Jacqui’s Friday Flowers in March

March brings many Daffodils to the gardens and parks where I live in Victoria, Canada. I love the yellow, orange, and white contrast against the dark green. And it's a great workout crouching down to flower-level to get the best photos! 

Here are some of my favorite Daffodil, Narcissus, or Jonquil photos from 2020 and one from 2019. 

Jacqui ❤️ 💐

2019 by the Parliament Buildings looking toward the Empress Hotel.

Click here to see my Feb blog post & my very pink Cherry Blossom pics 🌸  

To see more of my flower pictures (during the February to October flower season in Victoria, Canada), visit my Facebook and Instagram pages. 

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Fall in love with a new Old West where the men are steadfast & the women are adventurous. I love writing stories about women who are Wild West scouts, spies, cardsharps, wilderness guides, trick-riding superstars, and more. 

Read an excerpt from all of my books at JacquiNelson.com/my-books

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THROUGH MY LENS

 Granbury, Texas

2010

My local writing group went on a retreat about 2 hours southwest from where I live. Granbury is a beautiful small town with lots of tourist attractions. I didn't make it there, but one is Dinosaur Valley State Park. My parents took my kids there. Tim and I should go there because it's close by. Next weekend camping trip!

Favorite Books: They Make a Difference

American philosopher and psychologist, William James once said, “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.”

For a person, this instruction can be hard enough to live by. For a writer, it’s even harder. Authors write to entertain, and we’re extremely lucky if we ever learn something we wrote made a real difference in someone’s life. Over an author’s career there are always good reviews that maybe prove we brought enjoyment to somebody, but enjoyment is fairly easy to find. That we made a real difference or changed something for somebody, however? It’s much harder to convince ourselves we managed that!

When I started writing, it was enough to know I’d created a story my publisher deemed good enough to buy and release to the public. In fact, it was super satisfying. But, it was all about me. After several books, I wanted to know if my words meant something more than building my ego. More than giving fluff to the world.

I finally took time to remember and think about the hundreds of books I’d read over the years. What had they meant to me? And the light dawned. They’d meant everything! They’d given comfort, friendship, enlightenment, and inspiration. In my case, they’d helped me set my goal for the future: write a book myself.

There were several books in particular that made a deep and lasting impression on me. To this day, thinking of them brings joy and warm, happy memories.

 1.     The Black Stallion

series—specifically “The Black Stallion’s Filly” and “The Black Stallion’s Sulky Colt.”  These books turned me into a reader—I couldn’t wait to read the next book in the series. They turned me into a lover of library books—the worn, well-loved, hard covers with their colorful illustration were beautiful to me. They turned me into a lover of romance! There wasn’t romance in them, but I sure fell in love with Alec Ramsay—my very first book boyfriend! And, more importantly, they made me want to be a writer of horse stories. I knew one day I would write a story about race horses! And I did. “Missing By a Heartbeat” is all about a race track scandal and describes several races, just the way Walter Farley did in The Black Stallion books.

2.     Runway Zero-Eight: This was a 1972 disaster book by Arthur Hailey. This
book reminds me of the years and years my dad spent reading out loud to me and my brothers – even when we were late teenagers. This book taught me that I should read widely because it’s not a book I’d have chosen on my own, but I loved the adventure and intensity. It also taught me how to read to my children. Now they read to theirs!

3.     Hummingbird: This 1980’s-era romance is by one of the legends of romance writing, LaVyrle Spencer. This book is dated now, but it is THE book that made me a romance writer. I fell in love with the lyrical voice, learned that characters can become completely real, and recognized how to build flaws into heroes. It also contains my favorite love scene of all time!

 Remembering those books and others, gave me comfort and confidence. I might be writing to entertain—but I was also going to affect someone somewhere—even if I never knew about it. In my way I was “acting as if what I did made a difference.”

 

I got lucky. Eventually several writers were kind enough to write and thank me for something I put in a book. A meaningful one was from a mom who appreciated me “writing with sensitivity” about a character who was on the autism spectrum. The character was a ten-year-old boy, and this mom told me I’d made her feel good about how kids like her own son had been portrayed. (“Good Guys Wear Black”) That was definitely a high point for me! 

