I woke up making lists in my head of all the things I must get done this month. Some of the items made it into my notebook to be accomplished today, and the rest drifted off to wait for my next vulnerable half-dream state. High on my priority list is my need to finish editing my friend’s book and to write the next chapter in mine. Instead…
… I spent an hour or two doing my morning routine. Did you know that the book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament is from the point of view of a spoiled King who had EVERYTHING? King Solomon was the richest man on earth. He had more wisdom than anyone ever had, he had hundreds of wives and a few hundred more children than I have, and he was BORED.
At the beginning of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon focused on how great he was, how he’d done everything a man can possibly do, and that nothing was new under the sun. He’d seen it all, done it all, knew it all, and there was nothing left for him to discover. How sad. Poor Solomon had yet to learn the lesson the Lord pointed me to today. We can choose to rely on ourselves, or we can choose to rely on the One who makes everything new, every morning. As it turned out, the king dying of ennui actually had an awakening, but you’ll have to read the book to find out how.
… I started the laundry. At the time of this writing, I’d also finished it, folded, and put it away.
… My iMac called my name after I put in the first load, and I jumped on to start editing. Instead, I caught up on emails and discovered everyone’s comments on all the blog posts from yesterday. I also found today’s entries that had already been posted and left my comments. I love reading your blogs! Nonnie, this was a great idea! Even though it takes up so much time.
I wrote a book review I’ll be posting today, and at lunch I read a short book I enjoyed very much. Every day needs some balance, right?
It is now nearly 5pm, and I haven’t started doing the two items that made my list. This does not bode well for the rest of January. Tomorrow is another day. I’m off to make dinner, watch another Christmas Hallmark movie (we recorded them all), and hopefully get to bed at a sensible hour. After all, at my age, what else is there to do?
One of my favorite scents in our Florida winter is the aroma of freshly mown grass. During my morning routine, when summer humidity gives way to winter’s dry air, I open all the windows in the house. Today, this smell brought me back to the carefree summer days of my childhood. Scents are powerful memory triggers. In my day, summertime meant leaving the house and spending all day roaming outside with my friends. A quick check-in at lunchtime was all our parents required until the street lights came on in the evening, and then we’d better be home in a hurry. Days long past. Winters, our new summers.
The Lord reminded me today that He is constantly teaching us. During good times, it’s easy to trust in God, but when those hard times come, I try to figure out ways to fix things. Mostly, I can’t. I’ve learned to say, “I trust you, Lord,” no matter what’s going on. It turns my focus away from the problem and toward the one who loves me and knows where I am along the path He’s made for me.
I spent an hour or so this morning crunching numbers. We keep track of our mileage for our businesses, particularly Bill’s mileage. He was a pro at a tennis club his brother owned until Bob passed away and the club was sold. The new owners lacked integrity, so Bill launched out on his own. Many of his students also left the club and found new places where their favorite pro could teach them. They train at different tennis courts around our area, and Bill is much happier.
I can only do numbers for so long until my eyes cross and I feel my temper rise, so I went over to our RRBC chat room to say hello. To my surprise, Justin Timberlake was singing Can’t Stop the Feeling! I got up and danced through it twice! Thanks for the exercise. What a way to start the day.
The best part of today was a visit from another of my adopted daughters! Beth, her husband Joe, and two of their children, Olivia and Chase, stopped by on their way back to Pennsylvania from their vacation in South Florida. We had lunch together at one of our favorite local restaurants (not the one in the photos) and laughed and reminisced, and Bill and I got to know the kids.
Beth was one of Dyana’s best friends growing up. Fiercely loyal to one another, they lived many adventures together, some of which I still don’t know about and probably wouldn’t want to. They wouldn’t be the wonderful women they are today without that bond they still share. When her mom was going through a painful divorce, just about the time I went through mine, she and Beth moved in with us for a time. We newly-single moms encouraged one another and loaned each other strength until we could stand on our own. Our daughters’ bond grew unbreakable through that experience. Beth is another daughter who calls me Mom. I am rich in the children God has given me!
After their visit, I finished reading the November/December issue of the Pipeline Magazine and enjoyed every article. I watched the replay of Shirley Harris Slaughter hosting Raters Not Haters. What a great book they discussed! I won’t spoil it for anyone else, but I do encourage you to watch it if you haven’t already done so. You’ve done a great job with the show, Shirley!
