I’ve written romance for the last five years. In that time, I’ve read even more. From contemporary to paranormal I love multiple sub-genres. In that same amount of time, I’ve always loved action adventure movies, including sci-fi movies and shows. Imagine my surprise when my muse sent me an idea that would combine them both.

Queue the futuristic world, where humans have colonized the galaxy and the richest have migrated to planets like Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn, leaving Earth to become a haven for the production of drugs and booze. Out of these ashes emerge drug runners and bootleggers to carry the fruits of Earth’s labor to the upper planets, outsmarting the government and making as much money as they can.

It’s a bit lawless, and crafting this story and world was filled with fun and a bit of frustration. I did plenty of research in the form of watching episodes of some awesome movies and television shows. Today, I want to talk about some of my favorites.

First up, Farscape. We humans think we’re the smartest beings in the known universe. When NASA Scientist and Astro-genius, John Crichton is slingshot to the far side of the universe, he finds out otherwise. Add in the super soldier, Aeryn Sun, female bad ass, and I was smitten from episode one. Fun fact is how the Muppet Studios were involved in this series and the unique, fresh take on possible alien species. Four seasons was never enough.

Second, Dark Matter. This series is another that was cut too short. There was so much to explore, from character dynamics to other dimensional threats. Beyond that, this is another series where there are a ton of strong females to feed off of as inspiration—Number Two and her fabulous run as captain of a ship, add in a younger female techie, Number Five, and the ever hilarious Android. It’s a female fab cast, rounded out with male characters who respect and support them even amid heists and running from the law.

Finally, Firefly. This 13-episode series holds a special place in my heart, as it does for many. The dialogue is priceless, the character building sublime. Nobody holds a candle to Captain Malcolm Reynolds, the guy who wants to be an anti-hero, but ultimately isn’t. Kaylee, River, and Zoe. Yes, I like Inara too, but she’s not my favorite. The strong females are fabulous and not in the least intimidated by their Captain. If anything his strengths encourage the ladies to run with their own.

I’ve waxed poetic enough about my favorite sci-fi shows. What are yours? There are many I haven’t mentioned. Some more spec fiction than sci-fi per se. Like Fringe, Warehouse 13, Sliders, Star Trek (all the iterations). Tell me your favorite sci-fi show, movie, character – even if it’s from a video game. Be sure to comment to get in on my sweet giveaway in honor of my new release, A Talent For Trouble.

A Talent For Trouble

Drug runner Emilio Morales is one deal away from being the sole runner from Earth to the upper planets—until his partner attempts a double-cross. Now, Emilio’s stuck in a disabled spaceship with an unpredictable, attractive female who’s willing to help him out if he’ll assist her in retrieving her ship from an impound facility.

Antonia ‘Toni’ Smith is sick and tired of being beholden to men. The only way to guarantee freedom is to get back her bootlegging ship to run her own business again. When Emilio kills her ticket out, she’s forced to rely on him for assistance. Emilio, the most wanted and annoying man in the solar system, is a sexy-as-hell means to an end.

But every plan the duo makes falls apart and every day they spend in each other’s company increases the tension between them.

With the death toll rising and their defenses low, can Emilio and Toni get the happy ending they want, without falling for each other in the process?

Buy Links:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo | Totally Bound | Goodreads

Excerpt

He poured himself a glass. Turning it slowly, spreading the liquid up the sides and back down, he noticed he wasn’t alone. “Can I offer you a drink?”

“No,” a sultry feminine voice responded. “There’s nothing over there isn’t made in the still or fermented in a barrel.”

“Suit yourself.” Emilio turned and took in the view. Mother Mary.

The woman, a vision of sin, stood angled toward the fancy window display where three floor-to-ceiling panels showcased the twinkling view. She wore a glimmering red dress, which sparkled even more as she turned toward him. Her hair was a pale-white blonde, short and framing her face, giving it a distinct diamond shape. She’d be labeled gorgeous, more than the word could construe, with her eyes the color of whiskey—and not the cheap stuff in his glass. No, the full-bodied swirling amber and caramel colors.

