Lori Wilde: The Measure of Success

Once upon a time I believed that in order to be a successful author I had to work eighty hours a week. I thought I had to sacrifice my free time, my health, and my relationships to make it big.

THE GOAL became everything. I learned how to function on four hours of sleep. I gave up reading for pleasure. I surrendered hobbies. I didn’t take vacations. I worked and worked and worked and worked.

I would look around at other writers who did not share my work ethic, and feel sorry for them because they didn’t have what it took to make it big.

And then I hit the New York Times bestseller list.

Friends and family were calling, wanting to take me out to celebrate. I got flowers and cards and presents. I had finally achieved the pinnacle of writerly success.

And it was the loneliest time of my life.

Because nothing had changed.

I’d spent twenty years chasing the dream, but I was exhausted, in physical pain, worried, and anxious. I could not celebrate. I was on deadline. There were revisions due on another book, line edits on a third book, galleys on a fourth. The dishes were stacked in the sink and the laundry hamper was full. I needed a haircut, a manicure and a massage but didn’t have the time.

And the money hadn’t come in yet. My bank account was shockingly low, even as family and friends assumed I was rolling in dough.

I was a hamster on a wheel and there was no way to get off. I had to keep running and running and running.

And then I crashed and burned.

Big time.

No one besides the people closest to me knew what I was going through. From the outside it looked like I had reached the zenith of success. But my entire body hurt. I was an emotional wreck. I had a major new contract and six books due in eighteen months, and no way to live up to my obligations.

I had to do something to get my life back in balance or my health—and my career—was done for.

I went to see a doctor, and he gave me the greatest blessing. He took out a prescription pad and in big letters wrote: YOGA.

That man literally saved my life.

I’ve been doing yoga for eighteen months now, and I’ve done a complete one-eighty. Physically, mentally and emotionally, I’m stronger than I’ve ever been. I have hobbies. I’ve reconnected with friends. I took a yoga vacation to Costa Rica. I’m happy, healthy and invigorated.

And the writing?

I stopped thinking about bestseller lists. I stopped obsessing over reviews. I stopped working ridiculously long hours. Occasionally, I go out to lunch with friends and I make time for hobbies and to read good books. I’m no longer desperate and grasping.

Will I keep hitting the bestseller lists? I don’t know. At this point, I don’t care. The love of writing is back. I have a life. A real life I love. Not one chained to the computer. And all those authors that I used to pity because they didn’t have my work ethic? I realize now they were the ones who had it right.

True success doesn’t come from accolades, and buckets of money. It comes from finding that calm place within us. It comes from being healthy and strong. It comes from being kind and spending time with loved ones. It comes from being grateful for what you have. It comes from living in the moment.

Because that’s all we have. Right now.

My only regret is that it took me so long to understand this lesson. But at least I finally got there.

What about you? Do you feel like a hamster on a wheel that you can’t get off of? Do you have some limiting beliefs that are keeping you from leading the life you deserve? Are you sacrificing yourself for a goal that might leave you feeling empty and lonely? What yardstick are you using to measure success?

           

           

            

Is it Summer Yet?

By Joanne Rock

I hate to sound as whiny as your school-aged kids, but all week, I’ve been dying for summer to arrive. Not the solstice per se. I don’t need the official date that marks the change of season. But I crave the summer that begins with the last day of school and means that I have months ahead where I don’t have to wake up to an alarm clock.

Anita on Flickr "Once Upon a Time Was Summer"

Now, I sincerely apologize to those of you who have to wake up to an alarm clock all summer long. I don’t know how you do it. One of the criteria for choosing my job as a writer was having flexible hours since I’m not a morning person. I will work an insane number of hours in a week—no problem! Just don’t make any of those hours six a.m.

Or, for that matter, regimented. I’ve been self-employed long enough to recognize that it is the repetition of the daily alarm that is most troublesome for me during the school year. There’s something so relentless about its chirpy announcement day after day after day. I wouldn’t mind an alarm so much if it went off at various times, perhaps.

My hat is off to my youngest teenage son, who starts his school day at 7:05 a.m. That’s when he is in a class and paying attention (in theory, anyway). I’m lucky I can drive him to school at that hour. I’d certainly never be able to sit in a classroom and absorb a lesson until 9. And only then after some serious time with my coffee cup.

Stephanie Vacher, Flickr, "tire swing"

I do a lot of thinking work in my job as a writer and sleepiness is a death knell for thinking. Have you ever tried thinking while you’re tired? The end result is you fall asleep. So over the years, I’ve worked hard to maximize my most alert times. And during the summer, I have far more of them because I’m well-rested. It’s a lovely feeling.

