#WhatToDoWednesday: Get Inspired Wherever You Are @KimHeadlee

Garden City Beach, South Carolina
©2016 by Kim Headlee

A couple of months ago, when we in the US finally began realizing that the world was in the process of flipping upside down, the emails about the importance of public safety began flooding our inboxes.

At first, I appreciated hearing from restaurants, retail stores, and other businesses I patronize about the steps they were taking to ensure the well being of their customers and employees, but after awhile, those emails started looking like they were all pretty much developed from the same boilerplate text.

All except one.

On March 19, stock-image provider Dreamstime shared with their customers:

“We know great ideas don't need a special place, they can come at your place. Work online, no matter where you get creative from…” (emphasis mine)

Dreamstime.com offers free images now and then in addition to their paid subscriptions, and I plan to attach their offerings to future posts. However, since some of my best inspiration comes when I am near water, I today I chose to share one of my photos of Garden City Beach, SC.

In looking at the photo’s date stamp, I had quite forgotten that I had taken the photo barely a week before Hurricane Matthew devastated the area.

For the past several years, I had been utilizing the Myrtle Beach timeshare weeks my husband had inherited from his dad—one in late March and the other in late September—and those trips have done wonders for recharging my creative batteries. I cancelled my March trip this year because of the pandemic, and my September visit is looking less likely by the day, so I must find other ways to become inspired.

One of those ways is to simply gaze at images containing water. An ocean beach is my favorite type of scene, but any water will do… lake, river, waterfall, even a lone drop of water contains the potential to calm my mind and open it to infinite possibilities.

I hope this photo helps to calm and inspire you too. And if you have another source of inspiration that works better for you, please consider sharing it in the comments below.

My novel Dawnflight is currently free on Smashwords, and its sequels, Morning’s Journey and Raging Sea, are discounted 60%. The related novella The Color of Vengeance is permafree for Kindle, Nook, and all other e-readers. Please scroll the sidebar to view my titles. I invite you to message me on Facebook if you are interested in ordering a signed copy of any of my paperback or hardcover editions. Please rest assured that although I seem to be symptom-free as of this writing, I will be masked and gloved when I package your book for mailing.

Meet @DianaLRubino, the author who redeemed Richard III's rep in For Love and Loyalty!

My author-friend Diana Rubino is a woman after my own heart.

While I have seen it as my lifelong mission to redeem the reputations of Guinevere (in Dawnflight and Morning's Journey) and most recently Morgan le Fay (King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court), Diana has done something similar for King Richard III in For Love and Loyalty!

Today on The Maze Diana shares a bit about herself and the inspirations behind this remarkable time-travel story.



13 Things That Inspired Diana to Write For Love and Loyalty

1. Picturing Richard III in modern times blow drying his hair
2. The Richard III Society
3. Middleham Castle, Yorkshire
4. Blackadder (historical British sitcom)
5. The concept of time travel
6. Séances
7. Our modern conveniences such as zippers, computers, cars
8. Richard III
9. Richard’s brother King Edward IV
10. Richard’s other brother George, Duke of Clarence
11. The Three Stooges
12. Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in The Honeymooners
13. The discovery of Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park

Buy Links
Kindle | Paperback | iTunes | The Wild Rose Press |

The Maze [TM]: Where did you get the idea for the story?

Diana Rubino [DR]: I was brainstorming with my longtime critique partner Bonnie (pen name Alice M. Cole). We tossed around a few ideas for a time travel, and she said, “I can picture Richard in modern times blow drying his hair.” I thought, “Wouldn't it be fun to see how Richard adapts to the 21st century?” The story grew around that one image.

TM: Why did you write it as a comedy rather than a serious novel?

DR: The hedonistic skirt-chasing Edward and George play so well off the prim and chivalrous Richard; he’s the perfect foil for them. Also, bringing people from the past to modern times posed many opportunities for humor, seeing our world through their eyes in the simplest ways: Richard goes to an open-air market with the modern heroine, and sees things he's never seen before: bananas, tomatoes, corn on the cob, peanuts. He begins to bite into a banana, and the heroine shows him the correct way: peel and eat it from the top. He takes an ear of corn and proceeds to eat it like the banana, from the top, but she explains that it's eaten sideways. How confusing the modern world really is! Not to mention his first glance at a running computer, connected with the world through the internet.

TM: Why does Richard go back to his own time instead of staying here?

