UPDATE: The winner is…Jennifer Beyer!
*~*~*

Okay, so maybe I’m just sharing some eye candy today, but this looks pretty hot, right?

I found art for a little story I’m refurbishing that I don’t think more than a handful of people have ever read. My sister worked her cover magic to make it pretty. I’ll publish the story before the end of the month, maybe next week if I can manage to sit my butt in the chair long enough to do the work. It’s a time-travel tale. My hero and heroine head to ancient Scythia, which is thought to be the place where the legend of the Amazons originated. It’s fun. Short. A novelette—so longer than a short story, but shorter than what I normally write. Be looking for it if you want a fun, sexy, shorter read.

And just to remind you, I have two other stories in the works, too. Three actually, but until my sister loads the pre-order (it’s a Brotherhood Protectors story), I’m not going to talk about it, but I’ll have another lovely cover to share soon.

Here are the two coming your way in the next couple of months. Click on the covers if you want to put them on pre-order.

The kids are on their fourth day of “snow days” so they’ll be underfoot today. I rose early, not only to make sure the trash made it to the roadside, but to get a little work in before chaos resumes. We dodged the bullet with the kitchen pipes freezing. When we had a brief thaw, no water gushed from the walls. Thank God. The frozen pool is still a possible disaster that we have to wait to see if there’s damage. Next week, we’ll have a long enough thaw the ice floe on the top of the pool should melt entirely, then we can turn on the pump and see if disaster awaits.

I hope everyone here in the northern hemisphere is staying warm and toasty. We’ve lucked out with only a short three-hour power outage so far. I’m okay with wearing socks, a sweater, and thermal underwear for the drafts. Not a pretty picture, I assure you. 🙂

If you’re in the mood to chat, tell me 1) do you like the new cover? 2) And what does your weekend look like? I’m planning to stay hunkered down and maybe watch a movie with the family. 3) Any suggestions? Answer for a chance to win a FREE download of one of my books!

UPDATE: The winner is…Martha Lanham!
*~*~*

Well, we thought the kids would be back in school today, finally. In fact, we were ready to get them bundled into the car for the trip to town when the 15-year-old slid on the ground and scraped up her arm and sprained her wrist (at least we hope it’s just a sprain), and we came back inside to get her bandaged up. Just as we were finishing with the bandages and splint, the notice came on our phones that they’d decided to cancel school again. It might have had something to do with the school bus in the ditch at the bottom of our long hill. No one injured, but…the bus slid into the ditch! Thank goodness my daughter drives the kids (fights on the school bus necessitated that long ago).

Anyway, the kids are back in their jammies, sitting around the living room with pets cuddled up beside them. We’ve suffered a little attrition to our numbers due to old age and illnesses over the years. We are down to five cats and seven dogs, now. Remember, we didn’t collect all these animals ourselves; we inherited my mom’s four dogs when she passed.

My betta fish passed away from old age a couple of months ago. I did try everything to make him comfortable and to “fix” him, but what I read about how he was acting pointed to old age. I haven’t purchased another. I’ll wait for warmer weather because any fish we get has to travel an hour in a plastic tub to get here. I do miss my fish though. No, you can’t pet or snuggle them, and I’m okay with that. The bunny in my art room stays mostly in its cage because when we open the door, he hops out, looks around, then decides he likes his cage better. He’s not very affectionate. The two cats that hang out with me can be very annoying when they want attention. Having one perched like a vulture on my shoulder isn’t conducive to good concentration, and I hate finding the little bits of kitty litter that stick to their paws on my art table.

But my family has always had pets. More dogs than anything else.

So, my question to you is, what is your favorite type of pet? It’s okay if you say a plant. I get that, too. If you want to share a little story about your favorite pet, we’d all love to read about it! Today’s prize is a $5 Amazon gift card! I hope you enjoy the puzzle!  

UPDATE: The winner is…Steph!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah!  Thank you for letting me drop by today to share my new release!  And, unsurprisingly, it’s another anthology.  When I heard about this one, I knew I wanted to be part of it!  My gay romance, Returning to You is set in my Mission City world.  The story is about two men who dated covertly in university. One wanted to make their relationship public, while the other needed to stay in the closet – for fear of his family’s reaction.  Fast forward half a dozen years and then men are in very different positions.  The question was, of course, could they make a go of a new relationship? Especially since one is now a single father and the other is a bachelor who now hooks up with guys regularly.  Well, my story is a romance, so you can guess the outcome.  Happy ending anyone?

Great.  Got the story written, edited, and off to the anthology people (two lovely women whom I adore).  Of course, I started working on another LGBTQ charity anthology novella for a project in June.  As I was writing it, though, I realized I had another story I needed to tell.  And it was a second chance romance story.  I contacted the anthology ladies and asked if they could squeeze in one more story.  They were like, uh, sure…?  So, I wrote Josette and the Count in a couple of hours.  I sent it off to be edited and submitted it to add to the anthology Second Time’s A Charm.  Now, Josette’s brother, Jacob, is important to the story. Don’t worry, his story is coming soon!  How he gets to his HEA will be quite a ride.

I love these charity projects.  Makes my heart swell when I know I’m helping.  Last year, we raised thousands of dollars for charities that are near and dear to my heart.  My aunt is a breast cancer survivor and although she’s recovered, that illness stuck with me.  If I can help raise money for Breast Cancer Research, then I’ll happily do it.