I spent the rest of the day visiting the other writers who’ve taken up this 30-day blogging challenge. Writing? This is it for today. Tomorrow I plan to work on that book I’m editing and hope to get a chapter finished in the trilogy I’m writing. It’s tempting to spend all day reading, but it is time to exercise some willpower.
This scripture came up in my morning devotions. “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 Do you know how hard it is to be still? How does one still the mind that is busy planning the day ahead, trying to figure out how everything will fit in? Or still the body that’s ready to jump up to tackle the next chore, and the next. It can be done. Here’s how I experienced living in the moment today.
First, an introduction. My adopted daughter Natalia is a little younger than our daughter Dyana. As a child in Pennsylvania, Natalia spent a lot of time with us, including some weeks when staying at home was not an option. Her home atmosphere was sometimes intolerable, and we were her sanctuary. Over the years, we went separate ways. She lived a colorful, exciting life, but always under the shadow of childhood trauma. A number of years ago, we discovered that we lived minutes from each other in Florida. She’s family and always will be, and she feels the same about us. She calls me “Mom,” and I love her like one of our own.
Today, Natalia and I went to see Avatar, The Way of Water, in 3D at an iMax theater in downtown West Palm Beach. Watching a movie like that is living in the moment. It was my third time seeing it, but I never once thought ahead from one scene to the next because I was totally immersed in every scene as it happened. Life beyond the movie ceased to exist. My entire being was on Pandora with the Sully family, exploring the beauty of that world. The characters captured my emotions and my heart thrilled with a sense of awe at the life in Pandora’s oceans. Exciting conflict, surprising nuances in the antagonist, strong emotions, and growth among family members kept my full attention for more than three hours.
When we left the theater, the sun had just set and music and light poured from the surrounding restaurants. This tree, in full Pandora colors, caught my eye. I took it as another kiss from God.
Living in the moment is like reading a good book. Total immersion. Focusing on the now. Life doesn’t need to be full of drama and colors, plot and compelling characters, to be enjoyed in the moment. Being still can simply mean being peaceful, not filled with anxiety, not thinking ahead to what comes next, or what to say next.
So that was my today. I got no writing done, other than this blog, but I got some quality living done.
Hi, and Happy New Year! I’m PTL Perrin, author, but you can call me Patty. I’ve accepted a challenge to share a day in my life with you. Not only today, but every day for the rest of January, 2023! Let’s start with TODAY, and see how this goes.
Any day is a great day with my sweetheart Bill in it! I kid you not. This month will mark twenty-nine years of marriage to a man whose smile brightens any room, any space, anywhere. I’m getting ahead of myself. You’ll hear more about that on our actual anniversary. Just understand that any revelations about my day are likely to include mentions of my Bill.
A typical day starts with a morning routine, which can take anywhere from two hours to four, depending on how much trouble I have with my eyebrows. I get up, shower, get a fruit and Reliv smoothie, spend some much-needed time with Lord reading the Bible and several devotionals, and draw on my eyebrows. On some days, like this morning, they go on easily, matching in expression and are more-or-less even on my face. I wish every day started as smoothly.
Thank the Lord I don’t have to be anywhere specific most mornings. It’s one of the perks of having traveled around the sun as many times as I have. Bill, on the other hand, has traveled longer and still has early lessons some days. He teaches tennis, which he loves, to people he loves, so the hardship is worth it to him. I’m enjoying my 74th trip around the sun. Remaining positive while aging is not for the faint of heart. I have much to be grateful for, including my strong heart.
“Set priorities in your life according to My will,” from Sarah Young’s Jesus Today, struck me as a directive from the Lord this morning. I debated accepting this challenge because my January schedule is normally chock full of accounting stuff, and numbers are NOT my favorite things to play with. We have two corporations for our family businesses, and I serve as the involuntary Ad-Hoc Treasurer for two more. So I prayed, and the Lord reminded me I want to write more.
“Yes,” I argued. “I want to write more in my BOOK. You know, the one I’ve been wanting to finish. The second book in the trilogy.”
I am convinced the Lord speaks to me, although not usually in words. I felt a smidge of excitement about this project. I will be writing every day. Writing begets writing. My fingers will get the exercise. My mind will open to new ideas. I’ll get to read about my author friends who also accepted the challenge.