Today, I’m wishing you days of not waking up to an alarm. Days where the song of birds or a sliver
of sun brings you to slow wakefulness. Or maybe a hot guy beside you. Any of those are preferable to the electronic wail that is the counterpart of my school year.

While I’m at it, I’m going to wish you all a summer full of simple joys like you savored when you were a school-aged kid yourself and the summers felt endless. Swimming with friends. Picking flowers. Riding bikes to nowhere. Or – knowing you—maybe you were happiest in the summer when you were laying on a blanket in the backyard with a good book.

***Share with me today the happiest moments of summer past so we can all look forward to the dog days! I’ll give one random poster a copy of my latest Harlequin Superromance, NIGHTS UNDER THE TENNESSEE STARS.

Eve Gaddy: Music for Writers

I have used music to help me write and get me in the mood to write for a long time now. Almost from my very first book. I still can't write while music plays in the background. I'm highly distractable and if I hear the music I tend to sing along with it, or hum if it's instrumental. I do neither of those things well but I like doing them.

Since I can't block it out to write, I listen to music at other times. Driving in the car, before I write, while I'm in the shower. Katherine Garbera and I have a new series just out, the Whiskey River series we're very excited about. With the first two books for the series, Where There's a Will, out now, and my upcoming one, One Night With the Cowboy, coming June 3, I found what I call a trigger song.

A trigger song is a bit different from a playlist. My playlist for a book usually has a number of songs on it. I'll listen to the whole playlist a lot, but there is often one song that puts me in the mood, one song that drops me right into the story. Sometimes it changes mid-book. Now, when I have found my trigger song, I play it constantly right before I start writing. I like to play it on repeat while I'm taking a shower and then go immediately to write.

Sometimes the lyrics to the trigger song relate to the story. In fact, most of them do. But sometimes they don’t. My trigger song for Where There's A Will was Milky Chance's Stolen Dance http://bit.ly/1pYbtN5 . I'm not sure why because I don’t think the lyrics really relate, but the song dropped me directly into the story. Believe me, that's a tremendous help when you're writing.

My trigger song for One Night With The Cowboy was Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio's Longer http://bit.ly/1IDRdvA. Again, I'm not quite sure why this song spoke to me so strongly but it's a great song.

Katherine Garbera and I have, or will have, playlists for all the different books in the Whiskey River series. We share them on our Whiskey River website, www.whiskeyrivertexas.net . We're adding more songs as we write more books for the series.

Another of my favorite things to do is take a drive on a familiar route and put the CD of my playlist on and listen to it while I'm driving. This also works for walking, except I have my phone or an Ipod instead of my CD player. Unfortunately, sometimes, especially when driving, I get so involved in the music and thinking about the book I forget where I'm going and end up in a completely different place from the one I intended.:)

I love SiriusXM radio and listen to it often while driving, especially when I'm looking for new music and music to add to my playlists. Right now I'm working on my next book in the Whiskey River series, One Night With the Bad Boy. But I need songs badly. Which gives me a very good reason to check out Youtube and Spotify. Spending hours on those sites is work, I promise!

Madeline Ash: Character Interview - Her Secret Prince

Today we’re chatting with Prince Jebediah and his new wife, Dee, as they reflect on their lives following the events in Her Secret Prince.

You are the couple of the moment, the fairytale romance on everyone’s minds! Do tell us how you two met.

JED: I moved around a lot as a kid. At sixteen, my mum moved us to San Francisco. I met Dee at school and we became friends.

DEE: You mean I was your only friend. He wasn’t interested in being social, because his mum was probably going to make him move again. But for some reason, he liked me and I fell in love with him pretty fast. I mean, look at him, who wouldn’t? All dark hair and shadowy stares, my God, he still makes me weak. Anyway, he was too shy to make a move, so I did, right before he disappeared. My heart held out for him for the next ten years.

That’s so romantic. So Jed, is it true – you had no idea you were royalty until recently?

JED: Not a clue. My true lineage was kept from me throughout my childhood. It wasn’t until my father made contact with me recently that I found out. I was stunned.

DEE: Yet it made sense. Beneath his quiet words and confused soul-chasing, there’s always been a kind of…presence, you know? People look at him when he walks into a room. They listen when he talks – and he doesn’t talk loudly. He’s measured and compassionate, and if ever there was a secret prince in the making, it makes complete sense that it was Jed.