Authors love giving stories to the world – and now I write, knowing somewhere my book will certainly fulfill a need for someone. I shared the ones that meant a lot to me; I’d love to know what books have made a difference in your life!

New Release! Avoiding the Earl's Lust, Book 2 in C.H. Admirand's The Lords of Vice Series

Welcome to the pre-launch for the second book in my new series for Dragonblade Publishing: The Lords of Vice.

I'm delighted to introduce Edward, Earl Lippincott, the Duke of Wyndmere's younger brother. Like his older brother, he shares the Lippincott piercing blue eyes and dark wavy chestnut hair. Unlike his brother, he enjoys flashing his dimples when he smiles--his secret weapon with the ladies. He's 6'2" tall with broad shoulders and the same imposing build and devilishly good looks as his brother Jared. Edward loves the social whirl of society and thrives on the never-ending entertainments that last well past dawn and end someplace quiet with a warm and willing woman.

Lady Aurelia Coddington is making her debut into society with her good friend Lady Phoebe Lippincott, younger sister to Edward and Jared. A diminutive blonde beauty, standing at just 5' tall, Aurelia's summer blue eyes and curvaceous figure catch the earl's attention. The innocent debutante has captivated him, but she avoids him at all costs, having been warned away from him by his sister Phoebe and his sister-in-law Persephone, Duchess of Wyndmere. 

My characters seldom choose to follow along with the detailed synopses I create for them, and Edward and Aurelia are no exception. However, I do tend to listen when my characters insist that they would never act or think the way I intend them to. How is it that fictional characters I create and breathe life into refuse to listen to me? Sigh, the answer must lie somewhere deep in the dark recesses of my beleaguered brain. A mystery for now, to be solved at another point in time.

~ ~ ~

Here's the blurb:

Pride, Lust, Envy and Greed…vices that could lead a gentleman down the road to ruin. Unless he meets his saving grace in the form of an innocent debutante…

Edward, Earl Lippincott is cut from the same cloth as his late and unlamented brother, the Fifth Duke of Wyndmere. When a madman has the earl’s family in his crosshairs, the earl’s overindulgence, and self-destructive ways halt. He works alongside his brother, the Sixth Duke of Wyndmere, restoring the family name to secure a suitable marriage for their sister, but is distracted by their sister’s lovely friend Lady Aurelia.

Lady Aurelia is enthralled by the handsome earl and secretly delighted when he dances with her at his sister’s ball. Everyone warns her to stay away from the earl—even his own sister! The earl’s social invitations tempt her to accept, but her uncle insists she decline.

Will she follow her heart or listen to her head in this sweet tale of love and redemption?

~ ~ ~

Read an excerpt from the Prologue:

Edward, Earl Lippincott, gazed into the heart-shaped face of his sister’s friend, Lady Aurelia Coddington. Her smile was like a beam of sunlight in the crowded ballroom where they met in the middle of the dance floor executing yet another step in the quadrille.

As they progressed through the dance, he glanced over his shoulder in time to admire her curvaceous form. The debutante was uncommonly pretty and had attracted his attention from the moment she entered the ballroom.

Her eyes echoed the bright blue of a midsummer sky. Light blonde hair gleaming beneath the glow of a hundred candles, softened to a darker blonde as she moved from beneath the chandelier.

The steps brought them together again, and he did his best to dazzle her with his secret weapon—his dimpled smile.

Aurelia’s step faltered. He smiled, knowing he succeeded as he steadied her before she misstepped.

Her smile was tremulous. “Thank you, your lordship.”

“My pleasure.” And it would be, if he could but get her alone for just a few moments after the dance ended. Mayhap a walk in the dimly lit garden of his brother’s town house to steal a kiss and more. A glance at the Duke of Wyndmere had Edward sighing. His brother was glaring at him—again.

Bloody hell! He’d given his word not to trifle with the affections of any female under the age of five and twenty. Another glance at his partner and he knew she would be somewhere nearer their sister’s age of eight and ten. Blast!

Her lips curved into a fetching smile with not a trace of artifice.

Good God! He was intrigued to the point of temptation. What he wouldn’t give if he could travel back in time before he’d given his word to his brother. He’d whisk the young lady away to a more private setting. Devilishly skilled in the art of seduction, more than her innocent curiosity would be satisfied.