“What brings you to Casa Manolo?” He swallowed a little more whiskey than he intended and did his best to sound suave, but the words came out more like a croak.

“Nothing that concerns you.” The dismissal paired with a smile, a little thing revealing flawless teeth. He glanced down at her one note of defiance—boots. Grav boots to be exact, black and fierce. A deep, soul-encapsulating need clamped onto his brain, a need he’d waited years to experience. This was the woman he’d been waiting for. The type he’d always wanted. The one he’d call his.

He walked closer, eager to see if she took a similar interest in him. “Oh? Well, I’m happy to make this visit less business and more pleasure. Your name is?”

The words escaped his mouth as he glanced at her lips—expressive, full and waiting for his kiss, even when those same lips uttered, “Too expensive for you.”

About the Author

Landra Graf consumes at least one book a day, and has always been a sucker for stories where true love conquers all. She believes in the power of the written word, and the joy such words can bring. In between spending time with her family and having book adventures, she writes romance with the goal of giving everyone, fictional or not, their own happily ever after.

Author Links:
Website: https://landragraf.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LandraGraf
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/landra.graf
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Landra-Graf/e/B00IESJED4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1440641120&sr=8-1

How many of you have been shut up with a kiss? I, for one, find this terribly romantic. Us women tend to rattle on when we’re nervous, and I like a take-charge kind of guy who grabs an opportunity to move forward. End our misery. Show us how much they adore us despite our tendency to leak words under pressure. Have I ever been shut up with a kiss? Yes. It was a first kiss and kind of sloppy. I was young, he was hot, and I didn’t mind the mess because I was too relieved that I didn’t have to find another subject to talk about. I guess my story isn’t the type we romance writers put in a book, but the concept makes my heart go pitter-patter. When I see it in the movies – *SWOON*!

As I write this, I’m thinking back, trying to remember if I ever put a kiss like that in one of my books. Of course I did, but I don’t think it was a first kiss, more like a feverish “shut up and admit we belong together” kind of moment. I love those, too. I wonder how many of you will read this and internally point out the ones you’ve read (or experienced) and remember.

And so we segue into my books that are either free or on sale. For those of you who don’t know me, hello my name is J.A. Dennam and I write contemporary romantic suspense. My Captive Series is a reader favorite. Book 1, Truth and Humility, received a 5-star rating from Coffee Time Romance. Book 2, Between Faith and Fear, is now on sale for .99 until January 31st. Book 3, Crystal Mac, is FREE when you sign up for my newsletter (link to my website below), and book 4, Hell’s Hilltop…okay, you’ll have to shell out the full $4.99, but when you’ve read the first 3 books, you WILL NOT want to miss the fiery conclusion to this steamy, action-packed series. If you like cozy mysteries, you won’t find one beneath these covers. My Captive Series characters are tough, sexy, and they most definitely take prisoners. 😉

Be sure and visit my website at http://www.jadennam.com to sign up for my newsletter and get your free book! It’s also the best way to keep tabs on my special offers, promos, and new releases like Flesh of Innocents, coming in March. Hope to hear from you soon!

J. A. Dennam
JADennam.com

An Interview with Seelie Kay

Q. Why do you write romance?

Because I am fascinated by the games people play to find and secure a lasting relationship, which is not always love. There’s the chase, the courtship, the falling, the surrender. That’s what I try to capture in my stories.

Q. Do you prefer a certain type of romantic hero?

I adore smart, dashing gentlemen who aren’t afraid to live on the edge. They can be a bad boy, a billionaire, a prince, or a secret agent. That hint of danger just hooks me! However, I also love strong, independent women who aren’t afraid to fight for what they want, even love.

Q. Why did you write “Infamy?”

The characters featured in this story—Sheikh Harun Ali and his wife, Marianne Benson–are both lawyers who focus on international law and their practice is devoted to compensating the victims of terrorism. So I was looking for a new hook, something on the horizon that could pose a serious threat to the world and in particular, the United States. I found it in an article on advances in “cloaking” technology or making planes disappear. For years, we have had stealth planes that do not appear on radar, but can be seen in the air if anyone is looking. I wanted to take that a step further: What if someone created a means to actually cloak a plane and hide it from everyone’s view? What if that technology fell into the hands of terrorists? And “Infamy” was born.