Aw, absolutely! And Dee, you lived in Los Angeles before you moved to the castle here in Leguarday?

DEE: That’s right. I had a poky apartment that I loved to death – about the size of my wardrobe here. I spent my days working on screenplays in a café around the corner. It was a simple life, a bit lonely, but I miss it sometimes.

Yes, it must be very different here. One final cheeky question – we heard that you two are very active lovers and are making your way through the castle one room at a time. Can you tell us whether that’s true?

JED: No comment.

DEE: Oh yeah, we’re almost half way! Thanks for having us!

Thanks for chatting to us! If you’d like to know more about Prince Jebediah and Dee’s love story, Her Secret Prince is available on Amazon now.

~~

Thanks for having me on the blog today, Lee! It’s been fun interviewing my own characters post-story!

Best, 

Madeline

Scarlet Wilson: The Fairy Tale Bride

Everyone loves a good bride story and Tule Publishing have a new series of bride books launching this month.  The first out is my book The Fairy Tale Bride.  It tells the story of Lisa Renee the owner of the bridal shop in Marietta. She's used to making bride's dreams come true, but when a celebrity wedding rolls into town - along with some badly behaved bridesmaids - things start to get a little out of hand.  Thank goodness she's got her sanctuary of volunteering at the local hospital.  And there's a new guy in town.  Dr Adam Brady seems interested in Lisa but there's more to him than meets the eye.  Will Lisa find out what?

The celebrity wedding theme is threaded through the six books in the series, with the final book revealing what actually happens.  We had great fun pulling all the story ideas together, and there were lots of celebrity weddings to take inspiration from!   

Do you have a favourite celebrity wedding tale?  I loved Victoria and David Beckham sitting on thrones, or Pamela Anderson getting married in a white bikini on the beach.  Tell me your favourite celebrity wedding tale and I'll send my favourite one of my latest releases.

Thanks

Scarlet Wilson

Nicole Helm: The Allure of the Bad Boy

I tend to be a creature of habit, which makes me a writer of habit. I’m drawn to writing certain kinds of characters in certain kinds of situations. Uptight strong and silent (and a little grumpy) types, or laid back, easy-going types, usually hiding their scars with a joke.

After writing my tenth published book, I’d gotten to the point where I wanted to try something new. Something I’d never done before.

In my May release, Bride by Mistake, from Tule Publishing, part of the Montana Born Brides series, I decided to try my hand at a bad boy.

Of course, he’s not really bad. He made some bad choices as a teen, and in a small town, he can’t live them down even as he grows into a man who’s made some good choices. And it sometimes means he gets blamed for bad choices he didn’t even make, and to guard hurt feelings he sometimes accepts that blame.

This, of course, meant I knew his perfect match would be a good girl. The kind of girl who did what everyone wanted her to do, who followed the life plan that would make everyone else happy, only to find it had served her no purpose, and the bad boy might just. But more than that, I knew Beckett needed someone who would see through the bad boy facade he’s adopted to protect his heart. Kaitlin has known Beckett since she was a kid, since he’s her brother’s best friend, and she’s always been the one to see right through him—and call him out on his crap.

I love writing banter, and the banter between Bad Seed Beckett and Goody-Goody Kaitlin was no exception. I think more often than not banter is hiding a powerful attraction just waiting to be unleashed. And when that happens between Beckett and Kaitlin, their lives will never be the same.

Which do you prefer? Bad boys who are bad to the bone or ones hiding a secret heart of gold?

Decisions, Decisions

This week a major decision fell into my lap--on the same day that I got revisions for my next book, while I'm racing toward a June 1 deadline on another. My son got sick. The cat wanted attention. A proposal needed to be altered. My house is a mess. My hair needs to be dyed--

I posted on Facebook about being overwhelmed and forty people responded that they were too, and it struck me that in some ways being a writer is just like being anything else. You have good days. You have bad. And you can bet your boots that if you have a decision to make -- especially a big one -- you'll be so distracted your eyes will bug, your stomach will churn and you'll look at your car with the feeling you should just jump inside and take off -- and not tell anyone where you're going.

But making decisions, though not easy, can be a systematic process.

