Free Reads

by Suzanne

We've had a new addition to our family. A brand new baby boy! He's as cute as his mother and father, and as bald as his grandfather! (That's him over there--->)

Needless to say, I had to put blogging, writing and reading on hold for a bit. Since I have what my husband calls, "the ultimate Grandma job".

And he's right.

I'm lucky in that I have the ability to chose my daughters' doctors, hospitals, nurses AND I get to be in the delivery room for the birth of everyone of my grandchildren. Now, before you think I get all bossy in there, my coworkers will tell you, I play the role of mom/grandmother and not nurse. I don't get in their way and I don't tell them how to do their jobs. Uhm, I shouldn't have to, I trained all but two of them! :)

So now life is getting a bit more back to normal. I have time to read and visit some of my favorite blogs, like our own Bandit Lair, The Romance Dish, The Romance Writers Revenge, etc...

I've managed to start a new project in my writing. Besides working on my next erotica, revising my western historical mail-order bride story for possible publication, I've started writing some "extras" for my website for people to read. (I had hoped to have them up by now...but that baby came four weeks early!! Impatient boy!) But let me tell you a little about these "extras".



If you've read The Surrender of Lacy Morgan, then you know there are five adopted sons who grew to adulthood on Los Hombres ranch under the guiding hand of their mentor, Anson "Cap" McCarthy. Some tragedy or tragic occurrence left these boys on their own when Cap found them.

So.....I thought it might be fun for my readers to hear each of the boys' stories about how they met Cap. The first three are up today...Quinn, Dakota and Will, with Nico and Ian's stories to follow shortly after. I'd love for y'all to take a look at them, let me know your opinion. You can read them now @ www.suzanneferrell.com


And for those of you who haunt websites, have you found any with extras or free reads you like? What did you like about them? Did they make you want to read the back list of the authors? Did they make you crave more of their series or characters?
Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/life%20changes
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Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

by Caren Crane

I have lately been reflecting on the fact that most of us do not like change. I certainly do not. I don’t rush toward it with abandon, welcome it like a long-lost lover nor make up a guest room for it when it arrives. I was reminded of this when watching Return to Cranford, a wonderful early Victorian-set BBC series based on the writing of Elizabeth Gaskell (author of North and South!). The original Cranford series was delightful and I enjoyed the reprise very much. Both series, however, dealt with the staid and traditional people of Cranford having to deal with a Dread Change – the coming of the railroad to their village.

It is hard for me to imagine what a huge impact this had on rural England, but the series did a good job of making me empathize with their plight. I had no trouble believing the changes in their lives shook them to the core, for the stages of change are like the stages of grieving for me.


1. DENIAL – I usually start out resisting change at a visceral level, by denying it is really happening. It cannot. It will not! Only when my buried head, the fingers stuffed in my ears and the chanting of “la la la” don’t hold it at bay do I move on to the next step.



2. ANGER – Next is the tempestuous storm of change-induced anger. Why is this happening to me and mine? It is wrong! Unfair! Undeserved! Inconvenient? Um, okay, that’s the crux of it. Change is most inconvenient, especially when it means changing things I enjoy and am comfortable with, like my daily routine or spending habits.




3. BARGAINING – This is a short-lived stage of change for me, since I am a pitiful bargainer at the best of times. I never bargain with God, since I figure He knows me too well to believe any promises made in the heat of the moment or from abject terror of the unknown. I tend not to bargain with people, either, which may be healthy or may just mean I miss out on some good deals. Hm.



4. DEPRESSION – Next comes a stage I’m really, really good at. I can do depression with the best of them. I am the Queen of the Lament! The only problem is, I get bored with depression in a hurry and my natural optimism buoys me back up. Job loss hasn’t kept me down long, either my or my husband’s, and having to move hasn’t done so either. I’m sure something really horrible like losing my house could put me in a real funk, but I’d find a silver lining eventually. My husband doesn’t understand the optimism thing, but it’s very real allows me to pull myself up by my bootstraps no matter what happens.


5. ACCEPTANCE – The taste of acceptance is often bittersweet. Sometimes far more bitter than sweet. Still, acceptance of change does make it easier to handle. I love peace and for things to be settled and calm, so the sooner I accept whatever change comes my way, the better off I am.

Still, I feel for my friends in Cranford. Those great steel machines, belching smoke and steam into the once-pristine air of Cheshire must have upset the dear people to no end. But change, like death and taxes, is inevitable no matter where we live and can often be beneficial.

In high school, we moved in the middle of my junior year and the middle of my senior year. Two Dread Changes. While there were many difficulties as a result (hello, no junior or senior prom for me!), I think overall the changes were good ones. Better high school the first time and better lifestyle the second time. I have loved my 28 years in North Carolina (not to mention my native NC husband) – a state I might never even have visited had it not been for the second Dread Change!