Q. How does your former profession as a lawyer impact your writing?

After 30 years, the law and the legal world are so firmly embedded in my brain that I can’t flush them out. That has become the lens through which I view the world and that naturally guides my characters and plots. Little peculiarities that I have witnessed in lawyers and the law always work their way into my stories.

Q. Any plans to write outside the romance genre completely?

Actually, I ghostwrite non-fiction for other professionals—doctors, lawyers, financial gurus—so I dip my toes into a lot of different genres. However, I have been itching to write a book about a relative who founded a religious cult. I researched it for years and found a lot of information that had been buried. I have a pile of paper a foot high. Someday, I need to go through it carefully and start writing. I have the interest, just not the time.

Infamy

Infamy. An evil or wicked act. Terrorists bent on revenge have found a way to make planes disappear from the sky, without a trace. And when one winds up buried in a Wisconsin cornfield, it’s a race against time to rescue the passengers from certain death.

When international law attorney Sheikh Harun Ali is lured to the Amazon and warned of a frightening plot against the United States, he and his wife, Marianne Benson, enlist the assistance of their neighbors, covert agent Cade Matthews and his wife, Constitutional Law Professor Janet MacLachlan. Ultimately, these feisty lawyers are pushed to the wall, desperate to find a plane that has been buried in an unknown cornfield, the passengers still on board. The terrorists’ hatred for the Alis is absolute—the Alis once left their organization bankrupt and broken—but they hate America more. And their fiendish games are just beginning. They are seeking a much bigger prize, one that could destroy a nation and possibly the world. An act that will live in infamy.

Excerpt:
Cade grasped his water bottle with both hands. “Before his brother died, he said eight words.”

Harun nodded. “They are going to make American planes disappear.”

Dianna’s eyes grew wide.

Anders rubbed a hand over his face, then through his long dark hair. His deep green eyes stared up at the ceiling of the plane. “Fucking hell. Nine-eleven all over again.”

“That is our fear,” Harun said. “However, so many precautionary measures are in place in this country, simply hijacking planes and flying them into buildings is no longer easy. They must have a different plan.”

Cade emitted a heavy sigh. “And that is what we need to figure out. What exactly do those eight words mean? For example, he did not specify that the planes would disappear in America, which could mean that they will disappear abroad or over oceans.”

Anders sat up straight. “And disappear could mean many things. Crash. Hijack. Pull a Malaysia. How many ways can you make a plane disappear?”

Buy links:
Publisher: http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2291-2-infamy/
Amazon: coming soon
Smashwords: coming soon
Barnes and Noble: coming soon

About Seelie Kay

Seelie Kay is a nom de plume for a writer, editor, and author with more than 30 years of experience in law, journalism, marketing, and public relations. When she writes about love and lust in the legal world, something kinky is bound to happen! In possession of a wicked pen and an overly inquisitive mind, Ms. Kay is the author of multiple works of fiction, including the Kinky Briefs series, the Feisty Lawyers series, The Garage Dweller, A Touchdown to Remember, The President’s Wife, and The President’s Daughter.

When not spinning her kinky tales, Ms. Kay ghostwrites nonfiction for lawyers and other professionals. She resides in a bucolic exurb outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she shares a home with her son and enjoys opera, gourmet cooking, organic gardening, and an occasional bottle of red wine.

Ms. Kay is an MS warrior and ruthlessly battles the disease on a daily basis. Her message to those diagnosed with MS: Never give up. You define MS, it does not define you!

