7 Amazing Reasons to Celebrate Dads (Late)

Father's Day just happened in the USA. Did you miss it? I happen to love this holiday. It gives me an opportunity to recall all the amazing things my father has done for me:

Dads (or dad figures) will do anything to teach you how to live right:

They protect you:

Source

They make sure you don't starve:

Source

They show you how to live by example:

They teach you what to fear:

And how to use your imagination:

And they're eager to play with you:

So I hope you honored your father (figure) this last Sunday, and if you didn't, it's never too late.

Time for some giveaway love, eh?

This month I'm highlighting fellow authors from:

BUY NOW 

(Unless you already have, in which case, you rock!)

Last week Tamara Narayan ( author of SCRYING THE PLANE) shared HEART STOPPER, along with two truths and one lie. Anyone who guessed the lie was entered to win an eBook of Tamara's latest release, HEART STOPPER.

The game:

1. When I was a penguin keeper at the Riverbanks Zoo in SC, a local news crew came by to shoot a few clips of our Black-foot penguins. This was in 1992 and Batman Returns was big at the box office. This sequel featured Danny Devito as the villain The Penguin along with several real Black-foot penguins as his minions. I wasn’t in any of the shots, but one penguin did poop on the reporter’s foot. I don’t think that made the cut either.

2. On July 1, 2000 I walked in a protest march in Columbia, SC against putting the Confederate Flag on the SC State House grounds next to the Confederate Monument. The flag was being moved there from the dome of the Statehouse where it had flown since 1962 as a protest against desegregation. (The Confederate Flag was finally removed from the State House grounds on July 10, 2015, less than a month after the murder of nine people in a Charleston, SC church, including state senator Clementa C. Pinckney.)

3. I was in my garden weeding the other day. My cat, Mr. Mistoffelees, came by for snuggles and ended up sitting in my lap. Then two fellows came jogging by, one of which I recognized as Jason McElwain, better known as J-Mac, winner of the 2006 ESPY Award for Best Moment in Sports. J-Mac, a high-functioning autistic, scored 20 points in a high school basketball game in four minutes, nineteen seconds.

The lie: #1. Tamara said: I was a penguin keeper at the Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Gardens in 1992, but no reporters ever came around to feature the birds in relation to Batman Returns or anything else. One of the penguins, named Chewy as a nod to Star War’s Chewbacca, had a crush on me. He’d wait by the door for me every morning and bring me sticks (the penguin version of roses). And yes, I was pooped on several times, but luckily I was wearing big rubber boots and a Dickie jumpsuit. Sounds stylish, doesn’t it?

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Krystal Jane!

Congrats, Krystal!

And now meet a story from the author of EVER-TON in the Parallels anthology: 

Love is never easy, but for Detective Steve Quaid and his fiancée, Sarah, their road to happiness is laden with minefields.

After spending countless hours reconverting his grandfather’s cabin into the perfect honeymoon retreat for Sarah, the cabin becomes a bloody crime scene detailing her death. Accused, Steven escapes into the Alaskan mountains, biding his time to find the truth.

Who killed his beloved?

A seasoned woodsman, he outsmarts even the cleverest of trackers. All but one.

Mauled by a grizzly, a half-dead Steven barely escapes.

But will he live to bring the rightful murderer to Justice?

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author?

At one time adventure called to me and I answered. I learned to sleep under the midnight sun of Alaska, survive in below zero temperatures, and I was privileged to hike both the Brooks and Alaska Mountain Ranges. I've traveled from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, and the memories are some of my most valued. The wonders, mysteries, and incredible beauty that is Alaska has never left me and thus now influence my writing.

Despite my adventurous spirit, I achieved my educational goals, married, and we have two wonderful sons. Writing is now my focus, my newest adventure!

Yolanda loves Swiss cheese, but due to changes in diet, she has had to eliminate it. She says she misses it more than ice cream.

Find Yolanda at:

Defending the Pen

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Amazon

Yolanda gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win either a SIGNED PRINT COPY of MURDER AND OBSESSION or PARALLELS. (Winner's choice: US and Canada only for print books. Open to international winners for an eBook prize.)

You have until Tuesday, June 28 at 2 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on June 29, 8 a.m. EDT.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. My Sunday school teacher was dismissed for taking our class to see the movie the Bible.

2. One of my favorite past times was drag racing. On the way to work one morning I raced a fellow driver on the highway. He asked me out and we are now married.

3. I've been married three times.

OH! And stop by Yolanda's place today where 

I'm chatting about cookies, research, and time. (Ooh!)

