What? It's May already? I'm so far behind...

MAY?

Are you serious, it's May already?

I can't even remember where the time actually went.

Why is it that the older I get, the quicker the time goes by?

My kids are growing up too fast too, can somebody stop that?

So I live in Michigan for any of you that didn't know that and all i can say is our weather is seriously messed up. A couple degrees colder the other night and we would have had snow instead of rain. I'm so ready to move to a warmer climate. What's the weather like where you live??

Not gonna lie, i'm seriously far behind in my writing schedule. I've been pouring myself into designing to get some stock up in my cover group.  Please stop by and join us, check out all the new pre-mades.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/coversbykay/

Even though i'm behind in the writing cave, i do have a new release i'd love to share with you all !!!

Super excited about this boxed set.  
Do you like wolf shifters??

Take a look at this...

Guardian

A COLLECTION OF ALPHA WOLVES

Join the pack with this collection of wolf shifters.

Turn the page and dive into worlds filled with sexy wolf shifters and thrilling tales. Whether you're looking for romance or adventure, there's something within these pages.

These heroes are nothing like the big bad wolf, but only in the best way.

Featuring these authors:

Nicole Morgan  -  Laura Greenwood  -  Laurie Treacy

Lori Titus  -  Tina Glasneck  -  Arizona Tape

Donna R Mercer  -  Misha Carver  -  Kat Parrish

Harper Phoenix  -  Tricia Schneider  -  Nikki Landis

Krista Ames  -  Deelylah Mullin

Purchase Links:

UNIVERSAL #books2read

https://books2read.com/guardianwolves

#Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NF77L8G/

#Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1130529309?ean=2940161505311

#iBooks

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/guardian-a-collection-of-alpha-wolves/id1451765005?mt=11

#Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/guardian-90

****  ****  ****

Find me here:

Website:   http://www.kristsaames.com

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/krista-ames

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kristaames

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/kristaamesauthor

FB Like page:  https://www.facebook.com/Author-Krista-Ames-153335914718126/

Thanks for stopping by and make sure to leave a comment, i'd love to hear about 

your weather since i hate mine :)

Restoring Happiness

Ever have a low energy day? I’m going through one right now. Last weekend my family had a campfire and I somehow managed to get bitten by mosquitoes over FIFTY TIMES on my feet. Crazy, huh? Something else that’s crazy – I’m allergic to mosquito bites. While some people might feel a small bump, or be mildly itchy, my skin turns RED, SWELLES, and ITCHES with a similar intensity to poison ivy.

So, over the past few days I’ve been taking allergy medication, putting my feet up, and trying not to stress over the fact that my toes look as if they had been gnawed on by a yeti. My workouts have been derailed and on the rare occasions when I leave the house, I have been wearing long pants and socks  so I don’t get bitten even more. (did I mention that we're in the middle of a heat wave?)

I’m not saying this to get pity. Rather, I’m telling you this because it helps put things into perspective, and perspective, I believe, is one of the keys to happiness in our lives.

When plans get derailed, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or depressed. Believe me, I know. As humans, it’s natural to focus on the negative in our lives. Sometimes this is beneficial. Thinking about negative things can help us to change things for the better. It can push us to strive for greatness or force us to come up with a novel way of doing things. Sometimes however, we can’t change what has happened, and we must somehow learn to cope.

For May, one of the blog themes is the lily of the valley, a flower that represents restored happiness. I’m convinced that stepping back and reflecting on our blessings  helps us to cope with the negative and restore balance and happiness in our lives.

So, as the swelling in my feet finally starts to fade, I am thankful for all of the small things  – family, friends, the opportunity to do something I love for a living. The list goes on and on.

What are some of the blessings in your life right now? Tell me about it in the comments section. I’d love to hear from you!