Author links:
www.seeliekay.com
www.seeliekay.blogspot.com
Twitter: @SeelieKay https://twitter.com/SeelieKay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seelie.kay.77
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Seelie-Kay/e/B074RDRWNZ/

Prior Books:
http://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs/
http://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs-too/
http://www.extasybooks.com/kinky-briefs-thrice/
http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-1734-5-kinky-briefs-quatro/
http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2023-9-kinky-briefs-cinque/
http://www.extasybooks.com/the-garage-dweller/
http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-1504-4-a-touchdown-to-remember/
http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-1795-6-the-presidents-wife/
http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2263-9-snatching-diana/
http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2032-1-the-presidents-daughter

Coming soon:
Cult (Part Three, Feisty Lawyers): TBD
Seizing Hope (Divorce Divas anthology): TBD

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. I find it puts too much pressure on me and I end up abandoning them before too long. Instead, I resolve to take little steps to make my life better each day.

Almost two years ago, I started doing a half hour of exercise at least five times a week and I’m still doing it. I’ve lost some weight but still have some to go. It’s progress and I’m a lot more limber than I used to be.

This year, I want to cut back my sugar consumption. I have a huge sweet tooth. We’ll see how it goes. I know I won’t cut out sweets totally, but my goal is to cut back. It’s doable without feeling like deprivation. That’s the key for me.

I’m also trying to get more organized and even bought a new desk planner and am looking forward to using it.

What kinds of things are you doing to change your life this year?

As a New Year’s gift my publisher is offering Drakon’s Promise for FREE for a very limited time. It will be available at most but not all e-retailers. If you haven’t tried out the first book in the Blood of the Drakon series, now is the time. Don’t delay or you’ll miss it.

Blood of the Drakon, Book 1

Darius Varkas is a drakon. He’s neither human nor dragon.

He’s both.

He’s also the target of an ancient order who want to capture all drakons for their blood. When fresh, a drakon’s blood can cure any illness and prolong a human’s life, and the Knights will stop at nothing to get it.

When librarian Sarah Anderson stumbles across a rare book belonging to the Knights of the Dragon, she’s quickly thrust into a dangerous world of secrets and shifters and things she never would have believed possible. When the Knights realize Sarah has a secret of her own, she becomes just as much a target as Darius. Her scary dragon shifter just might be her best chance at survival.

Buy Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N74PYZR/
Entangled Publishing: https://entangledpublishing.com/index.php/drakon-s-promise.html
B &N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1125114236?ean=9781633758001
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/drakons-promise/id1176306297
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/drakon-s-promise

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Todaybestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:
Website: http://www.njwalters.com
Blog: http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/awakeningdesires/info
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

Thanks Delilah for another opportunity to visit your fun and informative blog. I love being here!

Today I’m talking about HOME.

Home. Homesick. Right at home.

The hackneyed “Home is where the heart is” is hackneyed for a reason. It’s true.

For me, home means loved ones, friends, family. Or that certain loved one, the significant other.

With him, I might be in a tiny apartment or stranded on a deserted island, or camping under the stars, but together… we’d be home.

Still most of us have been thrown, alone, into unfamiliar places and circumstances where we’re forced to adjust and try to settle in. Feel at home. I’ve moved a dozen times. Maybe you’ve been a student or a soldier or transplanted worker far from home. In those situations, how do you get from homesickto at home?

Maybe home becomes a photograph or a painting, or a ring, or a book? It could be the soothing sound of a familiar accent, the snoring of a pet, an old song played on a guitar or piano or blasted from a car radio? Is it a favorite movie? Maybe it’s a TV show where you can recite the episodes line by line. Friends anyone? The Office?

Is home the sound of the dawn train in the distance or the smell of chicken roasting in the oven?

Someone asked me what the overarching theme of my stories is. At first, I had no answer. My stories are born from a spark of an idea that I turned into a story. A romance. But the more I thought about it the more I knew the people in my contemporary romances are searching for home. Home as a place. Home as a calling or career. And because these are romances home as a person.

Where is your heart? What means home to you? What do you bring from place to place to give you comfort and joy?

My talismans have changed over the years but right now to feel at home I need my dad’s wedding ring and a photo with me and my husband, my daughters and their partners on vacation in California.