“But, Lord, I can read theirs without writing my own. I’m sure theirs will be so much more interesting. Who wants to read about keeping accounts?”
Then I thought about mindfulness. What DO I do all day? If I keep track, I might carve out more time for writing. To make a long conversation short, here I am. And here’s the rest of my day.
I wrote a review and posted it. As I read other people’s reviews, mine seem simplistic. At least they’re honest, and I won’t post a review with less than four stars because my hope is to encourage people to read the books I read and like. The problem is, as soon as I finish reading a book, I move on to other things that must be done. Then another book grabs my attention, and the review has been forgotten. Forgive me, my friends! One resolution this year is to go back, re-read, and post more reviews.
I had lunch at 3pm, because I usually eat when I’m hungry. I fixed a banana, peanut butter, Reliv smoothie, and chowed down on some crackers. Too much information? Can’t wait to start reading the other blogs in this challenge!
I spent two hours on editing a friend’s memoir. She’s transparent and brave and I marvel at how God has moved in her life. I’m humbled that she trusts me with this task, and I’m determined to pour my best effort into it.
Bill and I took a walk around our beautiful neighborhood this evening. Many homes were still decorated for Christmas.
Our son Mike took down our outside lights yesterday, and then we went to his family’s house for New Year’s dinner. His wife Jenn is a great cook, and their children are wonderful. His dad and step-mom were also there. Funny story. Jenn’s mom is Patty. Mike’s mom is Patty. Mike’s step-mom is Pattie. So when anyone, at any family gathering calls for either Mom or Patty, we ALL answer!
I’m wrapping this up here. In the evenings, Bill and I watch a movie together — usually Hallmark. I like action movies and he’s a sucker for chick flicks.
I’m going to see Avatar, The Way of Water for the third time tomorrow with one of our “adopted” daughters. We’ll see it in iMax 3D, and I can hardly wait! I’ll tell you more about the movie, and about her, tomorrow! Hasta Mañana!
Please leave Linda a comment below or anywhere along the tour, for your chance to win one of her awesome giveaways!
Welcome to Day 7 of the REIMAGINING NEON Blog Tour! It’s an honor to introduce Author Linda C. Mims and her exciting, newly reimagined book, THE NEON HOUSES. I loved the characters in the original story, and I’ve preordered my copy so I can get reacquainted with them.
It takes a vivid imagination and a good deal of research to create a world that does not yet exist. Details matter, especially when they differentiate between cultures. Take food, for example.
Linda, how does food define the cultures in 2087?.
BUT WHAT ARE THEY EATING?
The Neon Houses, set in 2087, depicts two worlds. One world shows a food desert where food is genetically modified, dehydrated, plant-based and powdered—if there’s food at all. The other world is a cornucopia of real meat, vegetables, poultry, eggs, fish, and fruit.
The main character, Noel Kennedy, has her feet planted in both worlds and is unapologetically sympathetic to the needs of the citizens in the Southland. When we first meet her, hurrying to the home of a recently murdered student, she’s leaning out of the passenger window yelling bloody murder at a thief who has just snatched a bag of groceries from an old man.
Back home at the annual barbeque she and her husband famously host, we see disks laden with platters of smoked meats, grilled vegetables, desserts, and other delectables. These dishes sail through the air, over the heads of guests who use remote controls to land a disk, or they summon human androids to take their orders. This scene is two-fold, lavishly contrasting the two societies, and setting the stage for the next murder.
Noel’s nemesis, Warren Simpson, is a cunning, ruthless villain who rules the land that borders the southern outskirts of her city. He is a thief and the purveyor of illegal goods. Yet, when his nephew is accused of murder, Warren discards that theory. The kid isn’t like him, and murder is the farthest thing from the kid’s nature.
Simpson gathers his family around the dining table to plot murder, set-ups, and surveillance. During the meal, readers see dishes of roasted beef, whipped potatoes and gravy, green beans, fresh tomatoes, and warm bread spread out on a snowy tablecloth. Simpson’s wives, their children, and his young adult nephew surround him. When the food isn’t served quickly enough, his nephew makes smacking sounds and bangs his silverware on the table. Simpson cuffs him lightly. The scene is normal, almost endearing, and allows us to see the human side of the villain.
