Tote Bags 'n' Blogs: reprint

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Thursday, March 10, 2016

Spring has Sprung! :: Anne McAllister

It's that time of year again!

I've spent lots of years in a cold climate blessed, most years, with plenty of snow. So when it gets to be March, I start looking around for signs of spring.

This year the signs began appearing well before March. I teach class one day a week, and the first week in February one of the women in my class came in late and rather breathless and announced, "I've just seen a flock of robins!"

We practically all stampeded to the door to see what she'd seen. And yes, there they were.

There were crocuses well above the snow a couple of weeks ago, and the daffodils are pushing their way up by the back door.

When we went for a walk with the dogs yesterday, I could see that the scilla was beginning to come up, too. In a few weeks -- or less -- it will be blanketing the lawns hereabouts.

Blue lawns always make me smile. I didn't grow up in this climate, so I've had to learn all about it. The first time I saw a

blue lawn, I thought I was seeing things as I drove past in a car. I couldn't imagine what was making it blue. Now I always make it a point to walk the dogs past all the blue lawns in our neighborhood just to enjoy the spectacle. It doesn't take much to make me happy, I guess.

Or maybe it's the feeling that we are coming out of hibernation, that we don't have to bundle up to our eyeballs to go out and get the mail anymore.

It even makes me happy -- most of the time -- to wipe the dogs feet every time they come back in after an excursion around the back yard.

In spring I measure the weather in 'dog-foot days.' The more times they go in an out, multiplied by how many feet I have to dry (or sometimes wash and dry) is an indication of just how muddy it is out there. Today was a "48 dog foot day," which is pretty

muddy -- particularly since I ended up washing one dog's feet every time she came in.

Still, I'm not complaining. It's spring. The book is coming along. I'm going to see three reprints this spring when my Tanner Brothers trilogy comes back with brand-new covers. And I'm going to get to post them on my newly updated website (still in progress, but check around Easter and it might well be there!). That will feel like spring all over again!

What are your favorite signs of spring? (My apologies to all readers from Down Under for this very geographically oriented post. Feel free to tell me what you love about autumn. I'm pretty fond of it, too!).

Photo credits:
1) Dakota Lynch: own work. An American robin searching for food in a Missouri field. CC BY-SA 3.0 Creative Commons license.
2) crocus By Thomas Wolf (Der Wolf im Wald) (Own work) CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
3) Ixtlilto (Own work) [Public domain], Creative Commons via Wikimedia
Commons
4) BSchenck: own work
5 BSchenck: own work

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Here We Go Again

2014 is turning out to be my year of backlist books. My first books were

published by Kensington's Precious Gems line and they're coming out again as eBooks. The two that are out now were published as Be My Baby and Side By Side. They're back to my original titles. Why? Because I really liked my original titles. So now Be My Baby, which deals with a lactation consultant (something I worked at for years) is Bosom Buddies. Yeah, I know. You're either laughing…or rolling your eyes. My kids would be rolling their eyes, so it's okay if you are!

The book was Side By Side, and now it's Cinderella Wore Tennis Shoes. Really, when a runaway bride runs what else would she wear but tennis shoes??

On all these new old releases I'm using the tagline "A Holly Jacobs Classic Romance" because I want readers to know that these are older works.

I don't tend to reread my older works, so rereading some now has been interesting. I see the writer I've become (am becoming) in those stories. I hope that readers enjoy these blasts from the past!

On Thursday, even more older books are coming out. Harlequin is rereleasing most of my Perry Square series as eBooks. These stories were set around a real park in downtown. I've set most of my books in and around Erie, but the Perry Square series is unique because I set it on a real downtown park. Oh, I include real Erie landmarks in other books, but being set on the Square made this series unique. I put together a tour of the real Square. If you ever visit Erie, you'll definitely want to visit it, until then, come with me...

A Perry Square Visit:

Perry Square is a real two block park in Erie, Pa. It's named after Oliver Hazard Perry, made famous during the Battle of Lake Erie. There's a statue of him in the park.

Here is just a beautiful autumn shot of the park.

The real Perry Square is surrounded by businesses. In my Perry Square books I've added fictional businesses such as

Snips and Snaps Beauty Salon, By Design, The Chocolate Bar, a law firm and a eye doctor's office. This isn't any reflection on the very lovely stores that really make up the square. If you're ever in Erie, I hope you stop by and visit them. In the meantime, I hope you'll read about my fictional ones!

If you go a few blocks down from Perry Square, you'll reach our bayfront. In my books I take you there a lot. Characters go visit the tower. And they've even taken dinner cruises.

A view of Presque Isle Peninsula from the tower.

A view up State Street from the tower. Perry Square is about five blocks straight ahead!

Finally, see the little stack in the background? That's our

Maritime Museum and the Blasco Library!

These three beach shots were taken August '03. That's me...and the sunsets. Truly, the sunsets are Erie at its best!

Once Upon a Prince spend a lot of time on the Bayfront. Shey and Tanner go to the Blasco library (2, 3), which is next to the Maritime Museum (1) and the Brig Niagara (4).