DR: Richard wanted to go back ‘home’ to live his life differently—and in the future, no one will ever know he was once called “King Crouchback.”

TM: Why didn’t you have Anne Neville travel to the present?

DR: I left poor Anne back in the 15th century because I needed a modern love interest for Richard. At the time he pitched forward to modern times, he wasn't all that smitten with Anne; she was a mere diversion—as was the woman (girl? We don't know who she is) who mothered his illegitimate offspring, John and Katherine.

TM: How can Richard return to his era at the same time his bones are discovered under a Leicester car park? If Richard changed history - no Bosworth Field, etc. - then 500+ years later there should be no 'king in the car park' and no Tudor propaganda maligning him!

DR: I considered that paradox. When Richard returned to his own time after being here, he returned to an alternate universe, in line with the theory that time is an infinite continuum and 1485 is still 'going on' just as our time is.

Same as when Edward travels from here to the far future at the end of the story. From our perspective, it 'hasn't happened yet' but it's going on in that alternate universe, or another dimension, if you will. That's why there's some speculation that UFOs and aliens who visit Earth, if they truly do, may be from the future, and are time travelers.

TM: OK, so what's happened in an alternate universe doesn't affect ours, and Richard in our timeline still ends up in the parking lot?

DR: Yes, because theoretically, the universe is multidimensional, and alternate universes also exist, so in an alternate universe, your fate takes the path you didn't choose in this one. Maybe you wanted to go to Hollywood to get into motion pictures but didn't. But in that alternate universe, you did go to Hollywood, and might be a movie star in that universe.

It's all theory, of course, no one can prove it. I'm not sure Einstein looked into that, but it sure makes for great SciFi!

My head begins to hurt when I ponder the possibility of infinity. Never-ending? How can that be? But hold a mirror up to a mirror and think about it.

Exploring these theories is the ‘serious’ part of the story.

TM: Why did you call the previously published first edition One Too Many Times?

DR: The former title One Too Many Times refers to the number of times Richard traveled through time; i.e., he should have stayed in our time instead of going back to the 1400s to change history, especially after he made the reputation-restoring movie and found his true love while here and now.

The title also hit me over the head. When I was searching for a title, I realized the song “One Too Many Times” by the Australian band Midnight Oil was going through my head at that moment. It's from their 1996 album “Breathe”. Some of my book titles are song titles. So I used it as a tribute to Midnight Oil, one of my all time favorite bands. Sadly they broke up, but the lead singer Peter Garrett was an MP from Sydney for several years.

TM: Thanks, Diana, for visiting and sharing today!


About Diana:

Every Ricardian has a story about how they discovered Richard and here's mine: I'd just finished the first historical I ever wrote, The Jewels of Warwick, set in Henry 8's court. I was trying to think of an idea for my next historical. I was in the Cambridge (Massachusetts, US) library, in the 'stacks' upstairs where they keep excess books, and found Crown of Roses, a Ricardian novel on the wrong shelf. The author thanks the Richard III Society, which I'd never heard of. This is pre-internet time, 1991/2. I contacted the Society by snail mail, and wrote my next book, Thy Name is Love, set around Richard and a fictional hero & heroine.

Contact Diana via

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter: @DianaLRubino |

***

All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow<

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books.

Please enter often, and good luck!

Would you give your heart to your enemy? The Du Lac Chronicles by @maryanneyarde

Today I welcome to The Maze British author Mary Anne Yarde and her debut novel based on the Arthurian legends, The Du Lac Chronicles,
Book 1!

Synopsis

If all you had left was your heart, would you give it to your enemy?

AD 495, Wessex, Briton.

A generation after Arthur Pendragon ruled, Briton lies fragmented into warring kingdoms and principalities.

The powerful Saxon King, Cerdic of Wessex, has spent the last twenty years hunting down Arthur’s noble knights. He is determined to secure his kingdom against any reprisals for killing their legendary leader. The knights who have survived the genocide are destined to spend the rest of their lives in hiding, never revealing who they really are.

The only knight who refused to be intimidated by this Saxon invader was Lancelot du Lac. Lancelot and Cerdic formed a fragile truce, but Lancelot has been dead these past eight years and it has fallen to his sons to protect Briton from the ambitions of the Saxon King.