Are you a change lover or a change denier? Do you leap to catch the curveballs life throws you or do you duck? Have you had a change that seemed bad at first, but turned out to be great in the end? Do share!Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/life%20changes
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Life Changes

by Christie Kelley

My oldest son graduated high school on June 3rd. It was a lovely ceremony filled with laughter, tears, and some wonderful memories. As I sat in the stands watching the some of the children that I’ve known since my son was in second grade, it hit me that not only is my son’s life changing, but mine as well. It was time to realize that my son was now an adult.

What a strange concept!

The idea of having another adult in the house is finally starting to sink in. He still won’t be 18 until July 4th, but he certainly isn’t a child any longer. I started noticing the change him in about a year ago as he came out of the hormone induced middle teen years. Suddenly, my son wasn’t just telling me what video game he’d played that day, he was talking to me on an adult level. We were having philosophical conversations about life and the world.

And the truth is, I love it.

He’s turned out to be a wonderful young man. I count myself fortunate that he’s decided to live at home for two more years and attend the local community college before transferring to a bigger university.

My younger son just turned 13 so as he enters those awful teen years, it’s nice know that he too will eventually come out of it. Hopefully, he will get through those years as well as my oldest did.

All these things made me think about other upcoming changes that we all go through. Several of the bandits are going through their own changes. Some have children leaving for college this year. Others will be empty nesters for the first time. Others have to deal with an ailing parent. I know change is supposed to be good, but it can cause all kinds of emotions to run through us, too. It's nice to know we can share these emotions with our friends.

So what about you? Do you have any upcoming life changes you’re dealing with? If you have children, how will you (or did you) deal with your kids leaving home whether for college or for good? Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/life%20changes
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THAT MOMENT IT CLICKS

by Suzanne

No this isn't a discussion about my digital camera or my ability to take really cute pictures of my grandkids, (although I do and they are!). No that clicking you hear is the light bulb going off over your head when you suddenly have a great idea. Or that moment when everything falls into place like cubes in a game. Or that moment when you know, deep down in your gut that something is right, or God forbid, something is wrong.

Click.

What? You think I'm a little loco in la cabessa? Well, I may be, but let me give you a few examples that reinforce my belief in the power of the click.


1978...Mount Carmel School of Nursing. At 19 years old, I'm a senior doing my mother-child rotation, this week in Labor and Delivery. I'll graduate in the spring. I've got my plans for what I'll do with my career. I've adored two nurses my whole life. My mom, who was a surgical scrub nurse and Hot Lips Hoolihan from the M*A*S*H TV show--another surgical nurse. I'll go straight into the OR and follow in their footsteps. But first, I have to finish school. Today, I'm standing at the foot of a delivery table watching my first baby being born. As the head, then shoulders, then body emerges, tears fill my eyes and there's a loud "click" in my head. I realize in that moment that my plans are forever changed. THIS is what I want to do.

Fast forward three years. Met my husband. No the click didn't happen then. A month later we went on our first date. We spent the evening eating pizza, then going to a dance club, but didn't dance too much. But afterward, when he kissed me goodnight, CLICK. Not the kind of electrical current thing that would make us vulnerable to be around in a thunderstorm kind of click. Just the, this is the one I could spend my life with and be happy, kind of click. That was more than 28 years ago and counting.

Sometimes my "clicks" are subtle and I have to listen very closely to them. Occasionally, I'm staring at a fetal monitor strip and I just get that feeling deep in my gut that says, "Click, this baby is in trouble." It comes with time, experience and training, but when I listen, then the doc listens to me, things usually come out good. Sometimes, it's a quiet "click" about one of my kids, or a friend, or my parents. You know, that urge to make the phonecall, just because they've been on your mind all week long? And when you do...sometimes it's just your voice they need to hear at the dreadful moment in their lives? CLICK

Another click happened while we lived in Florida. I'd always played with writing scenes when I was bored and had nothing to read. This particular night I wrote a great scene about a heroine escaping up a hillside from a man she knows is a killer. It was historical, the hero is her husband, but doesn't know she witnessed a murder and doesn't know she's fleeing town in such a precarious situation. Oh yeah, it's winter, it's Colorado, and she's eight months pregnant. It's also the middle of the book. That's when the "click" happened. Why was she fleeing? Who did the murderer kill? Why hasn't she told her husband? (That's my image of the hero..)



CLICK! I was hooked. 395 pages later, I'd written my first book!


I've started a new book--a sequel to my story THE SURRENDER OF LACY MORGAN. I've known the hero for over a year now, (imagine Shemar Moore from CRIMINAL MINDS in jeans, chaps and a cowboy hat...yumm...okay, you don't have to imagine, I'll show you...)...er, I digress.

Anyways, I know his backstory, his conflict, his needs. I knew who his heroine is...but I know nothing really about her. With free writing I figured out her motivation and some of her backstory. Then I wrote the first scene of the book, then rewrote it, then rewrote it and yet again. Finally, I let her be proactive to a particular problem, the one that sets her out on her journey... and CLICK!! Yep...gonna be a good story!!!




So, how about you? Ever hear your own "clicks"? That moment in time when your life changes? Your story changes?

Source URL: https://violeta-diario.blogspot.com/search/label/life%20changes
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