1. Get the facts. All the facts. It may take a day or two to remember every "angle" of the decision but take the time.
2. Assemble the facts. Most pundits say have a yes, do it side and a no, don't do it side. Put each fact or possibility in its appropriate category and pretty soon it'll be clear which side is longer.
3. WEIGH THE FACTS. I put this one in all caps because this is the one people sometimes forget. Not all items on your lists are created equal. For instance, if you're thinking of getting a 30-year mortgage, the fact that you're stuck with that mortgage for thirty years is more important than the fact that the house you're buying has flower beds that are already blooming. LOL Learn to weigh the facts!
4. Segregate the consequences. We blithely list as facts in our Yes/No decision list and this is a mistake. Consequences are different than facts and they need to be examined separately. Remember that thirty-year mortgage? One of the consequences of getting one of those is that you are tied up for thirty years.
5. Take your temperature. Not your body temp, but ask yourself what you want. Really? Even if a decision is difficult (as mine was) or requires more work (as mine did) sometimes you simply have a sense that something is the right thing to do and you're going to have to buckle down and do it.
6. Decide.

Once you've gotten the facts, assembled them, weighed them, examined the consequences, and checked your gut, you're ready to decide.

So it doesn't matter if you're talking about a writing project, signing a contract, getting married, having a baby, the process is the same. Even if your gut is telling you that you desperately want to do something, take the time to examine it from all sides before you decide. :)

That's what I did. And in the midst of the chaos that is my life lately, I turned a very difficult choice into an easy decision.

Happy Reading...


susan meier

Melissa McClone: Authors With Heart Mother's Day Totes

Romance authors and readers are some of the most caring and generous folks around. When you ask for help, they step forward in a big way.

I want to tell you about a group that I’m calling #authorswithheart. They helped me with a project near and dear to my heart—providing Mother’s Day goodie bags to moms staying at two Washington state Fisher Houses. If you don’t know anything about Fisher House, click on this link. It’s a fantastic organization that supports military families.

The first goodie bag!

For the past three years, I’ve sent Mother’s Day goodie bags to the two Fisher Houses. I’d seen a request for help from a service member care package organization and offered to send something.

The first year was a solo effort. Each clear goodie bag contained an autographed book, a pair of footies, a candy bar and two tea bags. I secured them with a ribbon and attached a little card.

Year two goodie bag!

The next year, I was no longer volunteering with the organization, but offered to send something again if they’d like. They did, and I decided to do more this time.

I asked authors, readers and friends to sponsor Thirty-One Thermal Totes. I also asked authors if they’d send a few books. Some authors sent more than a few and also included swag, which I hadn’t thought to ask for. I was so happy how the tote bags turned out, and they were a big hit!

This year, I found out the organization I’d gone through the past two year had changed their focus so wasn't working with the Fisher House for Mother's Day, but they gave me the phone numbers of the house managers. I called and asked if I could send Mother’s Day totes this year. They said yes!

This year's contents!

I approached authors first, starting with last year’s participants and then asked other authors. I'd learned my lesson last year so made a point to request swag!

By the time I’d heard back from everyone, I had enough authors wanting to sponsor totes. I also had more than enough books, not to mention swag. I was so excited, and that excitement grew each time another box arrived. Opening them was like Christmas!

Thirty thermal totes were filled with over 200 romance novels, a goodie bag filled with book/author swag (bookmarks, pens, post-it notes, jewelry, key chains, chapstick, jar opener, nail files, measuring spoon, combs, postcards, luggage tags, etc.), a goodie bag filled with pampering items (nail polish, shower puffy, tissue, hair band, comb, footie socks, and candy and a cone of flavored popcorn!

Putting it all together!

The goodie bag assembly took place on my dining room table, which we only use for holiday dinners! I sorted the swag into thirty piles then bagged it! All went into a tote bag along with a card with the sponsor author's name. They were boxed and mailed to the two Fisher Houses.

One of the Fisher Houses wrote to me the following: 

"...these have been delightful, the guests love them!"

I'd like to give a shout-out to the authors who helped me this year. Some sponsored totes, others donated books and/or swag. Some did all three. I can't thank them enough for their generosity and time.

Christine Rimmer	Jennifer Faye	Lynda Ward
Christyne Butler	Jennifer Snow	Mary Jo Putney
Cindy Kirk	Joanne Rock	Melinda Curtis
Deborah Blake	Kaira Rouda	Michelle Major
Donna Alward	Karen Rose Smith	Nancy Robards Thompson
Elizabeth Boyle	Karen Templeton	Roxanne Sponek
Jane Porter	Katherine Garbera	Susan Mallery
Jean C. Gordon	Lenora Worth	Scarlet Wilson
Jeannie Moon	Linda Goodnight	Tracy Solheim

 

Over the next several months, I'm doing features on the Authors With Heart at my website's blog. You can find out about one of the author's titles and win an eBook, too. I hope you'll check out the posts!