Alden du Lac, the once king of Cerniw and son of Lancelot, has nothing. Betrayed by Cerdic, Alden’s kingdom lies in rubble, his fort razed to the ground and his brother Merton missing, presumably dead. Cerdic has had Alden tied to a post and ordered his skin to be lashed from his back. In the morning, if Alden is still alive, he is to be executed.

Annis, daughter of King Cerdic of Wessex, has been secretly in love with Alden for what seems like forever. She will not stand by and see him die. She defies father, king, and country to save the man she loves from her father’s dungeons. Alden and Annis flee Wessex together.

To the horror of Alden’s few remaining allies, he has given his heart to the daughter of his enemy. Alden’s allies see Annis, at best, as a bargaining chip to avoid war with her powerful father. At worst, they see a Saxon whore with her claws in a broken, wounded king.

Alden has one hope: When you war with one du Lac, you war with them all. His brother Budic, King of Brittany, could offer the deposed young king sanctuary—but whether he will offer the same courtesy to Annis is far less certain.

Extract
“Cerdic came about an hour ago and rounded up all the men. They are all out searching for you. You are a very popular man at the moment.” She paused and looked at Annis. “You cannot travel with Cerdic’s daughter. Bors will not allow you to.”

“It is not up to him.”

Jess’s eyes narrowed into tight slits and Annis wondered if the old woman could still see out of them. She wished she understood what they said.

“You sound just like your father, may God rest his soul. And look what happened to him.”

Alden looked away from the old woman.

“Do not travel in his footsteps. He is the reason the Saxons came in the first place.”

“You know that is not true,” Alden said.

“He broke faith.” Jess stated a fact.

“Never.” He scowled at her, his pain momentarily forgotten as his beloved late father’s reputation was being sullied. “Arthur broke faith with him. He murdered my mother’s first husband in front of my father. Do not think to teach me my father’s history, for I already know it.”

“Not all.” Jess said with the arrogant confidence one often finds in the very old.

“All.” Alden confirmed. “All of it,” he said again, daring her to contradict him.

In Mary's words:
My Inspiration behind The Du Lac Chronicles.

The stories of Arthur and his knights were a part of my childhood – growing up very near Glastonbury, I guess that is not really surprising. Out of interest I started to research the era Arthur’s story is set, but I became distracted by a Saxon called Cerdic. By AD 519, Cerdic became the first West-Saxon king of Britain. His journey to being crowned is quite extraordinary. Cerdic and his son raged war across the Southern kingdoms of England – conquered most of them, and brought a sort of unity to the south that had not been seen since the Roman era.

Cerdic’s exploits and Arthur’s legendary legacy somehow became entwined. Some say that their armies once met at Badon Hill. I wanted to explore this possibility some more, and this is where my inspiration for The Du Lac Chronicles came from.

The Du Lac Chronicles is set a generation after the fall of King Arthur. I wanted to write about the changing ‘Saxon’ world that Arthur’s knights now found themselves in.

The Du Lac Chronicles follows - through the eyes of Lancelot du Lac’s sons - Cerdic of Wessex’s campaign to become High King. The world the du Lac’s had known was to be changed forever by this one man’s determination to enslave the kingdoms under the Saxon yolk. In my story these men, these knights, are courageous, honourable and they do not die easily.

Buy Links
Kindle UK | Kindle US |
Print UK | Print US |


About the Author
Born in Bath, England, Mary Anne Yarde grew up in the southwest of England, surrounded and influenced by centuries of history and mythology. Glastonbury—the fabled Isle of Avalon—was a mere fifteen-minute drive from her home, and tales of King Arthur and his knights were part of her childhood.

At nineteen, Yarde married her childhood sweetheart and began a bachelor of arts in history at Cardiff University, only to have her studies interrupted by the arrival of her first child. She would later return to higher education, studying equine science at Warwickshire College. Horses and history remain two of her major passions.

Yarde keeps busy raising four children and helping run a successful family business. She has many skills but has never mastered cooking—so if you ever drop by, she (and her family) would appreciate some tasty treats or a meal out!

Contact her via
Email: author "at" maryanneyarde "dot" com
Web site | Twitter @maryanneyarde | Facebook |  Blog | Amazon Author’s page |

***

All this month, you are invited to…

— Follow Kim on Twitter
— Follow Kim on Pinterest
— Subscribe to Kim's YouTube channel
— Leave a comment on any page of The Maze, especially if you have done the Twitter, Pinterest, and/or YouTube follow

… and each action this month is good for one chance to win a copy of any of Kim's e-books. 