In undeniable New Chicago tradition, soy-dog stands, and taco stands dot the area near downtown. When a call comes over the radio warning Noel and her husband they’ve been spotted while scouting the primary suspect, they’re under the on-ramp of the Kennedy Expressway eating at a taco stand that’s located there. Before they hightail it, Noel takes a moment to wipe taco sauce from her husband’s mouth.
Fifty years into the future, the world has changed, but food, family, and gatherings remain the same—maybe more for my sense of normalcy than the characters’.
~~~~~
EXCERPT FROM THE NEON HOUSES:
Noel and Dickey stood at a little taco stand on Morgan and Lake and ordered the special with cola spritzes.
“I’m too old to eat this junk,” Dickey said.
“I know.” Noel laughed. “But we don’t want to go too far away, in case Harlan calls. I figure we can eat this and get back before Jessica’s date is over. I want to see his face. Hell, I want to touch him.”
“You see that car?” Dickey asked, nodding toward a vehicle that had made a U-turn and was idling on the opposite side of the street. “I’d swear it followed us from the restaurant.”
Noel nodded. “That’s Warren Simpson’s men. They’ve been following me since the day Lord Nelson’s man chased me from shantytown.
“This isn’t us, Noel, and as soon as we get out of this, we’re never doing it again. Promise?”
She smiled as she wiped taco sauce from his mouth with her napkin.
Blurb:
What would you do if you were the daughter of a cult hero who boasted a past full of exciting, colorful exploits?
Suppose the thing that made your mother a cult hero was also inside you.
Now, imagine spending your whole life trying to hide it—until you shared the heart stopping death of someone close to you.
Supposed that death brought you face to face with the gift of the neon houses.
New Chicago and its neighboring town, The Southland, are vastly different worlds in circa 2087, but Dr. Noel Kennedy is an expert at navigating both worlds. As the Deputy Chief of Schools in The Southland, Noel has perfected being a solid, middle-class citizen. Not even her husband, Fredrick Kennedy, truly understands what she is.
When Zarah Fisher, Noel’s young protégé, is murdered on a deserted street in The Southland, Noel knows the exact moment Zarah takes her last breath. Though miles away, Noel feels the girl’s terror, and hears her anguished screams inside her own head because of an inheritance that has left her with extraordinary gifts.
Can Noel find justice for Zarah without risking it all?
Murder, mayhem, and suspense abound in this action packed page-turner. More than a mystery, The Neon Houses thrills the reader with scenes of a futuristic 2087. Autoplanes, body planes, and flying buses are the norm. Robots and androids cook, clean, and serve the affluent, while dystopia lurks just around the corner.
***
You are invited to connect with Linda via her social media outlets below:
LINDA MIMS is a writer, a dreamer, and an educator, who hails from a quiet village just south of Chicago. Her stories are mainly about urban characters who are engaged in mystery and mysticism. Her hope is that while entertaining and informing, she’s also sending the message that humans aren’t that different and all each of us want is a better world.
~~~~~
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit theAUTHOR’S TOUR PAGE on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please clickHERE. Thanks for supporting this author and her work!
I am a proud member of the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB and for the next 48 hours (11/15 through 11/17) there is a $25 discount on any membership tier when you join the club!
We aren’t just an organization where you add your name to our roster, and then you disappear. We are the club that supports our members in numerous ways! Here are just a few…
-We purchase, read, and review our fellow member books that are listed in the catalog.
-We promote our fellow members and their books on social media, just as hard as we promote ourselves.
-We promote our members with interviews via our RAVE WAVES Talk Radio Shows for RRBC members only. Books are always being purchased during those interviews!
-We keep our fellow members lifted and promoted even when they can’t promote themselves (in the event of personal emergencies, illness, etc.)
-We have a hard-working Tweet Support Team, promoting our members and their books daily.
-At RRBC, we believe that “each one should teach one,” therefore, we don’t compete against each other. We lift as we climb.
There are so many more awesome ways that being a member of RRBC has benefitted me and I would love to share them all with you. You have questions? Just ask me!
RRBC is such a fun place to belong! We’re not just about books, you know, we’re also about making beneficial connections and lifelong friendships!
Today, Monday, 11/15 through Wednesday, 11/17 are our Recruitment Days and whenyou join, please list my name on your membership application as the person who referred you, as I’ll get a special prize! You can join here > RaveReviewsBookClub.wordpress.com/rrbc-join-renew
If you have specific questions regarding membership, please reach out to Paula, our Club Personal Asst! She’s a whole lot of awesome!
