Addison Fox: A Puzzle

I spent time with my parents over the 4th of July weekend and we worked on a puzzle together. They’d started it the week before so by the time I arrived the frame was up and some of the center image was coming together. Throughout a few days, we continued to work the middle pieces, coming in and out of the dining room as the mood struck.

I’m deeply fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with both of my parents – we talk easily and are always discussing something – but the conversation as we put the puzzle together was different somehow. My father told stories about my grandmother and how she had a series of rules when they did puzzles.

• You must frame the puzzle first
• You must work on the puzzle to be part of putting in the last few pieces
• You must put the pieces into sections on the table that seem to correspond with where they go

It was silly talk but it gave me a memory I didn’t have and further framed up (pun intended!!) an aspect of my grandmother I didn’t know. (She’d probably have been horrified that I got to work on the puzzle a week after it had begun!!)

Throughout the weekend we discussed the silly and the mundane but we also discussed the serious. A friend’s been going through the after effects of a stroke and we discussed that and the corresponding life changes that come with it.

In short – the time we spent in front of that puzzle was concentrated together time. There weren’t any distractions, it was just us. Our time with the puzzle created new memories together, and it added to the rich store of history I have about my loved ones.

Thanks for joining me today!
XO,
Addison



Despite early ambitions of being a diver, a drummer or a doctor, Addison Fox happily discovered she was more suited to life as a writer. She lives in New York and - thankfully - doesn't have to operate on anyone. You can find her at her home on the web at www.addisonfox.com. Her latest release, THE ROYAL SPY’S REDEMPTION, from Harlequin Romantic Suspense is on shelves now. You can visit her at her website at www.addisonfox.com

Lilian Darcy: New Year's Indulgences

Every New Year, like many people do, I make resolutions. They’re all about working harder, eating better, getting fitter – all the hard, challenging stuff.

This year, I’ve decided to change things around a little. I’m not going to focus on my resolutions, I’m going to plan my indulgences.

1)     Spend More Time Outdoors

I’ve really been enjoying this lately, whether I’m out in the open air gardening, walking or cycling. I’d like to move more of my regular activities out of doors, when possible. I’d like to eat, read and listen to music out of doors more often in 2015. And maybe sometimes just sit.

2)     Read More

As a writer and editor, reading has been a professional requirement for a long time. Now that I’m moving into retirement, I’d like to read more for pure pleasure and let go of that critical professional perspective that can get in the way of reading enjoyment. I’d like to read more non-fiction, more classics, more books-that-I-wouldn’t-normally-pick-up.

I also want to jump into the kinds of familiar reads that I know I’ll love – books like the Bachelor Auction series from Tule Publishing that’s launching in February.

3)     Do Some Jigsaw Puzzles

I haven’t treated myself to this indulgence very often in recent years. About ten years ago, my husband gave me an enormous jigsaw puzzle,18,000 pieces in total, divided into four separate sections of roughly 4,500 pieces each. I’ve only ever done one of the sections. Last Christmas I started a second one, but packed it away before I’d put much of it together, feeling that there just wasn’t time. This year, I’m going to get it out again and complete it, and so what if it takes months? I might do a few smaller puzzles, too, for light relief.

That’s all I’ve thought of so far, but I fully intend to think of a few more indulgences and embrace them.

How about you? Don’t give me the R word, Resolutions, I want to hear about your planned Indulgences for 2015.

Hope you have a great year!

Lilian Darcy

P.S. If you’d like to indulge yourself with a free ebook, The Sweetest Thing, the second book in my Montana Riverbend series is free on all major ebook platforms.

Old Fashioned Brain Game or Pure Distraction? Annie West

I never seem to have much spare time, certainly not as much as I'd like. And when I do have time to myself I feel I should use it wisely. You know, catch up on the tax or weed the jungle I call a garden or do something else fruitful.

So it's with trepidation that I admit that I enjoy frittering away my spare time doing things that are quite useless. There - it's out!

Over a recent vacation break when I was doing the barest amount of writing we opened THE jigsaw puzzle. The massive 3,000 piece one that mocks from the bookshelf with a 'bet you don't dare take me on' smirk. The puzzle that has only been completed once before. Oh, it looks nice, doesn't it? But believe me, all those green leaves in the corner and that massive alpine slope behind the town are full of almost indistinguishable pieces. We spent a good bit of time merrily complaining about how hard it was, but celebrating whenever we managed to get a piece in. As an added bonus - because the puzzle took up a good deal of our dining room table, picnic type meals became very popular.

We enjoyed the puzzle so much we finished with another, smaller one - a mere 500 pieces which was done in a  single afternoon. Well, it was a wet day... I inherited this one years ago from my parents and I enjoy the fact that you can't get bored because of the variety of scenes in it.

I'm not quite sure what the attraction is in jigsaw puzzles. It had been years since I'd done one but I got straight back into the swing of it when we opened the box. I wonder if it's because I associated them with long summer holidays of my childhood, when it was okay to leave a jigsaw out for days until it was completed?

Whatever the reason, I found doing the puzzle both relaxing and stimulating. I felt refreshed after spending a bit of time trying to make the pieces fit. As a bonus, various family members got involved in the puzzles and there was a lovely feeling of camaraderie as we sat together, working on various parts of each puzzle. At a time when family pursuits seem few and far between this was a treat.

Do you have a puzzle or pastime you adore to do that may not be particularly 'useful'? Do you enjoy puzzles, sudoku or crosswords? Do you like card games or board games or do you have a weakness for computer games? What's your favourite 'non-useful' pastime? 

Personally I suspect that spending time letting our brains focus on something different is good for us. Or maybe that's an excuse to pick up a crossword or a jigsaw. What do you think?

Annie's current release is CAPTIVE IN THE SPOTLIGHT from Harlequin Presents. It's a sexy, intense story about a woman who's free at last after a nightmare couple of years, but finds herself confronted with the one man she'd hoped never to see again. The man she'd almost loved and the man she can never trust again, all under the spotlight of the world's paparazzi.

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