 

Now I have a giveaway for you! I made up goodie bags with the leftover swag from the Mother's Day totes. There’s a grand prize, a 2^nd place prize and three runner-up prizes for you to win. 

Leave a comment and I’ll choose the winners using random.org on Monday evening, May 25th. Be sure to check back to see if you won.

If you're a winner, you can contact me via my website or PM me on my Facebook page. If I don't hear from winners by Friday, May 29th, I'll pick new winners and post them here and on my Facebook page on Saturday, May 30th.

Carole Mortimer: A Lifetime Achievement

In late March I received some amazing news—Romantic Writers of America have awarded me the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015!

They had a difficult time telling me about it too—I was away on holiday at the time, and was off internet connection over the weekends, but they finally managed to track me down and tell me the wonderful news. I can’t thank them enough for this wonderful honor, I still wake up every morning wondering if I dreamt it!

It also seems incredible that yesterday, May 17^th, I released Midnight Alpha, the 4^th book in my bestselling ALPHA series.

Am I still having fun self-publishing this ebook series?

You bet I am!

Is my world still as frenetic and busy as it was when I first started publishing the series back in November 2014?

Yes, it is!

But in a good way. I now understand the process of self-publishing so much more than I did when I first began the Alpha series just seven short months ago, and I can do virtually everything needed myself now—something I’m very proud of, and which my six sons are amazed at. Mainly because I used to be a complete Luddite; if it had a plug on it then I didn’t want to know! I can’t get away with that nowadays, and I don’t want to.

I’m still writing for Harlequin Mills and Boon as well as my Indie books, have the second trilogy of the Dangerous Dukes for Harlequin Historical being released July/August/September this year, plus I’m busy writing a Harlequin Presents trilogy due to be published in 2016.

Life is busy, with both my family and my writing, and that’s just the way I love it to be.

Love Carole

Website: www.carolemortimer.co.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CaroleMortimerAuthor

Email: contact@carolemortimer.co.uk

Twitter: www.twitter.com/@carole_mortimer

A link for signing up for my monthly newsletter, for news on Carole Mortimer and current and future publishing dates and titles of books, can be found on my website and also on my Facebook page.

Susan Stephens: My trip to Italy

Hello again,

So good to be back chatting with you :)

The hills really were alive with music during my recent trip to Italy. The local youth orchestra was playing in the town nearby and we could have listened to them all day.

I was in Italy for a wonderful writing retreat in Tuscany led by my great friend Sharon Kendrick. We had such a great time- good food, good company, and the best of Italian food to inspire our imaginations. I think the two of us must have broken the record for most miles walked - we both had step Apps on our phones and where better to keep up that daily average than amidst this type of scenery...?

Our last day in Pisa.

Tuscany was just beyond beautiful and I can't wait to go back. I hope you enjoy these photographs and only wish you could hear the birdsong and the rush of the river, and smell the moist green fields. It was just stunning.

Sharon Kendrick, Aine Ni Mhurchu, Linda Gask, and Yours Truly, enjoying the last of the Tuscan sunshine before we head home.

I returned home to find an exciting new multi-book contract with Harlequin waiting for me that will keep me happily writing through 2016/2017.

I have 2 more books in my Hot Brazilian Nights gaucho polo series November and December releases this year-- look out for The Brazilian's 9-Month Notice in November this year, and Back in The Brazilian's Bed in December, followed by a secret baby story - one of my favourite themes of all - in March 2016.

And that's it for now. I do hope you enjoy the pics of the ravishingly beautiful Tuscan countryside, and I look forward to being back here chatting with you next month!

With my warmest wishes to all of you for the merry month of May,

Susan

His Blushing Bride - More Marietta!

Are you as in love with Marietta as I am? We, the authors, are seeing a lot of comments like this on Netgalley, Goodreads and Amazon:

"I've genuinely loved the Marietta Mini series from Tule publishing..."

And we look, yes, we do! We want readers to be as excited to visit this wonderful town and all our characters as we are to write their individual stories.

Which is why I'm so pleased to be part of the latest "Married in Marietta" Bride series. Have you seen the covers?

Very pretty, right? I happen to have bookmarks that look like this. If you would like me to mail you one, contact me through my website (http://danicollins.com/contact/) or message me through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DaniCollinsAuthor) with your postal address. I'll pop one in the mail to you.

