Happy New Year....er....There Goes January!

What's that quote about the road to..somewhere being lined with best intentions? Yeah...that one.  I'm the kind of person who ends a year and begins the new one with the very BEST of intentions - about life, health, practices and commitments--but it doesn't take very long before I fall or drift away from them.

This year, 2017, it took me less than 3 days. Pitiful, right? My first resolution was to make sure to send out/actually mail physical birthday cards to my family and closest friends. Well, my son's birthday is January 4th and let's just say, no card was in the mail!  And I can neither confirm nor deny that my daughter-in-law's birthday card was in my purse until yesterday...

In my defense, I can say I have not been sitting around eating bonbons! I've been recovering from the holidays (which were wonderful!), writing A LOT (lots of stories needed words!), handling some family issues and working with my new website designer to get my new website ready for its launch! I've also been launching that website and holding an almost-month-long celebration of the site that ended yesterday.

Now, I'm looking at the end of January, what's next? Well, more writing, of course! I am in the middle of a new contract with Harlequin for more sexy Highlander romances (and the next one is underway). I'm also working on several other special projects that I can't really reveal just yet! Sorry to be a tease, but things are still in the works and once they're of
ficial, I'll share them widely and loudly. (very exciting stuff coming!!)

The best thing has been watching my grandbabies getting bigger by the day! Princess Alexis is 2 now and has unleashed her babbling - she's talking to everyone and everything but I'm lucky to understand every 10th word! The funniest thing is that she can clearly say 'aubergine' rather than eggplant. Princess Sydney is 14 months now and has discovered her favorite places to sit in their house -- the windows in the dining room and the ledge in the refrigerator!  They are both the exactly right height for her to back up to and sit down. Too cute!



So, what's been happening in your life since the holidays and the New Year?  Good intentions carried through? Or miserably failing like me? More important - what good books have you read lately? I have managed to do that! I got an advanced copy of Kerrigan Byrne's THE DUKE (it comes out in February) and wow-oh-wow this is not to be missed! If you like dark and tormented heroes, along with a sexy, smart story that makes you swoon and cry and cheer, you should give her series a try!   

Terri is thrilled to release UPON A MISTY SKYE, her novella from the USA Today Bestselling anthology ONCE UPON A HAUNTED CASTLE. Available on all retailers today, it's the story of a forbidden love between enemies and the ghost that helps them! 

The next will be UPON A HIGHLAND MOOR in the anthology FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDERS  coming on April 18 - available for preorder now!   Visit my website for all the latest news!

Michelle Styles: Good Intentions Gone Wrong

My great grandmother used to say if the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, then I am the contractor in chief.  It is a  sentiment which really resonates with me.  I do have very good intentions but sometimes things go wrong and there are unintended consequences. These can prove problematic  like the time I ordered rock (a type of peppermint candy found at the British seaside) with the school’s name emblazoned on it for the school fair only for it to arrive six hours late. In the end, it turned out fine  as it did get sold and we had enough left over to give to the school leavers as a present. Or when I sent my apologies for my high school reunion and asked to hear about what other people were doing.  I was very interested and helped to get a loop started.  One or two took it the wrong way and I did have to suffer flack for admitting to writing historical romances. What is it about some people and the romance genre?  But my actions encouraged one man to attend the reunion where he re-encountered a fellow classmate. He was a successful businessman and she a single mother. Nine months later, the couple married and are very happy. They recently had their own child. You see romance isn't just confined to the pages of a novel.

 When I came to write my latest release To Marry A Matchmaker, at first my heroine gave me problems. I just could not get her right. Something was missing. Then I happened to see an email that perhaps I shouldn’t have done but someone mentioned me being a bit of a busybody and I knew that I had my heroine.  That was what she was a bit of busybody but with a lot of heart. The phrase  about good intentions and a phrase off a mug that we bought  my daughter – I’m not bossy, I just have better ideas seemed encapsulate my heroine Henri.  Henri ended up being very close to my heart – someone who sees a problem and takes action rather than sitting back. She is someone who is one of life’s givers rather than takers. Some people might see her as a meddling busybody but she does what she does from the heart and ultimately she does make life a better and richer place. In her case, she firmly believes in love and romance (as long as it is for other people). However, a local landowner sees her passion for matchmaking as interference and bets her that she can’t stop for a month.  Henri believes she is more than equal to the challenge. After all, she can stop any time she wants...or can she?

Does anyone else have trouble with good intentions gone wrong? Please don't let me be the only one!

Contest:

Update:

The winner of the Contest is Tia Knox. She has been contacted. Many thanks to everyone else who entered.

RWA Nationals:
If anyone is going or going to the literacy signing, I hope to see you there. I have the intention of having an edible treat for anyone who stops by at the literacy signing to say hello.