Please enter often, and good luck!

#EggcerptExchange: Love is a Rose by @psthib

Good thoughts for Good Friday:

Pamela writes, “Since Lent and Easter are very special to me, I’d like to focus on my devotional Love is A Rose for this Eggcerpt Exchange, so here are the details...”

Music is the magical entry into the spirit world; the golden gate into the Kingdom of God. But we mustn’t be of the mindset that God only uses Christian music to reach out and touch our mind, heart and spirit. God uses any and every means available to speak to His children.

Our job is to be open and receptive.

In this devotional, Pamela S Thibodeaux shares how God opened her spirit to a deeper understanding of the abundance of His grace and mercy through the words of the song, The Rose sung by Country & Western artist Conway Twitty.

Pamela offers Seeds to Ponder and a prayer as she parallels the love of God and the Christian life to each verse of the song.

EGG-CERPT:  Introduction

The Bible talks of harps playing and choirs of angelic hosts singing. It also tells us to “make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” The Israelites were ordered to send the praise and worship team—playing musical instruments, dancing and singing—ahead of the soldiers into battle. So there must be something special and powerful about music.

Music is an intricate element of worship, an aspect of praise that brings you into intimate proximity with the Lord. Music lifts you physically (fatigue disappears, pain is forgotten), mentally (your mind is filled with it, erasing everything else), emotionally (you are saturated with joy and peace) and spiritually (your spirit soars on the wings of His); opening your heart and mind to receive more of God’s presence, more of His truth.

Music is the magical entry into the spirit world; the golden gate into the Kingdom of God. But we mustn’t be of the mindset that God only uses Christian music to reach out and touch our mind, heart and spirit. God uses any and every means available to speak to His children.

Our job is to be open and receptive.

Nearly every Christian song I hear touches my heart in some way, urging me into a closer walk with God and bringing me a truer knowledge of Jesus. Amazingly though, the one song that really opened my spirit to a deeper understanding of the abundance of His grace and mercy wasn’t a Christian song but a Country one.

I’ll never forget the morning in 1995 when The Rose as performed by Conway Twitty came to me in its entirety with Bible references or Scriptures correlating to every verse…

Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed…“A bruised reed He will not break.”

Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed….Bible Conversion; a cutting or stripping away of old beliefs.

Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless, aching need…"As the hind longs for running water, so my soul longs for thee oh God...”

I say love, it is a flower, and you its only seed…“If you have faith the size of a mustard seed…”

It’s the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance… David danced before the Lord.

It's the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes the chance…"Entrust your works unto the Lord and your plans will succeed."

It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give…“Love is not selfish…For God so loved the world He GAVE…!”

And the soul, afraid of dying, that never learns to live…"What shall a man give in exchange for his soul…For what is man profited if he should gain the whole world but lose his soul?”  Or more accurately…“Let not your heart be anxious, for I am with you always, even unto the end of time.”

When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long…"I am going but I will not leave you alone. I will send you a comforter, a counselor to guide and help you.”

And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong…. “God is love and he who dwells in love dwells with God. The meek shall inherit the earth…blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”

Just remember in the winter (of darkness and sin)....Jesus died so that we might have life, He conquered sin and darkness…. “I came so that you might have life, in abundance, to the full, overflowing.”

Far beneath the bitter snows...How can something so beautiful, so pure, be so bitter and cold? God is light. He washes us clean with the shed blood of His Son so that we might be as pure as the snow.

Lies the seed, (of faith)...that with the sun's (Son's) love...in the spring... (season of new birth, new life)...becomes the rose (an attractive flower).

Wow, what a revelation!

I immediately sat down and wrote the ensuing compilation paralleling the love of God and the life of a Christian to the words of this song.

Why do you suppose God used a country song to teach me about Himself?

I believe God was using a means familiar to me to show the depth and power of His love for me.

It is my prayer the words contained herein will do the same for you.

Before I begin, let me answer a few questions about myself. I am not a minister or even a candidate for the ministry. I have no degree or doctorate in psychology or anything resembling either. I am simply a Christian housewife and mother who's been blessed with a talent for writing and who desires to glorify the Lord of my life with that talent.

As I said in my opening statement, the Lord led me to write this analogy so the words in it (and I'm sure He also led the songwriter to write such a beautiful song) are His, guided through me by the power of the Holy Spirit to speak to you. So, let's begin.