I hope to see you on the other side of membership soon and your books in the catalog!
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Dr. Randy Overbeck’s Haunted Shores Mystery Series, ghost mysteries with a meaningful twist, hooked me from the first words! Enjoy his amazing blog tour stop today, and leave a comment for a chance to win one of the great…
#GIVEAWAYS!
“So-o-o atmospheric. Cape May, with its history and Victorian mansions, has no end of ghostly stories. And the Haunted Bride is a doozy.”—V. Williams, Rosepoint Publishing
In deciding on the locations for the novels in my Haunted Shores Mysteries series, I’ve put as much effort into selecting the perfect setting as I do crafting the puzzling whodunit or creating credible characters. I do a good deal of research to seek out lesser known gems of romantic, resort locations readers will find memorable. No place like Myrtle Beach or Malibu or Ft. Lauderdale will do. (This research is a tough job, but somebody has to do it.) I want readers, when they read each entry, to say, “I didn’t know about this place. What an intriguing little town. I think I’ll put this on my ‘to visit’ list.”
That’s exactly how I felt when I “discovered” Cape May. (I’d never been to this charming town and stumbled upon Cape May when I attended a family wedding up the shore a few years ago.) After some extensive research, I decided it was the exactly the right locale to set the second entry in my series.
What made Cape May so perfect and memorable for my ghost story/mystery? I’ll share just five reasons and I think you’ll get it.
Cape May is the nation’s oldest seaport resort. Vacationers and tourists have been flocking to Cape May since the early 1800’s. Back then, big city dwellers from Philadelphia and New York would head to this shore town in the summer to escape the heat and foul air. Today, visitors come from all over the northeast US and Canada to enjoy the sun and sights of this remarkable little town.
Cape May has one of the premier beaches in the U.S. With thirty miles of beautiful white sand beaches, Cape May is ranked as one of the top ten beaches in the country by the Travel Channel. Since “the shore” part of my series is critical to my narratives, this beach makes for some delightful scenes in the novel.
Cape May has a rich history which helps to shape the unique destination it is today. A large fire in 1879 destroyed almost the entire town requiring the rebuilding of most of the homes and businesses. They were rebuilt in the latest style at the time, which we now call Victorian. The rest, as they say, is history.
Cape May has one of the largest collections of Victorian architecture in the country (second only to San Francisco). Over 600 mansions and Bed and Breakfasts, each painted and detailed in the unique Victorian style, made the perfect romantic backdrop for Darrell and Erin’s reconciliation—not to mention the perfect atmosphere for an old time ghost story. Speaking of which—
Cape May is famous as the most haunted seaport on the East coast. It’s hard to walk down any street in Cape May and not run into a house, hotel or store where a ghost encounter has been documented, some sightings going back centuries. Craig McManus, famed Cape May ghost hunter, has documented over fifty different spirits in his series, The Ghosts of Cape May. I even decided to include a few of these documented ghosts in my ghost story/mystery about the Haunted Bride, a young woman murdered on her wedding night.
Check out the newest installment in my series, CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY, for both an exploration of the incredible resort town and a peek at its wonderfully eerie history.
Incredible sale on the entire Haunted Shores Mysteries series! BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE-$.99, CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY–$1.99, SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER (pre-publication price)—$2.99.
Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades in a range of roles captured in his novels, from teacher and coach to principal and superintendent. His thriller, Leave No Child Behind (2012) and his recent mysteries, the Amazon and B & N No. 1 Best Seller, Blood on the Chesapeake and Crimson at Cape May have earned five star reviews and garnered national awards including “Thriller of the Year–ReadersFavorite.com, “Gold Award”—Literary Titan, “Mystery of the Year”—ReadersView.com and “Crowned Heart of Excellence”—InD’Tale Magazine. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.
BLURB—CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY
No matter how far you run, you can never really escape a haunted past.
Darrell Henshaw—teacher, coach, and paranormal sensitive—learned this lesson the hard way. With his job gone and few options, he heads for Cape May to coach a summer football camp. The resort town, with gorgeous beaches, rich history and famous Victorian mansions, might just be the getaway he needs. Only, no one told him Cape May is the most haunted seaport on the East Coast. One resident ghost, the Haunted Bride, stalks Darrell, begging for his help.
