – so they were fighting the fire hand to hand.

His team worked hard and steadily, cutting some trees, digging up turf, shoveling the debris and dirt and tossing them aside. All they could do was hope to create a firebreak wide and long enough to stop the flames from advancing. At least to hold for long enough to allow them to fight the blaze itself. Even as he worked alongside his people, he kept an eye on them. He anchored one end of the line, Jase the other. Every one of them knew their job but, focused on the task at hand, even as experienced as they were, they relied on him to keep the line straight and true so they didn’t need to shift their attention from what they were doing.

Nor were they alone. Just beyond Jase was a team from the local firehouse doing the same thing – cutting a firebreak. Other teams from the local department’s two firehouses were scattered over the mountain, using their equipment where the land allowed.

Like him, that team leader worked hard, wielding a chainsaw like a sword, shouting instructions he couldn’t hear over the blaze to her people and department over the radio, keeping everyone apprised.

Something about that one, their stance, the way they carried themselves, and their short stature told him the leader was a woman, rare among firefighters.

The way her people responded to her instructions and orders, swiftly and without argument, told Ari she was good at what she did and respected.

Not for a moment did he allow his attention to wander for more than the second needed for that brief appraisal. It was too dangerous.

Ari sensed the wind shift even as the leader of the other team went stiff and looked up. The roar changed, hungry for fresh fuel as the fire turned. She saw it even as he did. Embers blew above them, past them. The fire, hungry for fuel, hungry for air, and powered by the strengthening breeze, leaped from one tree to another…toward them.

“Out, out, RUN! The wind shifted. GO! GO! GO!” Ari shouted, and he could hear an echo of his words as he signaled to Jase at the end of their line. The other team leader had her radio keyed even as she shouted and gestured to her people.

Amidst the raging blaze, the sound of one tree falling into another to topple against a second was hardly noticeable. The movement wasn’t.

Branches showered from above, some ablaze, falling even as Jase echoed Ari’s words, then turned to run and so didn’t see the danger. Like Ari, the other team leader was doing a headcount, making sure all her people were on the move, no one left behind.

A large falling branch sent Jase sprawling, and knocked his helmet, mask, and air bottle askew.

Even as a second branch, larger than the first, cracked, ready to fall, Ari was moving. As fast as he was, he knew he wasn’t fast enough to reach Jase in time.

The other team leader, closer, with her own people already on the run, did see and didn’t hesitate. She threw herself over Jase and turned turtle, tucking her chin in close to Jase’s vulnerable neck so her helmet and air tank would take the impact as she tried to cover as much of Jase as she could.

When the branch struck, Ari winced. At the very least, she would have cracked or broken ribs, if not worse, and Jase as well. As long as luck was on their side.

The fire was closing. They didn’t have much time or else find themselves trapped by the flames. It was no small branch, and they had to move it quickly, both for the sake of the two pinned beneath it and their own.

When I was a teenager, I had a poster that said, “The more people I meet, the more I love my dog.” It was very true back then with Frankie — my Scottish Terrier cross Staffordshire Bull Terrier rescue who kind of looked like a very hairy black Pumba — and it’s still true today with my monster dog, Kalbati.

Most people agree that dogs are amazing, but Kalbati… She’s special. Kalbati has been with us for seven years. We were told she was about two or three months old, but when we went to pick her up, it was clear they had fudged the details over the phone. She was probably about six months old and double the size we were expecting. There was no way she could fit in the carrier we brought along, so she sat on my lap and vomited her way home. It was a really long drive and not the most auspicious start, but she quickly made herself at home in our chaotic house and our hearts.

Kalbati has the sweetest nature of any dog I’ve met. She’s a Labrador crossed with some kind of hunting dog, and she’s about 80 pounds of energy and love. She’s no pushover, but she has great energy and can calm down any scared or aggressive dog. She’s also the best mom to rescue kittens and takes the nightshift by letting them snuggle with her in her bed, which means I get some sleep.

Kalbati is also the inspiration for Lic (Licorice), one of the dogs in my debut release, Romancing the Grumpy Rancher, releasing in RESCUED, a boxset of contemporary romances with heart, heat, and dog treats.

Like Kalbati, Lic has a big heart and tons of patience. She’s much more friendly than her human, Matthew Thomas, the grumpy rancher who isn’t too happy when his sister’s best friend from college shows up on his ranch the same day Lic finds a stray puppy. Savannah and the rambunctious puppy disrupt Matthew’s organized, quiet life in the best way.

This story was so much fun to write, and I hope readers enjoy getting to meet Matthew and Savannah and their four-legged friends.