As a thank you for letting me drop by today, I’d love to give away a $5 Amazon Gift card to one randomly selected commenter. Are you a sucker for a good second chance story? Or is there another trope that you enjoy?  I’m in a bunch of anthologies over the next two years, so I suspect there will be one that might pique your interest.

Thanks, Delilah!

Second Time’s a Charm

Is love better the second time around or are we just repeating past mistakes? How do you know if you are falling back into bad habits or falling into your happily ever after?

Find out in this spicy collection containing enticing stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors curated by The New Romance Cafe, with ALL proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Authors:

Sofia Aves
Rachel Abugov
MacKade
Melissa Kendall
Jane Suen
Niki Brazen
Sharon Michalove
Keighley Bradford
Kat Long
Laura M. Baird
Stacy-Deanne
Chelle Pimblott
C.M. Youngren
J.E. Parker
Katina J Rose
Tasha Blythe
JK Lycke
Bella Paige
Poppy Parkes
Amy Stephens
Kathleen Ryder
Marissa Frosch
Wynter Ryan
Katherine Moore
Dawn Patricia Bolton
Rachel Radner
Niki Trento
AK Landow
Annee Jones
Gabbi Grey
Gabbi Powell

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links: 
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2024secondtimesacharm
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWH3JY1K
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122923533-second-time-s-a-charm

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

UPDATE: The winners are…Sharon, Jennifer Beyer, and Beth!
*~*~*

Today’s another celebration of an obscure (weird) holiday. I do love those. Every day we wake up is a cause for celebration, right? 🙂

Anyway, I read that this one started somewhere around 2004 and may have been inaugurated by author Donita K. Paul to celebrate the release of her book DragonSpell. If so, thank you, Donita!

We do love our dragons. If you love dragons, of course, you should check out my friend N.J. Walters’ The Blood of the Drakon series. They are excellent stories!

I’ve written a couple of dragons as well. You can win a FREE copy of your choice of one of these stories by telling me about your favorite dragons in books or movies! I’ll choose 3 Winners!

Click on the covers to read more about these stories.

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”

~ Again, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Well, today’s report card is rather embarrassing. I didn’t accomplish as much as I’d hoped this past week.

• I did begin work on revising Warrior’s Touch, which I’m renaming and republishing later this month. I should have finished. It’s a damn novelette.
• I did issue a newsletter with a one-day-only FREE read. I hope you didn’t miss it. Around 400 readers picked up their free copy of Animal.
• I moved my publishing date for Malcolm to next month. 🙁
• I spent an entire day on Art Guild business—a board meeting then planning binges—to get the next quarter’s business and programs set up.
• I’ve worked on edits for one author’s story, and am nearly finished. I should finish today, actually. So, that at least is forward progress.
• I didn’t write even one word on Malcolm.
• I found cover art for Warrior’s Touch and an upcoming Brotherhood Protector’s book.

This next week, I have to do better, but I think it might be tough. Part of my distraction this past week was because we’re prepping for “snow-mageddon” here in central Arkansas.

What does this next week look like? I intend to accomplish the following:

• 4 chapters of Malcolm
• Complete one editing job
• Complete revising Warrior’s Touch and get it ready for publication
• Begin reading the stories for my next anthology, Secret Identities.

I’ll have the added joy of having the kids underfoot Monday (MLK Day) and possibly Tuesday and Wednesday (due to schools closing for the weather). I’ll have to persevere. The only thing I’ll let slow me down is a lengthy power outage. *knocking on wood*

Open Contests

1. Cameron Allie: My Mistletoe Master (FREE Reads-Contest-Excerpt!) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book + download FREE books!
2. Word Search: Coffee Stream of Consciousness because… (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Ice Crystals on Glass — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. You love cowboys, right? Well, help me decide… (Contest & Poll) — Win an Amazon gift card—and vote!
5. Happy National Houseplant Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Story Cubes: Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Snow-pocalypse! — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Tara Leavitt!
*~*~*

Here in Central Arkansas, we’re getting ready for a snow-pocalypse! It could last well into Wednesday and maybe Thursday. We may get as much as seven inches of the fluffy stuff, which folks in the north would think is not such a big deal, but we’re not made for that kind of weather. Our roads crumble, our road crews aren’t equipped to service the rural areas, and folks here don’t know how to drive on snow or ice. We have to have all our prep complete by tomorrow around 3 PM, then hunker down and pray our power doesn’t go out.

Today, the Devlin household will be deep into preparations. We’ll do a last grocery shop and pick up feed for the horse and goats. Empty the ducks/geese/chickens wading pool. Throw straw into the goat’s little hutch and the horse’s walk-in lean-to attached to the barn. We’ll get two large containers of fuel filled for the generator—just in case. Not that it will do more than power the fridge and our phones/laptops. The kids are downloading movies to their phones.

We’ll be dripping water in our sinks. Refreshing batteries in our lanterns and flashlights. Have we forgotten anything? Thank goodness for the holiday on Monday. We won’t have to worry about school until Tuesday but expect the schools to close on Tuesday and likely Wednesday. It’s going to be so much fun! Or we’ll do our best to make it so.

Anyway, here’s hoping anyone else facing this arctic blast is ready for it. Stay warm and safe! I’ll have to remind the SIL to make sure there’s fuel in the tractor in case he wants to drag an innertube around the yard for the kids. 🙂

With all this on the horizon, of course, I have a snowy landscape puzzle for you to play with today. Solve the puzzle and give me ideas for keeping three younger ones (19, 15, 10-years-old) entertained while we’re snowed in for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!