He can’t refuse. Joining forces with Cassie, a street-wise teen and another sensitive, he investigates the bride’s death and discovers her murder is connected to a far greater horror. But can Darrell and Cassie expose those behind the crimes before they end up being the killer’s next victims?
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY
“With both elements of mystery and suspense, readers across genres will find this second book about Darrell Henshaw intriguing…I highly recommend it.”★★★★★—Literary Titan
“It’s a ghost/mystery story filled with suspense and action. The plot is so engrossing it had me hooked from the very first page.”★★★★★—Nana’s Reviews, Greece
“An exciting paranormal mystery I couldn’t put down… A great read. Highly recommend!” ★★★★★—N.N. Light’s BookHeaven
“Rollicking good…Darrell is a wonderful protagonist, an ordinary man put into extraordinary situations and rising to the challenge..” ★★★★★ —Over My Dead Body magazine
“I loved everything about this book. As a ghost story combined with a mystery, a romance, a social injustice and stunning historical details, Crimson at Cape May has something for everyone.”★★★★★—ReaderViews
“Masterly spooky adventure…an accomplished work of haunting mystery fiction that fans of the genre won’t want to miss out on. Highly Recommend.”★★★★★—ReadersFavorite.com
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the authors’ tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to book your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE. Thanks for supporting this author and his work!
Don’t forget to leave a comment below for a chance at a cool #GIVEAWAY!
Thank you for visiting my site today, where you’ll discover my friend Robbie Cheadle and an especially sweet treat!
Robbie is giving away:
(7) Paperback copies / 1 of ea book in the series
(2) 15 Amazon gift cards
Please leave Robbie a comment anywhere along the tour for your chance to win one of these awesome prizes.
Sir Chocolate and the Ice Cream Rainbow Fairies story and cookbook by Robbie and Michael Cheadle
Join Sir Chocolate and Lady Sweet on a fun adventure to discover why the milkshake rain is pale and white. Includes five delicious recipes to make with children.
How to make a fairy out of fondant
Step 1 – Mix a quantity of flesh coloured fondant. Roll a small quantity into a ball for the head. Gently roll the lower half of the head between you fingers to narrow it. Use a small ball tool to make the eye sockets. Dab the sockets with edible sugar glue and insert two green or blue pearl delight cake decorations into the sockets to make the eyes. Use a half a straw to make the smiling mouth. Roll a tiny ball of flesh coloured fondant for the nose and attach with edible sugar glue. Leave the head to dry.
Step 2 – roll a larger oval shape for the fairy’s body. I used purple but you can use any colour you like. Insert a toothpick through the centre of the body and snip the top, leaving approximately 1 centimetre standing up.
Step 3 – Roll a long tube of flesh coloured fondant for the legs. Fold the tube in half to make two legs and slightly flatten the joined area to form a base for the fairy’s body. Slightly narrow the ankles by rolling them between your fingers. Role two triangular shaped pieces of purple fondant for the shoes and attach them to the ankles using edible sugar glue. Roll out some purple fondant using cornflour to prevent sticking and cut out a star shape for the skirt. Attach the skirt to the legs.
Step 4 – Roll out some white fondant and cut out a butterfly shape with a cutter. Gently bend in the middle and leave between a loosely folded piece of cardboard to dry into a wings shape overnight.
Step 5 – Leave the pieces to dry overnight.
Step 6 – Use edible glue to attach the body to the legs and the head to the body. Make the arms by rolling two narrow tubes of flesh coloured fondant. Flatten the shoulder slightly using your fingers. Roll the wrists between your fingers to indent them. Use your fingers to lengthen and flatten the hands. Attach the arms to the body using edible sugar glue.
Step 7 – Roll a long purple tube and wind it in a steadily narrowing circular shape to from the fairy cap as per the picture. Attach to the head using edible sugar glue.
Step 8 – Attach the wings using edible sugar glue. Decorate with edible glitter if desired.
Robbie Cheadle is a children’s author and poet.
The Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.
Robbie has also published books for older children which incorporate recipes that are relevant to the storylines.
To follow along with the rest of the tour, please visit the author’s tour page on the 4WillsPublishing site. If you’d like to schedule your own blog tour and have your book promoted in similar grand fashion, please click HERE. Thanks for supporting this author and her work!
