Another oldie but a goodie I found recently. The day says October 1961 so I was 17 months old. In just one more month I will fall out the window of our Brooklyn apartment, thereby leading to my lifetime of scars and fears. I think this is the last picture ever taken of me where my face was straight and my eyes were even.
Le sigh….
But the picture is so joyous – literally, the calm before THE FALL – I had to share.
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From the upcoming 3.1.2022 release of MIX & MATCH ( Heaven’s Matchmaker book1)
Van has just been on a pre-arranged date and he’s called Jasmine to tell her about it.
Unable to hold it back, she asked the question she really didn’t want an answer to. “Are you going to see her again?”
“Aye. Friday night. We’re going bowling.”
“Really?”
“Why do you say it like that?”
“Like what?”
“As if you can’t see me with a bowling ball in me hand. I’m a darn good bowler, I’ll have you know.”
“Just when you think you know a person,” she said, a twisted smirk blooming across her mouth.
He ignored the sarcasm, saying, “Kaitlyn plays in a league. A church one—”
“Surprise, surprise,” she muttered.
“And their next meet is this Friday.”
“What’s the name of her league, the Holy Rollers?”
She’d said it to make him laugh. But he just squinted at her.
“I’m kidding, Van. No shade, really.”
“I don’t know what that means, but you hit the nail on it with the name.”
“Wait. They really are called the Holy Rollers?”
His sigh was deep and long. “Aye.”
“Oh, my GOD!” The laughter peeling from her was uncontrollable. “I’m so sorry. I don’t mean to laugh, but…” She couldn’t finish because another ripple bubbled up from deep inside her belly.
Donovan peered at her through the phone and shook his head. The tiniest of grins tugged at the corner of his mouth then spread into a full, cheek-wide smile that had her happy she was on the bed and not standing because her legs had turned to mush.
“ ’Tis a bit much, isn’t it?”
“No. No, actually it’s perfect.” She swiped at her dripping eyes with the backs of her knuckles. “You’re going?”
“Aye.” He let out a breath and swiped a hand though the side of his head. “When I told her I’d played in university she was all agog and couldn’t wait to invite me. Seems no one she’s gone out with has shared her love of it. Apparently, her whole family are—”
“Holy Rollers?” She started giggling again.
If her father had been in the picture during her life, she imagined the look he’d have given her when she’d misbehaved would be identical to the one Donovan gave her right now. Brows knitted together, lips bent into an upside-down U, head tilted to one side and regarding her with a side-eye.
“Sorry. That one was too easy and I couldn’t resist.”
“You’ve the humor of a ten-year-old.” He stopped, yawned, then covered his mouth. “Sorry, love. It’s been a long week and it’s tired I am.”
“Mr. Pot, meet Ms. Kettle, ‘cuz I hear ya. I’m all set to grab a shower and then crash. I’m on duty at six tomorrow and it’s another scheduled double for me.”
Intrigued? 3.1.2022
Filed under Writing
Another sign of the times – but times past! I found this little gem the other day. The baby is me, the two people my Godparents at my Christening in June 1960. You can see the difference between then and now in the Catholic tradition – my Godmother has her head covered. Back then it was mandatory for women to cover their heads in church and for men to remove their caps/hats.
I’m told I never made a sound when the ice-cold Holy water was poured over me. I think this is where my love of cold showers originated, LOL!
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Sign of the times we live in….le sigh
Luckily, I am still, and I remain, negative.
Get vaccinated, peeps. Wear your masks. And for God’s sake wash your hands!!!
Filed under year in photos
When I was pregnant with my daughter, 32 years ago, I embroidered this for her nursery room. It hung in her bedroom for 5 years and then was transferred to a hallway with other things I’d made.
This now hangs in my grandson’s room. I gifted it to him when he was born and my daughter was glad I did.
I love stuff like this that you can pass down, you know? PS> this is the original mat and frame – I never changed anything.
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This is one of my favorite paintings and was the basis for the cover of my fourth book, THE VOICES OF ANGELS. I spotted this photo in a museum eons ago and it always stuck with me.
See the resemblance between the two?
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One of my favorite people – and authors – Bonnie Edwards has a new addition to her RETURN TO WELCOME Series, CLAIMING SHANDY and she graciously allowed me to help her get the word out. Check out the wonderful cover:
She thought her divorce was final…
Welcome WA, where rumor, gossip, and old grudges endure long past their best before date.
Justin Camden wants his life back. His wife back. His son back. And he’s returned to Welcome to get them. Justin has a plan for the Christmas season and moving in with his ex and his boy is just the beginning.
Shandy Camden is stuck. Her big oaf of an ex-husband has finagled his way into her home for the entire month of December. He claims to want an old-fashioned family Christmas with their son. She’s forced to let Justin stay because refusing will break her son’s heart.