Excerpt from Romancing the Grumpy Rancher…

One of his eyebrows rose just a little, and those full lips pressed into a firm line. “It’s not muggers you need to be on the lookout for. This is not the city, where going out for a run is as simple as running ten blocks one way and then ten blocks back. We have spotty cell reception in places and critters who would gladly chase your pretty little behind down the trail just to see if you’re worth taking a bite out of.”

Hearing Mr. Stern and Studly talking about her behind shouldn’t make her pulse flutter. But it did. Even though flirting with her best friend’s grumpy older brother was probably the worst idea ever, a smile stole over her lips, and she couldn’t resist provoking him. “I’ve been told my pretty little behind is definitely worth taking a bite out of.”

Something flashed across his face—something predatory and primal—before he shuttered it back behind stark disapproval. Maybe Olivia’s brother wasn’t as stalwart as she’d described him. As fun as investigating that possibility might be, Savannah knew it was inadvisable. She didn’t want to be the cause of any drama between Olivia and the brother who’d all but raised her.

“While you’re here, you should stick to running along the drive and staying close to the main house where you’ll be safe,” he said. “That way, I won’t have to waste time sending anyone out to rescue you.”

“I didn’t need rescuing, Matthew.”

His eyes widened at her use of his name, and she realized they technically hadn’t been introduced yet.

Buy link: https://books2read.com/Rescued-Dog-Anthology

About the Author

Tamlyn Black is a mom to three amazing wildling kids, a monster rescue dog who sheds about a pound of fur a day, and two former feral cats who moved in and took over when they discovered they could have comfortable beds, free food, and endless snuggles.

Website www.tamlynblack.com
Newsletter signup: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/s4c2l1

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

I’m about to go on a vacation. Sounds weird. In the past two years my husband and I have canceled four vacations and rescheduled one (This One!). We’d just returned from Walt Disney World when the pandemic hit. Between Covid and a health issue, our travels came to a screeching halt.

I know several people who don’t take vacations. They have the means, but they just don’t go. My husband and I have been the complete opposite. In the three decades we’ve been married, we’ve always taken some sort of vacation. Some were short and close by when we had little money, and others involved taking advantage of a business trip to a very cool location. Some were planned and some were very spur of the moment. We always took a vacation.

Now for the past two years, “staycation” has been the norm. What I mean by staycation was sitting on the deck drinking wine and listening to Jimmy Buffett. The problem with that was it became the norm, and the thought of going anywhere wasn’t exciting or even “meh.” Each time we canceled a trip, we weren’t really bothered by it. Staying home re-watching Boston Legal, Justified, and now The Practice was not only perfectly acceptable but desired.

That’s a problem. The not caring if I left the house has become a real problem for me as an author. Now, I get out and still write because I’m a freelance sports reporter, and I’m out a couple times a week. But that’s different. Recapping an event involves facts, stats and few pretty words thrown in but not the creativity needed for producing a novel.

I released a novella in November of 2021, Boy and The Family Plan as part of a shared world project, but prior to that, May of 2020 was my last release. Thunderstruck was a direct result of a vacation we took to South Dakota. I was so in love and inspired by Spearfish Canyon and Deadwood, the story was the easiest one I’ve ever written.

By not going on a trip, any trip for two years, I realized I have a need to get away in order to fuel my writing. This vacation will be no big adventure. We’re going to South Carolina to visit friends. I suspect we’ll spend a day at the beach, maybe venture into Charleston, but for the most part, we’ll just be hanging out with good friends.

I’m hoping the unfamiliar location, strange bed and different food will shock my brain into some creativity. For two years, my brain has been on overload from Covid and cancer, functioning pretty much on auto pilot. Auto pilot doesn’t allow for creativity. The change of location will alter my routine for a week. Change what I do. Change what I eat. Change who I talk to. All of that change, even for a short time, will recharge a drained battery.

I’m a third of the way through the follow up to Thunderstruck and completely stalled. I know this trip will get me out of my rut and routine enough to finish this book, because I really do love the story. I can’t wait for people to read this story, but I have to write it first.

So many authors I know say they’re introverts and staying home day after day writing is what they do. In some ways, I admire that. I’m not really an introvert though. I’m fine with alone time and home time, sometimes, but what I learned is I need the outside stimulation to spark my inner thoughts.

South Carolina, here we come.

Contest

For a chance to win an e-book of Thunderstruck, comment with your favorite vacation spot.

Check out Anna’s books!
Boy and the Family Plan: https://www.amazon.com/Boy-Family-Plan-All-American-ebook/dp/B09GPNYQVF
Thunderstruck: https://www.amazon.com/Thunderstruck-Book-1-Storm-Canyon-ebook/dp/B087C9QTKG

Anna Hague’s Social Media links:
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Website: www.annahague.com
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