Don’t forget to leave a comment for you chance to win one of Robbie’s amazing giveaways!
Thank you for stopping by! I’m honored to welcome #RWISAAuthor, Lisa Kirazian to my blog today. Lisa is the RAVE REVIEWS BOOK CLUB’S first “SPOTLIGHT” Author of 2021, and she has a new book out, CADENZA! It is my pleasure to introduce you to Lisa Kirazian. Welcome, Lisa!
Where did this idea come from?
Lisa Kirazian’s Cadenza and
“The Music We Made” series
It’s an honor to write this guest post — and to be RRBC’s Spotlight Author for February!
I’ve blogged about this in the past but that was before I wrote Cadenza and completed “The Music We Made” series. Now that I’ve finished it, I see this writing journey in a new light – the whole trajectory of it.
I first got the idea at age 14 standing in the driveway of my violin teacher’s home, waiting for my mom to pick me up. The story started brewing of a violinist and her conservatory instructor and the awkwardness of their working relationship (because I had a drama teacher at the time who was awkward that way.) The idea kept brewing for the next few years.
Then in college at age 18, I started writing the script — a screenplay. First called The Last Ovation, it was totally melodramatic and over the top. But the start was there — sister and brother musicians leaving a tough family situation to study in London in the late 1950’s and early 1960s, meeting their lifelong friends, enemies and loves along the way.
But it was still not all the way there yet.
At age 24, I went on a summer mission program in Armenia, teaching English and engaging with students in my homeland, post-Communism, during the war with Azerbaijan. You’d think that all my journals and notebooks would be filled with the awakening that came from being in my ancestral land for the first time. But they didn’t (that would come later). What did come is the outline for a six-hour miniseries, newly-titled, The Conservatory. When I got home, and for the next few years, including a research stint in London, I wrote the six one-hour scripts. Then upon realizing I had to rename the work (because a conservatory in London is a greenhouse!), it became The Music We Made.
Shopping the script around (long before Downton Abbey and other innovative series), I was told by producers, “You can’t have a miniseries that’s not based on a book or a famous person. You can’t have an original miniseries!!” Now, of course, they are all over the place. But at that time, because of that feedback, and to have an extra layer of story protection, I took the challenge and wrote it as a book, now around age 30. And that six-part miniseries became the novel Bravura. I worked and worked on it and then put it down for a while, during playwriting stints, and of course having kids. It was published 14 years later, in 2014.
Writing the novel Bravura filled out the experience of the story for me. While on camera I could explore the audio-visual whirlwind of a musical performance with a soloist and orchestra etc., in a novel I could explore the inner narrative going on inside a musician’s mind and heart when they prepare and play. And I found new scenes emerging that I had to get down. Before I knew it, I realized that I had to keep writing this story and continue to the next generation of the Driscoll family of musicians.
So, then I wrote Appassionato, the first book written as a book first, not as a script. I continued the next generation, focusing on composer/conductor Jenny Driscoll, who appears briefly but memorably at the end of Bravura. I drafted it during National Novel Writing Month (NANOWRIMO) in 2014-5. It was published in 2018.
I did the same in drafting Cadenza in 2016, through NANOWRIMO. And it was just published in 2020, the year I turned 50. The trajectory of this writing journey has gone from age 14 to 50.
And just when you think you’re done, and there’s no more story to tell, and no one knows better than you do, a reader comes along, like a friend of mine just did to me, and says, “I hope you’re working on the next one.”
In CADENZA, the final book of “The Music We Made” series, the young tenor Brian Martin finds himself on the cusp of superstardom and marriage, until he is compelled to leave behind his distinguished musical family, and his fiancé, in London, to visit the U.S. to see where his famous late grandmother, Maggie Crawford, the only other opera singer in the family, grew up. His journey takes him to Marshall, Minnesota, and Maggie’s hometown high school, where he meets the music teacher, Laura Jones, who helps him with his family history in more ways than he could have imagined.
Author Bio:
Lisa Kirazian writes fiction, plays, screenplays, and also directs for stage and screen. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Performing Arts Magazine, San Diego Union Tribune and many other publications. She is in demand as a speaker and has been a guest on KPBS Public Radio and at various conferences. Lisa is a graduate of Stanford University.
