I’m joining “BookHounds” and “I Am A Reader Not A Writer” for the Independence Day Freedom Hop Giveaway, giving a print copy of Ladd Springs & recipe swag to 3 lucky winners!! All you have to do is enter via the rafflecopter giveaway box below and you’re IN. You have 5 ways to win ~ GOOD LUCK and Happy Fourth of July!!

“Once you start reading this series of books, you can’t wait to read the next book. There are so many twist and turns, you never know what is going to happen. I would recommend these books to everyone.” ~ Amazon review

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Delaney Wilkins finds herself at odds with hotel developer Nick Harris over a deathbed promise and a mysterious find in the Tennessee forest.Both are after title to Ladd Springs. But Ernie Ladd, current owner of the property and uncle to Delaney, is adamantly opposed to them both.

Felicity Wilkins, Delaney’s daughter, deserves to inherit her family’s legacy, but neighbor Clem Sweeney is working against her, ingratiating himself with Ernie Ladd. Clem is also harboring a secret that will make him a very wealthy man—unless the others stop him before he can bring it to fruition. Complicating matters is Annie Owens. Ex-girlfriend to Jeremiah Ladd, Ernie’s estranged son living in Atlanta, she declares her daughter Casey is Jeremiah’s, making Casey every bit as entitled to the property as Felicity—only Annie hasn’t proven this claim.

Yet. All are fighting to get the property, but only one will walk away with the gold. Which will it be?

Find out in the first installment of Ladd Springs…

Keep Hopping!

Talk about bad the alpha men in history…

This weekend, the family watched the history channel and we all learned something new.  Something old, and something new. Do you know the origins of the names of our current day calendar months?

I didn’t. My daughter knew a few, thanks to a great, Montessori-based education, but me? I knew nada. Maybe I learned it once but with no recall to speak of, I was swimming through fresh rain water.

Fine. I live in the twenty-first century where a world of information is literally at my fingertips.

Originally, there were ten months. Makes sense when you consider the names were logically based on the numerical system and rooted in Latin. Sept = seven, Oct = eight, Nov = nine, Dec = ten. Basically, December was the tenth month, November the ninth month, October the eight and so on. It wasn’t until circa 700 BC that Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome decided to add two more months, January and February. (Just because they were the dead months of agriculture doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have names, right? I mean, gee whiz, gardeners need a break, too. When else am I going to make snow angels with the family?!?!?!)

However, what you might not know, is that July was originally called Quintilis and August, Sextilis. Remember, in a ten month calendar, these used to be five and six, not seven and eight, ie. Quin = five and Sex = six. (sex as in the Latin root, not the romantic alternative, though I like the way you think!)

Enter alpha men. Julius Caesar decided he wanted a month named after him and voila–Quintilis became Julius or July. Not to be undone, Julius’ successor Augustus wanted the same—“a month, in my honor, I command you!”

Hence, August was born. Men. Can’t live with ’em, can’t get a month in edgewise.

Disclaimer: April, May, and June were named for goddesses…as they should be. ;)

I have a confession to make. A few of my favorite shows have broadcast their season finales, and I’m not too sure how I feel about them. I understand drama and conflict–throw the hero/heroine into a hornet’s nest and watch them react. Got it. Make their life miserable just when they thought they had it all figured out. Wonderful. Perfect.

Only this season on Revenge, they killed off one of my favorite characters, the guy Emily was dating and should have been able to spend the rest of her life with once she exacted her revenge on the Grayson family. She achieved her victory but lost her man in the process. OUCH. I’m not happy. Yes, it’s the perfect circle of revenge–Victoria loses her man, Emily loses hers–but I don’t like it. I’m a happy-ever-after kinda gal. Granted, I probably shouldn’t be watching this show for HEA gratification, but I can’t help it. I enjoy watching the drama for tips on my own writing. But killing my good guy? What’s the matter with writers? Have they no heart?

My daughter has expressed similar outrage over Veronica Roth’s (I think it was her) killing of a main/popular character in one of her books. The author explained she did so for the express purpose of making readers FEEL the pain of death so as not to desensitize them (as so many are in today’s society), but still. I love her thinking, but don’t we read books for escape? For fantasy and fun and drama?

The Good Wife is another show that left me dangling with unease. Alicia and her law partner, Cary, are at odds over his betrayal according to CutterWelderMaestro. Their old senior partner, Diane, wants on board, and the Governor’s office wants Alicia as their new prosecutor. Great to have Diane on board–right after she turned down the same prosecutor job offer–but how is this going to work with Alicia and Cary at odds? I’m not having warm fuzzies. The betrayal is great for drama, but where’s the pleasure in having Diane on board with the new firm?

Sheesh. Maybe prime time dramas aren’t for me. Maybe I’m a Lifetime specials kinda gal. I don’t know. I just find myself caught between a writer’s brain and a reader’s seek for escape. UGH.