So sleuths, which is the lie? Have you met Yolanda? What's the biggest thing you learned from your father (figure)? Which is your favorite funny? Do you have a funny "Dad moment" you'd like to share?

Orlando Cries: One Local's Perspective

Have you ever had a large tragedy strike your front door?

I woke Sunday morning to a text from a family member asking if we were alright. We regularly get texts like that after a hurricane or tropical storm, but there was no storm that night. Facebook revealed a different story:

20 dead, as many as 50 headed to the hospital in a nightclub shootout.

We watched the police report and absorbed the tragedy, truly saddened. As the day progressed, the report updated. 49 dead, 53 injured. ISIS claimed the attack. The nightclub was a gay nightclub. The gunman was an actual Muslim terrorist. It was a hate crime and an act of terrorism. By a registered security guard. Who was also on a "watch" list for terrorism.

There was a call for local blood donations. Oh, you should have seen the lines. They ended up having to turn people away because there was such a huge response. Prayers and donations and a general sense of sadness have perpetuated our entire area.

And now there's the political debate:

Gun laws? Um, no. The guy was a SECURITY GUARD. He had a licence to legally handle a gun, and no tightening of gun laws is going to change that. Heck, if someone else in the nightclub had a weapon, they may have taken the jerk down rather than being mowed down. Stronger gun laws will not stop terrorists. It will just make their job easier. Maybe we shouldn't make it illegal to carry guns, but illegal to kill people, eh? If it wasn't a gun, it would have been a bomb, or a fire, or something else.

Hate crimes? Why can't everyone just love everyone! Why is everyone so bigoted? Um, no. This was a Muslim terrorist, and frankly, they would kill anyone who isn't one of them. Just for being different. To these extremists, if you're not Muslim, you're an infidel. Gays just rank at the top of their "hate" list. That doesn't mean the rest of the world feels that way, so please people, stop with the ranting.

On the Terrorist Watch List? This is the one that gets me. Why in the world would they approve someone on the watch list to become a SECURITY GUARD? What? Did someone's palms get greased? Is the government that inefficient? (Yes, the answer is yes.)

Regardless of the reasons, motivations, or  political spewing motivated by this event, the reality is this:

People were killed. Senselessly. Because a group of fanatics (who must have the most messed up childhoods in the world) believe it's okay to senselessly massacre others.

There is no correction, no policing, no words that can make it better. I take solace in the fact that in the next life these violent men will one day stand face to face with those they slaughtered, and what will they have to say? In the meantime, there is an outpouring of love toward the victims and the suffering. To all my Orlando brothers and sisters, the world mourns with us.

If you would like to help the victims of this senseless crime, you can donate to a GoFundMe campaign HERE.

This month I'm highlighting fellow authors from:

BUY NOW 

(Unless you already have, in which case, you rock!)

Two weeks ago I shared THE THING THAT TURNED ME, an anthology of close to 30 authors (including me!) about turning points. Everyone who mentioned "cheese" in a comment was entered to win an eBook of the anthology (after its release on the 28th).

And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Beverly Stowe McClure!

Congrats, Beverly!

And now meet a story from the author of SCRYING THE PLANE in the Parallels anthology: 

Four tales I present to tingle your spine
Four seasons of suspense to let you unwind.
Lives at a crossroad, a breakdown of order
Between life and death, it’s a tenuous border.

(Did I just use poetry to promote a book? Yes, I did.)

Heart Stopper: The disappearance of random household items baffles Dallas Radner and his eleven-year-old daughter Tessa. Ten plastic bags, nine ballpoint pens, and so on as the countdown begins. On the Day of the Dead, Tessa’s birthday, one thing will vanish forever. Will it be her?

Detour: Fed up with her abusive beau, coed Chloe Langley ditches class for a trip home. She’ll never make it.

One Step Away: Darryl James’s acrophobia ruined his marriage and stole his son. On the cusp of completing desensitization therapy, a relapse occurs with shocking consequences. 

Monitor:  Perched on a mountain with a view to die for, Laura and Paul Alderson have it all: new home, new baby, and new challenges. Yet urgent whispers from the baby monitor threaten to turn their American dream into a nightmare.

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author?

From doling out popcorn to moviegoers to flinging smelt to penguins, Tamara Narayan's taken the “road less traveled”. Her career path veered off into a land of integrals and other strange things while she taught college level math, but these days she’s cruising the fiction highway.

You might stumble across Tamara eating cheddar cheese fondu at The Melting Pot.

Visit her at www.tamaranarayan.com.