Slowly, Shandy sees that her ex may have another agenda. But she doesn’t believe in the magic of Christmas the way their son does. Helpless and forced to live with her ex, Shandy struggles to overcome her growing attraction to the only man who’s ever left her. The only man she’s ever loved. But Justin left once and if he leaves again, she’ll never recover, and neither will their son…
When the truth comes out, Shandy and Justin may well have discovered that more than anything, Christmas is about love.
Warning: This book has lots of groveling in it. If you don’t want to read about a divorced man making things right, then this romance isn’t for you.
December 1 Welcome WA
Justin Camden was no quitter. Never had been and he wasn’t about to give up now. But first he had to do battle against the dragons breathing fire in his gut. He’d never been this scared. Not even at fourteen when his dad caught him out driving his mom’s car at midnight.
He parked outside the Welcome Bar & Grill and called his buddy, Jake Morrow who was inside with a group of friends. Friends who included Justin’s wife, Shandy.
Everything he wanted to accomplish tonight hinged on whatever BS line Jake had come up with. “It’s me. I’m here. What did you tell her?”
In the background, Justin heard happy people greeting each other over the distant sound of a Christmas song. The season had begun. He climbed out of his car while he heard Jake excuse himself to take the call.
“Bedbugs.”
The background noise had receded, but Justin couldn’t have heard right. “What?”
“Every hotel in the area’s infested. Didn’t you know?” Jake said with a smirk in his voice.
“She’ll never believe that.” He had his hand on the brass door pull. Yanked it toward him.
“I believe she does believe me.”
He shook his head. No way. Shandy was the smartest woman he’d ever met and for the past three years, she’d been made of stone. He had to make her crack, but nonsense about bedbugs wouldn’t do it. The flame-thrower in his belly belched. Maybe he should turn around and leave.
“Plus, I told Shandy how much Brianna and I are enjoying our honeymoon period,” Jake was saying. “She can’t force you to stay with us. She has to let you stay at her place. She’ll have no choice.”
“Our place.” The home they’d bought together, to raise their family in. “You ass. Bedbugs?” He was inside the vestibule now, looking through the stained-glass partition, searching the restaurant side of the building. “I see the table.”
Jake stood a few feet away from the group. “Don’t worry, you got this,” he said, looking right at him through the multi-colored pane.
“My best and only shot.” He ended the call, plastered a smile on his face and made his way through the tables to where Shandy sat beside an empty chair. If this crazy bedbug story worked, he’d have a chance to get her angry. He needed her angry.
If she were angry with him, it was a sign that she still cared. That he could still make her feel something for him.
An angry Shandy was honest, and open. Angry Shandy was not a stone angel, cold and remote, the way she’d been for too long. He needed honest and open or his plan to return to Welcome and be the husband and father he wanted to be would fail.
Justin Camden was no quitter. He doused the flames in his gut.
Bonnie Edwards has been writing all her life, starting with a poem about Santa suffering with gout. She was seven, Santa was a thousandteen years old. Delighted with writing, she went on to write family sagas, humorous contemporary romance, romantic suspense, erotic paranormal ghost romances and more.
She may jump around within romance, but all her stories come with a tear, a laugh, and a happy ending. Published by Kensington Books, Harlequin Books, Carina Press, and Robinson (UK) Bonnie’s stories stretch from short stories to novellas and novels. Now, she’s happy to be publishing her work herself.
With 40 titles to her credit, she has been translated into several languages and sold books worldwide. Aside from standalone romances, she has 6 romance series that include Christmas romances and beach reads. Contemporary family sagas find a home in Return to Welcome. Learn about more exciting releases and get a free romance by subscribing to her newsletter, Bonnie’s Newsy Bits
Cheers and happy reading!
Bonnie Edwards
I do have a lot of mugs!! haha
This is another fav because, really, when it comes down to it this is exactly what writers are: storytellers.
Some are better than others, assuredly.
But within every writer is a burst of inspiration that cries out “Let me tell you a story.”
Love that!
Filed under year in photos
I post a lot of pics of Maple Leaf because she is just the center of my home universe now. I love this one because of what she is doing. She usually waits at the front door – which is glass – for my hubby to come home every night. The moment she sees his car she goes bananas!
With the weather being so friggin’ cold here I don’t like to open the front door because all the cold comes in. Maple has figured out a way to still watch for hubby every night by sitting on the couch ( which she is theoretically not allowed on) and gazing out the window for him. The moment his car pulls into the driveway she goes bonkers.
She’s a pretty smart cookie to have figured this out. Especially since – and I repeat – she is not allowed on the couch.
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I know this is a bit of an odd photo, but it made me laugh. Here’s why: this is a pic of Maple Leaf. She was sick the other day and I put a blanket over her to keep her warm. She was completely covered when I left the room. I came back a moment later and she’d stuck her right paw out of the blanket, still completely covered everywhere else. I got a good laugh out this because I sleep the same way – with one leg out from under the blankets.
Like mother like canine….
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Peggy Jaeger, Author 