Now, I'll be honest. One of the reasons I love visiting Marietta is to visit my own characters. While I do my best to pick up other authors' characters for a line or two, I feel most comfortable bringing my own back onstage. In His Blushing Bride, you'll see all the characters from my previous three Montana Born novellas.

Bastian (Sebastian) is actually the brother of Liz from Blame The Mistletoe so I thought it would be fun to include a bit of their interaction for you here:

Excerpt from His Blushing Bride:
(note: I cleaned up the language in this posting. The book uses real swears.)

Bastian ran out to the ranch first thing, gave Blake a hand for an hour, then drove his sister into Bozeman where she shopped for maternity wear and stock for the spa. He bought a new laptop, tablet, and phone along with a few more shirts and shorts, a decent suit for the wedding, some sunglasses and—

“What are those for?” Liz asked in a tone so accusatory, the entire drugstore stopped to glance their way.

“I begin to see how you wound up pregnant,” Bastian said dryly. “Did I make a big deal about you buying a breast pump?”

She gave him the tight-lipped, displeased older-sister look, but stowed whatever she wanted to say until they were in the car.

He threw the bag with the box of condoms at her feet. No way was he going to apologize for being a healthy, responsible adult.

“I guess my real question is, who are those for?” she said, delicately shifting her feet away from the bag.

“Seriously?” She wasn’t teasing. This was a real question, and he couldn’t believe it was coming out of her mouth, directed at him and not her teenaged daughter. “It’s none of your business, Liz.” He shouldn’t have to point that out.

“This isn’t California, you know. Word gets around. Just tell me it’s not Petra’s teacher,” she said shortly.

“It’s not Pet’s teacher,” he lied.

“Liar,” she blasted, bracing an elbow on the door and covering her eyes. “Seriously, Bastian. Do you have to sleep with every single female that crosses your path? There’s a word for it, you know. Man-whore.”

“I think you’re a whore if you take money for it. When you do it just ’cause you like it, you’re a slut.”

“I see. This is how we’re playing? Nearly a doctor and you still haven’t grown up?”

“Stick with, ‘Quit screwing anything that moves.’ The ‘Get a real job’ speech is Dad’s.”

“I just don’t know why you can’t commit to one woman, settle down, and—”

“Yell at my kids?” he cut in sharply. “Make my wife cry? Be so unbearable to be around that my son tells me to get lost and my daughters get married out of high school? How did that work out for you, by the way?”

She kept her face to the window, not answering.

He swore under his breath. “Did I make you cry? Now I feel like a jerk.”

“You are a jerk.” She sounded cross, not hurt. When she looked at him, her face was worried. “Is that really it, Bastian? You don’t think you’d make a good husband? Because I think you’d be a great dad.”

He sighed, annoyed. Frustrated. And kind of relieved she’d say that. There were times when he envied his sisters. Their kids were great and their middle sister’s marriage was actually pretty good.

But marriage and family life had always struck him as suffocating. A trap. Their father sure hadn’t been happy. Men weren’t the only ones to feel that way, either. The women, the sheer multitude of unhappy wives who’d hit on him because they couldn’t stand their husbands… Why set himself up for infidelity and a messy divorce when he could skip getting married altogether?

Which wasn’t something he needed to say to his pregnant, engaged sister. She was upset enough. She knotted her hands over the bump in her lap. “Dad had PTSD. I wish our childhood had been different too, but there’s nothing we can do but accept it.”

Yeah, their old man had been the gift of misery that kept on giving while they were growing up. In some ways, he still was. He set very high standards, especially for his son, and wasn’t very forgiving of deviation. But Liz was right. They couldn’t go back in time and change anything. Bastian had fully accepted that. But…

“Listen. It looks like you’re getting it right this time. Blake seems great. I had to wonder about your decision to marry and have a kid and move to off-the-map Montana, but I respect your choice, Liz. And I’m making a different choice,” he summed up firmly. It was something their father had never made peace with.

Liz was slightly more progressive. She sighed out a long, suffering, “Fine. Live your life the way you want. But—not with Pet’s teacher.”

He wasn’t going to plead his case. He simply would live his life however he saw fit and Piper had the same option.

~ * ~

I'll be at the Romantic Times Convention in Dallas when this posts and, as I write this, His Blushing Bride is only available for pre-order so I only have the quick links below, but it is releasing on all digital platforms:

Amazon: US | Cdn | UK | iBooks

Have you been spending time in Marietta? Who are some of your favourite characters? Remember to email me with your postal address if you'd like a bookmark!