Tamara gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win HEART STOPPER in eBook.

You have until Tuesday, June 21 at 2 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on June 22, 8 a.m. EDT.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. When I was a penguin keeper at the Riverbanks Zoo in SC, a local news crew came by to shoot a few clips of our Black-foot penguins. This was in 1992 and Batman Returns was big at the box office. This sequel featured Danny Devito as the villain The Penguin along with several real Black-foot penguins as his minions. I wasn’t in any of the shots, but one penguin did poop on the reporter’s foot. I don’t think that made the cut either.

2. On July 1, 2000 I walked in a protest march in Columbia, SC against putting the Confederate Flag on the SC State House grounds next to the Confederate Monument. The flag was being moved there from the dome of the Statehouse where it had flown since 1962 as a protest against desegregation. (The Confederate Flag was finally removed from the State House grounds on July 10, 2015, less than a month after the murder of nine people in a Charleston, SC church, including state senator Clementa C. Pinckney.)

3. I was in my garden weeding the other day. My cat, Mr. Mistoffelees, came by for snuggles and ended up sitting in my lap. Then two fellows came jogging by, one of which I recognized as Jason McElwain, better known as J-Mac, winner of the 2006 ESPY Award for Best Moment in Sports. J-Mac, a high-functioning autistic, scored 20 points in a high school basketball game in four minutes, nineteen seconds.

So sleuths, which is the lie? Have you met Tamara? What are your feelings about the attack in my back yard? Do you like short stories or prefer longer ones?

Have You Ever Sent Someone Off to War?

Have you ever sent a loved one off to war?

Memorial day in the States is Monday. What is Memorial Day? The day we celebrate soldiers, but especially fallen soldiers. It has become a day to honor the men and women who serve in the military. I think about this frequently--what it would be like to pray every day for a father/mother, a husband/wife, a son/daughter, a brother/sister who has gone to fight for the freedoms I cherish. The fear they will not return, the struggle to keep a relationship strong over long distance, the stress of being a single parent while a spouse is deployed... I am left in awe of those who sacrifice so graciously--not just those who leave, but those who let them go.

To all who have made that sacrifice, a HUGE, heartfelt thank you. You are a true hero.

Quick heads up: I'm sharing words of inspiration plus a personal turning point on Diane Wolf's blog. Check it out HERE.

This month I'm highlighting fellow authors from:

BUY NOW 

(Because waiting until later would just be silly.)

Last week we met the talented Cherie Reich and had an opportunity win her fantasy novel, REBORN. Everyone who guessed her Truth or Lie game correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win an eBook.

The Game:

1. From a span of one August to another, Cherie performed in seven theatrical productions.

2. Cherie changed her major four times while in college.


3. Cherie has studied six languages. Unfortunately, she’s only proficient in one.

The lie: #2. Cherie only changed her major three times (general studies to vocal performance to classics). If she had a chance to do it all over again, she would have majored in something else. Maybe anthology (linguistics) or something to do with computers (graphic design or websites) or history.

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Tiana Smith!

Congrats, Tiana!

And now meet a story from the author of RAINERS in the Parallels anthology: 

Some teens go to the Caribbean on spring break. Piper goes to save the world. 

Piper Dunn isn’t who you would call a normal teenager. For one thing, she doesn’t want anyone to know she was born with a blowhole. Even stranger, she has two love interests. Joel, a fellow dolphin-human hybrid, and Tyler, a human. 

It’s hard to choose when a mad scientist is hot on Piper’s trail. Worse, she’s trapped in the Bermuda Triangle. And . . . wait for it . . . Angel, her test-tube daughter, is apparently a real-deal reincarnation. It all adds up to an impossible situation, with happy endings all but lost at sea. Unless, of course, a voodoo high priestess casts a spell or two . . .

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author?

Multi-published author Sandra Cox writes YA Fantasy, Romance, and Metaphysical Nonfiction. She lives in sunny North Carolina with her husband, a brood of critters and an occasional foster cat. Although shopping is high on the list, her greatest pleasure is sitting on her screened in porch, listening to the birds, sipping coffee or a latte, and enjoying a good book. She's a vegetarian and a Muay Thai enthusiast.

You might run across Sandra munching on pepper-jack sticks.

Find her on Facebook (likes appreciated) or her Blog.

Sandra gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win LOVE, LATTES and MUTANTS in eBook. (The first book in the series.)

You have until Tuesday, May 31 at 2 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on June 1, 8 a.m EDT.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. I was the third generation in my family to be married on Christmas Eve.