Several of her screenplays have placed in major competitions and festivals. Twelve of her stage plays have been produced across the U.S. and have won numerous awards, including a few publications. She also directed and wrote the adapted screenplay of the short film, “Reflection Day.”
Her novels include BRAVURA, APPASSIONATO, and now CADENZA, the three books of “The Music We Made” series, following three generations in the Driscoll family of musicians and inspired by her experience as a violinist. The series is also being developed for television.
Lisa lives in San Diego with her husband and two daughters and is involved in the Armenian community locally, nationally and abroad.
Thank you so much for dropping by today to show your support of RRBC’s February “SPOTLIGHT” Author, Lisa Kirazian! To follow along with the rest of her tour, please visit the “SPOTLIGHT” AUTHOR forum on the RRBC site. And please, take your support two steps further by leaving her a comment below and also picking up a copy of any or all of her books!
Jan Sikes is an author whose books I’ve read and loved! It’s no exaggeration to say I’m excited to have her here today to share her new release, “Ghostly Interference.” Please join me in welcoming Jan Sikes!
FINDING LOST FAMILY
Hi, Patty! Thank you for allowing me to take over your blog space to talk about my new book release. I am truly grateful.
In Ghostly Interference, Jag Peters is close to his mom and has been his entire life. His dad passed away when he was in college, and although he’d provided well for them, he never gave Jag the attention or approval he craved.
Jag has always lived a settled conservative life, so you can imagine the shock of finding out the man who had raised him was not his biological father. I do not want to give away any spoilers here, but it becomes an integral part of the plot.
Rena Jett had one brother, Sam. Their mother died from a drug overdose when Rena was a baby and they were thrown into the foster care system, as no relatives could be located to take them.
But Jag is a whiz on the computer. Look what he found!
EXCERPT
His thoughts were on Rena and the night they’d shared. She was more than he’d ever dared to hope or to find in life. Every time he closed his eyes, he could still feel her warm and willing body under him. Her skin like soft fine satin and her dark hair like silk drove him to the brink of madness.
He wanted to give her everything she’d never had…a family, love, and security. An overwhelming urge to look for any existing members of Rena’s family that might still be alive sent him to the search engine.
Thank goodness, births and deaths were all public records and easy to access. It would be a starting place. He first visited the Travis County website and typed in, ‘Marjorie Irene Jett.’
Options popped up and he clicked on three different ones before finding the right Marjorie Jett.
The website told him that for five dollars, he could get access to arrest records and other details about her. He immediately paid the money and held his breath while he waited for it to click over.
There was a picture and even though it was a typical mugshot, other than the blonde hair, he could see an uncanny resemblance between the woman and Rena. The law enforcement record was long but predictable. She’d been first arrested for prostitution in 1975, then other arrests for drugs and theft.
He scrolled down.
The record showed three live births to Marjorie Irene Jett in Austin.
Shock raced through him causing the hairs to stand up on his neck. That meant there was another sibling somewhere. He clicked on the next link that took him to birth records.
On June 23, 1976, Marjorie Jett gave birth to a son, Riley Austin Samuelson. Odd that he didn’t have the Jett last name. No marriages were recorded for Marjorie. Riley’s birth certificate listed Marjorie as his mother and father, Justin Earl Samuelson.
His heart pounded. This meant that Rena had another brother out there somewhere. It might cost more money, but he would do his best to track him down and let him know he had a sister.
***
Have you ever known someone who discovered they had family they never knew? I can’t say that I have, but both of the characters in Ghostly Interference did.
It was fun adding that in as a subplot.
CHECK OUT THE BOOK TRAILER
BOOK BLURB
Jag Peters has one goal in his quiet comfortable life—to keep his karma slate wiped clean. A near-miss crash with a candy apple red Harley threatens to upend his safe world. He tracks down the rider to apologize properly. Slipping into a seedy biker bar, he discovers the rider isn’t a “he”, it’s a “she”, a dark-haired beauty.
Rena Jett is a troubled soul, who lives in a rough world. She wants no part of Jag’s apology, but even while she pushes him away, she is attracted to him. When he claims to see a ghost—her brother—can she trust him? And could her brother’s final gift, a magical rune stone with the symbol for “happily ever after” have the power to heal her wounds and allow opposites to find common ground—perhaps even love?
PTL Perrin Writes... 