CONTEST

Tell me in the comments and leave me your email address (or send it directly to my email address, charlotteoshay@gmail.com), and I’ll gift two random commenters with an ARC of one of my two soon to be released books Their No Strings Affair or my novella Forever in a Moment, OR an ebook copy of one of my first two books, The Marriage Ultimatum or A Model Engagement.

By the way, my publisher, The Wild Rose Press is offering 40% off their entire ebook catalog until December 31, 2018. Check out my contemporary romances and other great stories by my fellow authors there. Just till tomorrow. Click below for the SALE ~ Best deal in town.

Thanks for reading!

charlotteoshay@gmail.com

Click here for The Wild Rose Press Sale
Click here to sign up for news about upcoming books Charlotte O’Shay Author
Click here to Follow Charlotte on BookBub for info about releases and sales

I’ve spent some time this last month thinking about being an author and what it means to me. A few weeks ago an aspiring author was telling me she models herself after me.

What?

My career is a work in progress. The more I learn, the more I find that I don’t know a thing. Publishing is constantly changing and the demand for Romance is high, but so is the output from authors. I love that Indies have broken through the barriers and can give readers what they want and what they didn’t know they needed. The days of Gatekeepers are done and readers can find a story about almost any combination of partners and players. We are also faced with a tough economy, declining sales, sky-rocketing advertising costs, and a genre that is filled with many sub-par to downright crappy books. Everybody is entitled to their opinion and some feel the need to not only state in a review they didn’t like the book, but to attack the author personally.

So What’s A Writer To Do?

1. You create a village of support. Find your tribe. This doesn’t happen overnight; you will gain and lose members of your circle. You hold on to those that are kind to you and then repay them with the same.
2. You get over your damn self. This world is filled with ego. I believe that you have to have a healthy one in order to survive. However, diva-like ways are not acceptable. Think before speaking and then think again. Do not become a professional victim, instead be the one that others turn to for strength. Please know that in order to succeed and survive that you have to hustle every day.
3. Give back. When I was starting this journey, I had author friends share great advice with me. I was disheartened to find that one of my favorite authors, and friend, was not helpful. In fact, she looked at me as someone who was trying to take money from her pocket. She is an award-winning author who hits lists with almost every book in no way was I her competition. I decided not to be like her. If you are new, ask me and I will try to give you a good and very honest answer. I’m a cheerleader—I want you to succeed because then I can enjoy your victories.
4. Like REO Speedwagon says, “Roll with the Changes” (Google the 80’s band). Enjoy the highs and trudge through the lows. In this business, it can change within the next hour. Turn off social media, talk to your trusted friends, take a walk, love on your pet. It will get better!
5. Get a Team and treat them well. In the beginning, I had “people.” It took me about two years to figure out that they weren’t giving me their best effort. So I broke up with them and I found other people. My Admanistrative Assistant dropped into my life because we both worked the overnight shift and were bored out of our heads. He read and wanted to learn more about how a book is created, and I have the talent of breaking a computer, so he taught me how to do things without making the screen go blank. I use two cover artists for different series and I adore them both. I speak their creative language and designing covers is a joy. Finding the right editor took time. I started with a highly recommended company, but the critiquing style nearly broke me. I lost my confidence and dreaded the day when the returned edits hit my inbox. When I finally had enough, I started looking around. The relationship with your editor is one of faith, guidance, and a good bit of hand-holding. I trust this person with my most intimate thoughts regarding my ideas. I took an online class and loved how the instructor handled some pretty zany ideas. She never said, “That sucks,” or “Are you insane?” Instead, she gently offered a different direction or explained how the idea could be better served. I mustered my courage and asked if she was taking on new clients, she was, and we are still together. She knows I will never handle commas correctly and I trust that she will make my story better, so I listen when she shares her thoughts. She is a nurturer and that is exactly what I need.
6. Know when it is time. If you are unhappy, dreading “writing time,” or cringing anytime you think about your career—get out. Life is too short to do something that makes you miserable.