2. My husband was born in IL, I was born in KY, my daughter was born in OH and my son in WI.

3. English is my second language.

So sleuths, which is the lie? Do you know any military families who deserve a salute? Ever heard of metaphysical nonfiction? Have you met Sandra?

How Frogs Can Inspire You

It's been a serious and busy week around here. Are you in need of a laugh as much as I am? Today's chuckles brought to you by frogs:

source

This month I'm highlighting fellow authors from:

BUY NOW 

(Because waiting until later would just be silly.)

Last week we met the fabulous Sylvia Ney and had an opportunity win her contemporary short story, BROKEN ANGEL. Everyone who guessed her Truth or Lie game correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win an eBook.

The Game:

1. Sylvia almost died as an infant, but became one of the first survivors of a rare birth defect.

2. Sylvia has ghost written for Nora Roberts.

3. Sylvia has held and played with a baby lion.

The lie: #2. Sylvia WISHES this were true! While she has ghost written for others, none of them are nearly as famous as the talented Ms. Roberts aka JD Robb.

Way to guess everyone! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

Tamara Narayan!

Congrats, Tamara!

And now meet the author of FOLDS IN LIFE AND DEATH in the Parallels anthology, Cherie Reich (and for your reading pleasure, a quick excerpt): 

She grabbed a pen and wrote the magic words along the unfinished paper frog’s legs. After she creased the legs up, the frog hopped.

She smiled. The first paper magic her mother had taught her included paper frogs. The Paperist gene skipped Charlie, but their older brother George and she had the gift. George had been a Paperist in the army, but his skills didn’t save him when an enemy sniper’s bullet killed him.

Her smile faltered.

The news hadn’t reported any new information about what happened to the President and his family. The longer the world waited for an announcement, the more speculation swirled among the journalists. Allyson shared their curiosity. What was taking so long? The President should make a speech—either in front of the reporters camped out as close to the White House as possible or from a secure location. No member of the White House staff had spoken to anyone.

“Damn it, Charlie. Where are you?” She kicked out and knocked into a paper frog under her desk. “Oops, sorry.”

The frog limped.

A firm knock sounded upon the front door, followed a few seconds later by the bell ringing.

“I’m…” The coming didn’t leave her lips. She hastened to the foyer and peered out the door’s side glass. Two military men, dressed in sharp and crisp uniforms, stood outside. She understood what their arrival meant. Her family experienced the same news when the army men came about George. Her knees weakened. She opened the door and clutched the frame.

Sounds awesome, right? It is. Today Cherie is offering her fantasy novel, REBORN, to the winner of her truth and lie game: 

On the day of Yssa’s death and rebirth, the god Apenth chose her as the Phoenix Prophetess. Sea serpents and gods endanger the young prophetess’s journey and sour the omens. Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. She spends her days reading dusty scrolls, which does nothing to help her forget Tym, the boy back home. But the annoying yet gorgeous ferryman’s son Liam proves to be a distraction she can’t predict, even though he rarely leaves her alone for two sand grains.

Her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom.

Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight to change Fate.

Get your copy HERE.

Ready to meet the author?

Cherie Reich owns more books than she can ever read and thinks up more ideas than she can ever write, but that doesn’t stop this bookworm from trying to complete her goals, even if it means curbing her TV addiction. A library assistant living in Virginia, she writes speculative fiction. Her books include the paranormal horror collection Once upon a Nightmare and the fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles and The Fate Challenges. She is a member of the Virginia Writers Club, Valley Writers, and Untethered Realms. Visit her website at http://smarturl.it/CReichWebsite.

You might run across Cherie munching on cheddars, smoked Gouda, brie, goat cheese, feta cheese… And so many more. Recently she discovered there was such a thing as a cheese librarian. Unfortunately it requires a Masters in Library and Information Science.  It’s just her luck that she's a mere library assistant and doesn’t have her MLIS.

Cherie gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win REBORN in eBook.

You have until Tuesday, May 24, at 2 p.m. EDT to guess. Be sure to come back for the answers on May 25, 8 a.m EDT.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. From a span of one August to another, Cherie performed in seven theatrical productions.

2. Cherie changed her major four times while in college.

3. Cherie has studied six languages. Unfortunately, she’s only proficient in one.

So sleuths, which is the lie? Are you a fan of frogs? Do you read fantasy or speculative fiction? Have you met Cherie?

OH! A quick heads up. I will be online LIVE and answering questions on Twitter tomorrow night  at 9 p.m. EDT. Join us @ #leafypages