**CONTEST**

On June 2^nd, my book, AT HIS SERVICE, will hit bookstores. This marks the first time one of my stories will be found in brick and mortar stores nationwide and I want to celebrate! If you see my book “in the wild,” take your picture with it and send a .jpg of the photo, the bookstore name and city it was found, and the names of the people in the picture to suzannerockauthor(at)gmail(dot)com. Your picture will be included on my brand new FAN PAGE on my website (coming in August). You will also be entered for a chance to win gift packs from my swag bag! Squee! Ten percent of all entrants will win, so the number of winners will depend on the number of people entering the contest. If more people enter, then more will win! How cool is that? Contest is open from June 1^st until June 25^th. Entries after June 25^th will not be used.

And read more about AT HIS SERVICE here!

Questions I Need To Ask My Mother...

Mom will be eighty-two this year but you really wouldn’t know it to look at her. She still has a bounce in her step and a twinkle in her eye and is determined to deal with whatever life hands her. Unfortunately, life has recently dealt her a blow that we’d all been expecting for some time now.

Losing my dad last month was difficult but it made me realize that after all of the times we discussed his family (mostly through humorous anecdotes) that I never really wrote anything down. There is family scattered through several states and Italy that I will probably never meet or know anything about.

The older I get the more I wish that I’d paid more attention, remembered more names and events. One of these days, very soon when mom is in the mood; we’re going to drag out the photo albums and she’s going to identify all of those relatives on both sides so that I can put faces to the names and pass down the knowledge to my own children.

Every spring, usually in May, my husband pots my mother’s herbs and plants tomatoes and peppers. This past weekend we spent a wonderful day just reminiscing while we watched hubby work. Trust me; he’d rather do the planting himself without any interference and we spent much of that time and dinner talking about some of my dad’s relatives that were originally from Iowa and Paris, Kentucky.

My mother is second generation Croatian/Polish and has her own family stories, some of them handed down from her own mother who was always ready with both humorous and cautionary anecdotes. The thing is, while growing up, I was politely listening to most of these stories without realizing the impact they were making.

What I remember most was that the happy memories were enough to balance the sad.  

I’m lucky to still have my mom. We spend a little more time on the phone these days and my niece, who lives close to mom brings her to visit so that she doesn’t need to drive so far and we all spend more time talking about the people who have influenced our lives. I watch my five year-old niece who comes with her mom and ‘gramma’ and wonder how much of our conversations she’s picking up. How much she’ll remember.

I wish her enough happy memories to balance the sad but I think that’s the message we all impart to the next generation. I’m looking forward to many more conversations with my mother, both about the past and whatever she has planned for the future because she is always up for something new and different. She called to thank us once again for coming to spend the day planting her herbs and such but she couldn’t stay on very long; she and a friend were headed to exercise class. Go mom!

Until next month, I’m sending you all a big hug. Feel free to pass it along…

Paris Brandon

http://parisbrandon.com

This & That for the Merry Month of May

            My turn to blog was rapidly approaching, but I found myself devoid of ideas. Not a good thing for a writer. But there I was, high and dry of topics. Then I read a newsletter that included blog ideas for May. Eureka!

           

            The article wasn’t quite what I thought. Rather than blog topics, it listed May monthly observances. I picked out the ones I liked, then set about figuring how I could relate them to each other and to writing. So here goes:

            May is Creative Beginnings Month. That certainly relates to writing. We all need a great beginning, a hook that will reel in readers. Isn’t that what it’s all about—hooking the readers?

            May is National Salsa Month. Salsa is spicy and delicious—just like romance novels. A scrumptious opening whets our taste buds for the rest of the story.

            May is Sweet Vidalia Onion Month. Vidalia onions sweeten a salsa recipe. Sweet, tasty Vidalia onions enhance any recipe much as a passionate and sweet love story enhances any romance novel.

            May 27 is Cellophane Tape Day. Cellophane tape holds things together. Good writing, good characterization, and believable conflict will hold any story together, be it sweet or spicy, or a dash of both.

            May 30 is Hug Your Cat Day. I love cats. Most writers own cats. Every day should be Hug Your Cat Day.

            I’ll end on that note as I go off in search of Killer, my sweet black diva of a cat, to give her a big hug.

