Fall is here. 🙁  (I miss my pool.)

We don’t have much of one here. We had 93-degree weather just a couple of days ago, but the temperatures are definitely falling. Our nights are in the low 60s now. Leaves are falling, but we don’t get that lovely gradual process of leaves changing colors and drifting to the forest floor. Ours wither from the heat, drop into the pool, and then it’s winter. So, Fall colors are nice in pictures, but we don’t get them here!

I’m sharing a wistful,Fall-themed picture in today’s puzzle. I hope you enjoy it. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what Fall is like where you live!

I love creating heroes who are unique. They don’t always express themselves the same way or present themselves the same way. Knox Ramsey is a grumpy, gruff man who didn’t think he could be in a long-term relationship because of some issues that haunt him from his childhood. And he’s very physical. I should have added that to the word search!

Anyway, I riffed some attributes I enjoy seeing in my heroes. Have fun with the puzzle!

Then, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, tell me what attributes you love to see in a hero! 

When I was a child, I so wanted to be a paleontologist, digging up dinosaur bones. I knew part of what I’d need to study was geology, which is the study of rock formations and…rocks. So, I began collecting and identifying them, checking out books from the library about seismology, vulcanology, and books that helped me identify the rocks I found.

I still have a shoe box filled with rocks I collected. There were perfectly round river rocks, Apache tears, petrified wood, fossils, quartz crystals, and pyrite, to name a few.

I display rocks all around my rooms in pretty dishes, ones I discovered as a child and some I purchased in the many rock shops located around Arkansas. When I hold them in my hands, I feel a connection to…something. It’s woo-woo shit, I know, but they do “ground” me.

Here are a couple of the bowls I have filled with my pretties.

My rocks aren’t just a nostalgic pursuit. I use them, too. During the recent Super Blue Moon, I placed a jar of water on my patio table, but I also placed some clear quartz crystals and amethysts on top of the jar to “charge” them.

See the worry stone? The flat one? I carry that with me when I’m not at home, because hermit that I am, I destress when I rub its surface. Sometimes, when I’m writing, I wear a large, polished carnelian stone strung on leather around my neck, because it’s supposed to help with creativity. Maybe it’s the stone or maybe it’s the ritual, but it works for me.

My favorite rings aren’t the ones with the expensive gemstones. I love wearing my labradorite, moonstone, and dendritic opals. Their imperfections make them more interesting to me.

These days, I’m not picking up stones from my path, but I do encourage the 10-year-old to look at the ground and find them for me. She brings me gifts all the time, usually some piece of agate for her “collection” or a smooth stone she’d like to paint on. Maybe, someday, she’ll catch the bug.

So, yes, in addition to hoarding vintage vanity powder jars, Avenger figurines, and fortune-telling teacups, I hoard rocks.

Contest

My question to you, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, is…

Have you ever collected rocks? Do you have a favorite stone?

UPDATE: The winner is…Nathalie!
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I’m at Book #9 in my Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT series. Jackson was the last one (it was released in July). I know I’ll write at least one more book in the series, entitled Malcolm. He shows up in next Tuesday’s book, Hard Knox, in case you read the story and recognize the description of the newest bounty hunter in town… Anyway, the point is, while I will likely write a bounty hunter in Dead Horse here and there, Dead Horse will still be a thing because I’m moving my attention to that quirky little town with the We Are Dead Horse, MT series.

However, I’m not done writing many more bounty hunters, they’re just too much fun, and I want to look at starting up something new somewhere else. So, I’m running a poll to see where your preferences lie. Here’s the poll. You can choose up to three. If you have a suggestion that’s not listed, add it in the comments!

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Saturday Puzzle-Contest

Today, I begin a new story in a setting I’ve never tried before. I’ve been doing some research to make it fun! Solve the puzzle, then for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether this is something you’d ever want to do or have already done—and where!

UPDATE: The winner is…Rachel Blackburn!
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It’s READ A BOOK DAY! Our Day, right?

A girl can hope you’ll pick up one of her books to celebrate. I’ll have a new one out this time next week, so my feelings won’t be hurt if you choose another book to celebrate this holiday!

For fun, and for a prize, how about we play a game?

First, you’re going to learn a new word — Bibliomancy! It means divination by book. Many of you have practiced it—most likely with the Bible. You know, get a book, close your eyes, flip open the pages, and point your finger, without looking, at the page. Whatever your finger lands on will have some meaning for you.

So, go ahead. Whatever book you are reading right now, close your eyes, point that finger, and tell me what your sentence is. Do you know its meaning for you? It can take some time for the meaning to reveal itself, so no cheating! No pointing your finger and choosing another!

Share your result in the comments for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Shirley Long!
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For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me what this couple is waiting for!

UPDATE: The winner is…Linda Rhoden!
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For those who read this blog often, you know I love movies. I also cyber-stalk celebrities whose work I love. I was thinking about Julian Sands yesterday. You know him. The actor who disappeared while hiking in some California mountains and whose body was found recently. Such a lovely-looking man, and what a voice! So, on a whim, I bought the movie Warlock, which I hadn’t seen since the 90s and settled in to watch. Yes, the special effects were awful in comparison to what can be done today, but I really enjoyed his performance and that of his true-life friend, Richard Grant. (I follow Richard Grant’s Instagram because he’s been so open about grieving the loss of his wife.)

I have another Julian Sands’ movie, Arachnophobia, on my list to watch this week as well because I want to honor him in my small way for the hours of enjoyment he provided me, personally. Arachnophobia is one I watch maybe every five years, and it holds up well.

When I was thinking about a topic for today’s word search, I thought about those two nostalgic titles and realized they have one-word titles, then I looked through my extensive DVD collection for others I own, and now you have a list of movies I love so much I had to have a physical copy of them in the puzzle below.

Today’s challenge for you for the chance to win a $5 Amazon GC is to add a one-word movie title to my list!