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! 

Does this not sound like the most delicious holiday ever? So, what if it’s obscure? We can make it a thing, right? If you’re not lucky enough to have your own wild man at home, find a story you can read or a movie you can watch to celebrate some hot, wild man. And if you’re not quite finding the man to scratch that itch, I have a suggestion (because, of course, I do 🙂 )…

Get your FREE copy today only!

Animal

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: Authentic Men… Real Adventures…

A rough-around-the-edges bounty hunter takes a nature photographer on a wild ride.

Former SEAL, Russell “Animal” Hathcoat, retreated to a remote mountain cabin after leaving the Navy. Haunted by horrific images that replay in his nightmares of his last mission with his SEAL brothers, he intends to renovate the dilapidated cabin as penance and therapy, and to avoid rejoining the world around him. But then, someone who understands what he needs better than he does arrives to offer him a job.

Allie Travers loves the freedom and solitude of being a nature photographer and journalist—until the day she stares through her lens at a charging black bear. With her heart in her throat, she can only stand watching in horror, knowing she’ll never escape in time. But rescue comes in the form of a wild man who risks his life to frighten away the animal.

Once the danger is past, she’s told by his team of bounty hunters that she has more to fear than any animal in the woods. A felon is on the loose, and she has to accompany them to safety. Seeing an opportunity, Allie shadows the team as they hunt their prey deep in a national forest. Much to Animal’s chagrin, more than just his protective instincts are aroused by the pretty photojournalist.

Get your copy here!

UPDATE: The winner is…Steph!
*~*~*

I bought this little brainstorming tool years ago at some writers’ conference. “Story Cubes” is a brainstorming game. You roll the dice and whatever pictures appear face-up are the ones you use to riff off a story.

Now, I’d like you to tell me a story based on what you see on the cubes. Do any of these symbols tell you anything? You can pick some of the images or use all of them. Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

Have fun with this! Don’t overthink! Here’s the roll… 

UPDATE: The winner is…Margaret Rucci!
*~*~*

My office is in the basement. No windows, no natural light. I keep a “grow” light on one corner of my desk for my two favorite plants—my African violet and my Christmas cactus. In another space, I have a huge curling spider plant on the floor with another light hovering overhead. Come Spring, when the last of the freezes occur, he’ll go back outside to my covered porch.

Those are the only plants I have. We live in the country and maintain bushes and flowering bushes outside. When I was younger and living in an apartment, my place looked like a greenhouse. I kept Ficus trees, bromeliads, ivy, ferns, potted roses… Not that I had a particularly green thumb, but I did hover over and worry about my plants and tried to keep the cat from peeing in the Ficus tree.

Houseplants are not only a lovely splash of green in your environment, but they also filter toxins from the air. If you’re afraid you’ll kill your plants, get something extremely easy to keep alive like a lucky bamboo plant. All you have to do is give it water and very rarely a little bit of fertilizer.

So, today’s word search contains some of my favorite houseplants. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me about your favorite plants!

This is just a reminder that next Monday is the deadline to submit your stories. However…if you are working on a story and need a few extra days, please contact me to let me know it’s coming! I’ll be starting to read the stories I have, so there’s plenty of time still. If you have any questions at all—email me!

SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY
Editor: Delilah Devlin
Deadline: January 15, 2024

SECRET IDENTITIES is open to all authors.

Editor/Author Delilah Devlin is looking for stories for a romantic erotica anthology tentatively entitled SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY.

Why write a short story for this collection? Well, it’s certainly not about making a lot of money, so why do it at all? I’ve said this before, many times, but here are my thoughts…

Writing a short story for a call for submissions is a chance to flex your writing muscle! It can be a chance to experiment with a genre you’ve never written. If you’ve never written a story in first person but don’t want to begin by writing an entire novel using it, start short! For myself, I’ve written stories in new genres or with fresh themes that ended up being so much fun to write they’ve spawned entire series.

You have a deadline! I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping my butt in the chair without one!

It’s a promotional opportunity! If selected, you’ll be joined by 12-15 other authors for the launch, sharing your audiences and, hopefully, picking up new readers along the way. Having your story in the collection is another chance to be “seen.”

And remember, you retain the rights to your story, so you can republish it for individual sale or give it away to attract subscribers to your newsletter. You might even decide there’s more story to tell and expand your short story into a novel.

Here’s what I’m looking for…

SECRET IDENTITIES: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY will include stories that satisfy the reader who craves stories about mysterious, enigmatic men. Perhaps, they’re the new next-door neighbor with a mysterious past that finds him just as he’s meeting a woman he doesn’t want to leave. Maybe he’s an alien from a far-away galaxy looking for his fated mate. Could he be a spy setting up surveillance on another suspected spy? An assassin scouting his target who discovers his handlers lied about the reasons for targeting a particular individual he’s intrigued by? Is he a werewolf living in the human world? Yes! So many ways to go.