So yeah, I’m an Author. I love what I do even through the tough times, the uncertain times, the days where I reread what I wrote and wonder how I could have done it any worse. To me, all of that is part of the deal. The good outweighs the bad. Because of writing I have made friends all over the world, traveled to events where we discuss books, I’ve met artists that I admire, seen more than my share of stupidity, and listened to hurtful comments and wondered if I belonged. Still, every morning I wake up and look forward to sitting down with my laptop, sharing the scene that plays over and over in my head, and telling you my story.

Stay Strong and Remember what REO preaches.

 

UPDATE: The winner is…SnarkyMom!
*~*~*

Hello, everyone! First I want to thank Delilah for hosting me today, for sharing her space with me. It’s always generous of her to do that, and always fun for me to be here. 

I have to admit, I’ve been looking forward to the end of this year. I thought I was looking forward to the end of last year, but then 2018 happened. The last couple of years have been rough here, but the challenges look like they are winding down, which is a huge relief. I’ve been anticipating the start of the new year for a fresh start. 

My fresh start doesn’t include New Year’s resolutions–I’ve never had much success with those. Instead I always set goals for myself (mostly writing, though I used to include personal things on those lists) and try to break them down into smaller, manageable bites that make it more likely I’ll reach those goals by the end of the year. Sometimes life gets in the way, like it has for the past three years. Some things you simply can’t plan for. 

I had high hopes for last year, even after the really lousy start we had. But if you’ve experienced loss, you know what happens: even when you think you’re good, or you think you should be better, grief has a way of pulling you under when you least expect it. 

So I am looking at next week, at the start of the near year, and am determined that the last couple of things we still need to wrap up will not slow me down. I have my writing goals fine-tuned (Thanks for that, too, Delilah! I do love the goal-setting workshop each December!), and I am almost ready to go. I have a few days left this year to relax a little before we turn the calendar forward–just the direction I’m aiming for. 

My list is ready, posted on my bulletin board here beside my desk in my home office, and tucked into my day-job tote bag where I will see it daily when I pull my things out to put on my desk there in the mornings. I did add some personal goals to the list this year (You know what else loss and grief can do? Screw up your day-to-day schedules, including meals and exercise.), so I can end next year in a much better place, writing-wise and personally, than this year or last year, or even the year before, before things went really haywire. 

I’ve had some really ambitious lists in previous years, must bigger lists that I managed to pull off, because things went my way in every conceivable circumstance. These last few years? Not so much. So my list for 2019 is a little smaller than I would like, but I don’t want to set myself up for failure. If I get more done, that can be a nice bonus when we get to this time next year. But honestly, I’ll be thrilled to check off everything on my goals list for the year, even if there is no extra. 

I wonder how many others are ready for the new year to begin, for your own fresh start? Do you have specific goals? A short list? A long list? Just a reading list? I have an electronic copy of my book Hunting Medusa and a gift card for either Amazon or Barnes & Noble to give away for one commenter. I’ll do a drawing via RandomResult.com for these and include entries for everyone who comments between now and 5pm EST on Friday, December 28, 2018.   

Happy New Year! 

About Elizabeth Andrews

Elizabeth Andrews has been a book lover since she was old enough to read. She read her copies of Little Women and the Little House series so many times, the books fell apart. As an adult, her book habit continues. She has a room overflowing with her literary collection right now, and still more spreading into other rooms.  Almost as long as she’s been reading great stories, she’s been attempting to write her own.  Thanks to a fifth grade teacher who started the class on creative writing, Elizabeth went from writing creative sentences to short stories and eventually full-length novels. Her father saved her poor, callused fingers from permanent damage when he brought home a used typewriter for her.  

Elizabeth found her mother’s stash of romance novels as a teenager, and—though she loves horror—romance became her very favorite genre, making writing romances a natural progression. There are more than just a few manuscripts, however, tucked away in a filing cabinet that will never see the light of day.

Along with her enormous book stash, Elizabeth lives with her husband of more than twenty years and two young adult sons, though no one else in the house reads nearly as much as she does. When she’s not at work or buried in books or writing, there is a garden outside full of herbs, flowers and vegetables that requires occasional attention.