Love is A Rose can be Purchased at:

Amazon in Print and for Kindle

Barnes & Noble in Print and on Nook

Smashwords for E-Readers and Deeper Shopping!

Find me at:

http://pamelathibodeaux.com

http://pamswildroseblog.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/psthib

https://www.facebook.com/pamelasthibodeaux

Thanks for letting me share!

Pamela S Thibodeaux

"Inspirational with an Edge!" ™

And comment on this post for a chance to win an e-copy of Dawnflight by Kim Headlee... enter often throughout the Eggcerpt Exchange!

Top o'the Mornin' from The Dawnflier!

Welcome to the March 2014 edition of The Dawnflier!

First order of business: Congratulations to Daniel M. (already notified), who won an ebook copy of Dawnflight from among the list of folks who added me to their Google+ circles or commented upon my blog posts in February.

Since this was so successful, I will be running the same promotion throughout the month of March. Enter early, enter often (with your comments!), and good luck!

Another giveaway I'm hosting is active now on Goodreads:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dawnflight

by Kim Headlee

Giveaway ends March 20, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Yes, I know you can't enter often for that one, but good luck nonetheless!

And stay tuned for a very special set of blog posts, March 5th - April 20th, as the Maze features the work of other talented authors participating in the 2014 Eggcerpt Exchange. So far, the Maze will be hosting:

3/5/14: A Bloody Good Cruise (paranormal/vampire romance) by Diana Rubino

3/9/14: Happy Birthday Baby (M/F romance 18+) by Tory Richards, with a Rafflecopter giveaway

3/10/14: Dark Velvet (New Adult Paranormal romance 18+) by Lisa Carlisle

3/12/14: Lady Elinor's Escape (Sweet Regency romance) by Linda McLaughlin

3/17/14: It is Time and Other Stories (romance anthology 18+) by Anna Bayes

3/19/14: Dark Hunter (paranormal/vampire romance) by Shannan Albright

3/24/14: In Too Deep (contemporary romance) by Anita Philmar

3/30/14: Love Remains (paranormal romance) by Zrinka Jelic

4/5/14: The Bruised Thistle (historical romance) by Ashley York

4/8/14: Summer's Growth (contemporary romance) by Tina Gayle

4/13/14: Jixit (paranormal romance) by Jude Liebermann

4/17/14: Sink or Swim (romantic suspense) by Stacy Juba

4/18/14: Love is a Rose (Christian devotional) by Pamela Thibodeaux

I'm very excited about this mix of offerings, and I hope you will be too!

On my own publishing front, I will be working hard this month to prepare two new novels to release in April: King Arthur's Sister in Washington's Court (sequel to Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, featuring time travel with romantic elements through the eyes of Queen Morgan le Fay in the late 21st century) and Snow in July (historical paranormal romance set just after the Norman conquest of England). Bloggers, I do have galley e-copies of both books I can send you if you would like to help generate buzz for these exciting new works! Leave a comment on this post if you are interested.

Thanks, Happy Saint Patrick's Day, and have a wonderful and productive month!

Stories Make Us Greater

Identity Discovery: #GuestPost: Dawnflight by Kim Headlee

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

Sgeulachd ni sinn na’s mò

Caledonian proverb

“Stories make us greater.” 

Stories entertain us. Stories enlighten us. Stories challenge and frighten us. Stories take us places we have never been and show us people we have never known. Stories reinforce our beliefs; stories teach us to respect our neighbors’ beliefs. Stories remind us of the past, that we may be wary of the future. Stories reveal to us our familiar world in unfamiliar ways. Stories prompt us to grow and adapt and evolve.

Stories make us greater.

One of the greatest stories in the history of literature involves a man with a vision to unite his people against all who would strive to plunder and destroy their way of life. This man was blessed with staunch allies and cursed with bitter rivals. This man sought neither glory nor accolades, though he would win both through his battlefield victories. This man sought no bedchamber conquests, though no shortage of women would offer themselves to him. In the secret depths of his soul, this man sought only the one woman who could help him usher his vision for a united land into reality.

For centuries, literature has named this man Arthur.

For decades, I have named the woman Gyanhumara.

Their courage, their wisdom, their mistakes, their strength, and their love would forge the destiny of their world.

Their story makes us greater.