ANNOUNCEMENT:

With summer rapidly approaching, its a time to chill and read lots of books, I am happy to announce that I'm in a limited edition boxed set with two writer friends. We call ourselves 3WriterGals. We write and sometimes drink, not necessarily in that order. Our boxed set of three summer reads is called Sizzling Summer, and it's on sale for 99 cents exclusively at Amazon. That's three full-length novels for 99 cents.

How hot do you like your romance?

A special three-book set 

Lynn Reynolds

Ann Whitaker

Cara Marsi

Love Capri Style by Lynn Reynolds

A sexy, sun-drenched romance set on the island of Capri. Can inept journalist Amanda Jackson get an exclusive on playboy Eric Greyford, or will she wind up as just another item on the gossip pages of his newspaper?

Dog Nanny by Ann Whitaker

A romantic comedy set in the heart of Texas

When vet tech Julie Shields agrees to train two delinquent poodles to save them from becoming doggies of divorce, she doesn't count on having to harness her desire for hunky pilot Nick Worthington.

A Catered Romance by Cara Marsi

There's more than business brewing between two old high school flames.

Stubbornly self-reliant Mary Beth Kendrick needs financial backing to keep her catering business cooking. A looming corporate buyout forces her to accept help from Tom Sackett, the man who broke her heart and left her distrustful of men. 

http://www.amazon.com/Sizzling-Summer/dp/B00JZCE1SG/?tag=carmaraut-20

Visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/3writergals

 Enjoy the rest of May and the Memorial Day holiday!

             

The Merry Month of May

THIS AND THAT FOR THE MERRY MONTH OF MAY

     My turn to blog was rapidly approaching, but I found myself devoid of ideas. Not a good thing for a writer. But there I was, high and dry of topics. Then I read a newsletter that included blog ideas for May. Eureka!

    

     The article wasn’t quite what I thought. Rather than blog topics, it listed May monthly observances. I picked out the ones I liked, then set about figuring how I could relate them to each other and to writing. So here goes:

     May is Creative Beginnings Month. That certainly relates to writing. We all need a great beginning, a hook that will reel in editors, agents, and readers, especially readers.

     May is National Salsa Month. Salsa is spicy and delicious--just like romance novels. A scrumptious opening hook whets our taste buds for the rest of the story.

     May is Sweet Vidalia Onion Month. Vidalia onions sweeten a salsa recipe. Sweet, tasty Vidalia onions enhance any recipe much as a passionate and sweet love story enhances any romance novel.

     May 27 is Cellophane Tape Day. Cellophane tape holds things together. Good writing, good characterization, and believable conflict will hold any story together, be it sweet or spicy, or a dash of both.

     May 30 is Hug Your Cat Day. I love cats. Most writers own cats. Every day should be Hug Your Cat Day.

     I’ll end on that note as I go off in search of Killer, my sweet black diva of a cat, to give her a big hug.

  

  

This & That for the Merry Month of May

My turn to blog was rapidly approaching, but I found myself devoid of ideas. Not a good thing for a writer. But there I was, high and dry of topics. Then I read a newsletter that included blog ideas for May. Eureka!



The article wasn’t quite what I thought. Rather than blog topics, it listed May monthly observances. I picked out the ones I liked, then set about figuring how I could relate them to each other and to writing. So here goes:



May is Creative Beginnings Month. That certainly relates to writing. We all need a great beginning, a hook that will reel in editors, agents, and readers.



May is National Salsa Month. Salsa is spicy and delicious--just like romance novels. A scrumptious opening hook whets our taste buds for the rest of the story.



May is Sweet Vidalia Onion Month. Vidalia onions sweeten a salsa recipe. Sweet, tasty Vidalia onions enhance any recipe much as a passionate and sweet love story enhances any romance novel.



May 27 is Cellophane Tape Day. Cellophane tape holds things together. Good writing, good characterization, and believable conflict will hold any story together, be it sweet or spicy, or a dash of both.



May 30 is Hug Your Cat Day. I love cats. Most writers own cats. Every day should be Hug Your Cat Day.



I’ll end on that note as I go off in search of Killer, my cat, to give her a big hug.