SECRET IDENTITIES will seek stories with varied settings here on earth—present, past, or future—or on another planet or moon in this solar system or in a galaxy far, far, away.  Heroes and heroines might be more than human—supernatural creatures or even aliens and cyborgs.

I’m open to any subgenre of erotic romance you want to write. I’ll accept contemporary, historical, science fiction, or paranormal stories, and I won’t be picky about whether the stories are hetero, LGBT, ménage… Basically, you, the author, can go anywhere your imagination takes you so long as 1) the story is a romance, and 2) you have a bad boy somewhere on the pages!

The anthology will be sold at a low price—my intent is exposure for you and your writing. The more readers reached, the better! You will retain the rights to your story so that, at a later date, you can republish your stories individually.

I’m seeking hot and inventive stories from authors with unique voices, and above all, I’m looking to be seduced by tales filled with vivid imagery and passion.

Published authors with an established world may use that setting for their original short story.

This is erotic romance, so don’t hold back on the heat. Stories can be vanilla or filled with kink but don’t miss describing the romantic connection between strong-willed individuals learning to trust and love one another. A deep sensuality should linger in every word. Keep in mind that there must be a romantic element with a happy-for-now or happy-ever-after ending. Strong plots, engaging characters, and unique twists are the ultimate goal. Please, no reprints. I want original stories.

How to submit: Prepare your 2,500 to 5,500 words story in a double-spaced, Arial, 12-point, black font, Word document (.doc or .docx) OR rich text format (.rtf), with pages numbered. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing; do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). U.S. grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) is required.

In your document at the top left of the first page, include your legal name (and pseudonym, if applicable), mailing address, email address, and a 50-words or less biography, written in the third person, and send to bbbsecretidentities@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. Authors may submit up to 2 stories. I will try to respond no later than March 15, 2024, with decisions. Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: The winner is…Annie!
*~*~*

Sometime in late spring/early summer, I’m going to write a book that will be the start of a new series. All I know about it is that it will be centered around a ranch and have elements of suspense or mystery. Maybe the books will be related with brothers or former soldiers coming together. The brothers might have second jobs (deputy sheriff, firefighter, pilot…). There will be suspense and danger, but that’s really all I have floating around in my head. I’ll try to give it some thought before I start writing (not my usual M.O.).

Help me out by letting me know where you’d like this series set. Enter your choices (you have two) in the poll then share any ideas you have for me in the comments for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card. They don’t have to be good. They can be entirely silly—I’d love that. Have fun!

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Sunday Report Card

The last time I did a Sunday Report Card was back in 2013. I posted weekly updates about my work schedule and progress to keep me motivated to WORK. I’m going to try it again because, with all the planning I do, I am finding it really, really hard to stick to the plan. And I know it’s because I have front-loaded too much work, meaning I have too many items listed to accomplish, but I want to have a better first quarter than I had last year, where I didn’t publish a single book in January and February because I just didn’t feel like it.

So, this is my tough love for myself. I’m going to put it out there and, hopefully, shame myself into picking up the pace.

This snippet of my January calendar is very colorful—and jam-packed. I don’t expect you to understand what you’re seeing, although you might guess. The main thread throughout it is in purple and lists the chapters I am committing to write this week for my next book, Malcolm. Big in red in the center is “Move Malcolm release date in KDP!” That’s because I’m behind my original schedule to complete it (the one big motivator for this change!), so I have one opportunity to move my release date with KDP, and I have to do it this week. Depending on how well I keep to my schedule this week will determine how far back I push that date. So, you see my problem. Lots to accomplish. Too little time. And projects pulling me in several directions.

Ask me anything you like about my calendar. Maybe you can help me get in the right mindset with an attagirl or two…? Or a, “Delilah—WRITE THAT BOOK! You can’t push Malcolm back too far because I have it on pre-order, and you’re destroying my January TBR list!”

Anyway, I’m going to try the weekly report card for a while and see if it shames me back into alignment. I’ll keep it brief, because I still plan to do my End of Month report and don’t want to bore you too much! 🙂

Open Contests

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Undersea Fantasy (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. December into January (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Happy National Science Fiction Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. A look back at books from 2023…then a pie in the sky plan for 2024 (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Cameron Allie: My Mistletoe Master (FREE Reads-Contest-Excerpt!) — 2 FREE books to download, and a contest to win a print book!
6. Word Search: Coffee Stream of Consciousness because… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Ice Crystals on Glass — Win an Amazon gift card!