Title: Dawnflight
Series: The Dragon's Dove Chronicles, Book 1
Author: Kim Headlee
Publisher: Lucky Bat Books
Description: Gyanhumara “Gyan” nic Hymar is a Caledonian chieftainess by birth, a warrior and leader of warriors by training, and she is betrothed to Urien map Dumarec, a son of her clan’s deadliest enemy, by right of Arthur the Pendragon’s conquest of her people. For the sake of peace, Gyan is willing to sacrifice everything...perhaps even her very life, if her foreboding about Urien proves true.

Arthur map Uther is the bastard son of two worlds, Roman by his father and Brytoni by his mother. Denied hereditary rulership by the elders of Chieftainess Ygraine’s clan, Arthur has followed Uther’s path to become Dux Britanniarum, the Pendragon: supreme commander of the northern Brytoni army. The Caledonians, Scots, Saxons, and Angles keep him too busy to dwell upon his loneliness...most of the time.

When Gyan and Arthur meet, each recognize within the other their soul’s mate. The treaty has preserved Gyan’s ancient right to marry any man, providing he is a Brytoni nobleman—but Arthur does not qualify. And the ambitious Urien, Arthur’s greatest political rival, shall not be so easily denied. If Gyan and Arthur cannot prevent Urien from plunging the Caledonians and Brytons back into war, their love will be doomed to remain unfulfilled forever.

Purchase the book:
Amazon.com - Paperback / Kindle / Audiobook
Barnes and Noble - Paperback and Nook
iTunes - Ebook / Audiobook

Follow the Tour:
1. May 13th Release Day Diva - Interview
2. May 14th The Caffeinated Diva Reads - Review
3. May 15th Blissfull Book Reviews
4. May 16th Nikkis Book Corner - Review
5. May 17th Bibliophiles Thoughts On Books - Review
6. May 20th Book Boyfriend Reviews
7. May 21st Katie Foley - Review
8. May 22nd The Crafty Cauldron - Excerpt
9. May 23rd Identity Discovery - Guest Post
10. May 24th Crystals Out There - Review
11. May 27th Bethann Masarik - Guest Post


This book tour is brought to you by Release Day Diva

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.

BOOK REVIEW: Chocolate for a Woman's Blessings by Kay Allenbaugh

What's made of chocolate but contains neither sugar nor fat, and doesn't engender guilt by its consumption? Chocolate for a Woman's Blessings, the latest tasty offering in the series of "Chocolate" anthologies confected by Kay Allenbaugh.
 
Reminiscent of the "Chicken Soup" series, Chocolate for a Woman's Blessings presents 77 real-life snapshots with a twist: every contributing author is female, and their stories illuminate issues vital to women's lives. Relationships with parents, men and children; coping with illness, rejection, grief and loss; honoring traditions and cultivating new ones -- these represent but a smattering of themes.

Organized into categories such as "Turning Up Your Light," "Our Favorite Furry Ones" and "Dancing With Angels," the anecdotes present an array as diverse as a Whitman's Sampler. Some made me laugh until my sides ached. Others sent me dashing for the tissues. A few left me feeling ambivalent, though I suspect that happened because I never experienced those situations (divorce, for example), rather than any perceived lack of merit in the stories themselves.

Therein lies the power of the "Chocolate" series or, for that matter, any written work that evokes intimate kinship with the reader. Through depictions of the most devastating tragedies and soaring triumphs -- and events at many levels in between -- Chocolate for a Woman's Blessings reinforces the message that we are not alone. Other women bearing similar burdens survived, perhaps suffering bruised bodies, frayed emotions and tattered spirits in the process. In Chocolate for a Woman's Blessings, they emerge to share their hard-won lessons. Only one word describes the level of encouragement this book offers: priceless.

Daughter, wife, mother or sister -- you cannot err by indulging yourself in this type of "chocolate." And, men, trust me when I tell you it makes the perfect gift for the special woman in your life. It provides emotional satisfaction, it won't cause her to bewail her post-holiday figure -- and I guarantee you'll earn major sensitivity points.

"Chocolate" doesn't get any better than this.

(Originally published in Crescent Blues. Reprinted with permission.)

Stephen Hawking: "Quiet people have the loudest minds."

Image copyright 2013 by VisitSeattle.org

Inspiration for Writers

For my writer friends who might need a bit of inspiration...
complete with scan of original coffee stains!

(c) 1995 by Wiley Miller