The music ended as thoughts of what might be whirled in his head. Entranced by Lady Aurelia. Unwilling to end their time together, he slowly lifted her hand to his lips. Dazzled sky-blue eyes widened as he pressed a kiss to the back of her gloved hand.

Delighted with her, intrigued by her lack of artifice, he knew he would have to see her again. The hand in his trembled as the confusion and untapped desire in the depths of her eyes held him enthralled.

“I trust you’ve enjoyed dancing with Earl Lippincott.”

Lord Coddington’s gravelly voice broke the spell Aurelia had woven about him. Edward noted the older man’s pointed look and released her hand.

Aurelia beamed. “Yes, Uncle Phineas.” Remembering her manners, she curtseyed. “Thank you ever so much for the delightful dance, your lordship.”

“It was indeed a pleasure, Lady Aurelia.”

She was staring at him as if committing the moment to memory. Was she? How odd. No other woman had ever looked at him in quite the same manner.

Her uncle tugged on her arm to get her moving. She looked over her shoulder and waved at him. “I’ll remember this dance always!”

Lady Aurelia’s reaction, though a bit unschooled, was refreshing. This could hardly be her first ball, could it? He watched her walk away, speculating at the number of balls she may have attended. Frustration filled him, wondering how many other jaded members of the ton she had cast her innocent spell upon. He would make discrete inquiries to that end, while at the same time learn more about the lovely young woman.

“Have you forgotten your promise already?”

Edward’s temper was rarely ignited by mere words, but his brother’s question had him fighting to rein in the acidic reply poised upon his tongue. Succeeding in that regard, he replied, “Nay, Your Grace.”

The duke’s one-word response had Edward chuckling. “I daresay, do you think your language is appropriate for our younger guests?”

“You would jest when this is a serious matter?”

Edward sighed. “I have just danced with a delightful young lady, who happens to be a friend to Phoebe. I found Lady Aurelia to be a breath of fresh air.”

He watched the lady and her uncle make their way over to the refreshment table before turning back to his brother. “Do not make light of my promise not to dally with any of our sister’s friends, this Season’s debutantes,” he warned the duke. “I gave my word.”

His brother sighed audibly. “Forgive me. The latest missive from our contact at the Bow Street Runners has me seeing the viscount skulking about in every corner of the ballroom and then dancing with our sister, Phoebe.”

Edward relaxed and clapped a hand to his brother’s back. “Your personal guard is stationed about the room.”

“True.”

“And your lovely duchess is watching over our sister,” Edward pointed out. “What could possibly happen?”

“What indeed?” the duke mumbled.

A short while later Edward noted Lord Coddington escorting his niece, and the young woman who accompanied them, from the ballroom. Mayhap another time, Lady Aurelia, he silently promised.

At half eleven he observed one of their footmen delivering a folded slip of paper to his brother. He knew without asking it was of some urgency and involved the man behind the threats to their family.

As previously arranged, he crossed the expanse of the ballroom to join his sister-in-law, the duchess. “I would have you know how much you have added to my brother’s life, Persephone,” the earl confided. “And ours.”

The look in his sister-in-law’s eyes warmed at his words, then changed abruptly. He had a split-second warning to prepare before all bloody hell broke loose.

~ ~ ~

What's next in The Lords of Vice Series? Book 3: Tempering the Viscount's Envy. I turned in book 3 on Valentine's Day and am currently writing book 4: Redirecting the Baron's Greed. I have had such fun writing about the Lippincott men and their cousins. I hope you enjoy reading their stories.

Giveaway!! I'm running a rafflecopter giveaway beginning

 tomorrow, Release Day, March 16 - 21, 2021. 

Here's the link to enter for a chance to win! 

Avoiding the Earl's Lust Giveaway Contest

Two winners and the prize...

Someone will win a $25 Amazon Gift Card and an e-book copy of Avoiding the Earl's Lust, and someone will win an e-book copy of Avoiding the Earl's Lust. Good Luck!!

~ ~ ~

Connect with C.H.:

Website 

Dragonblade Publishing 

All Author

FB Author Page

Twitter

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Amazon Author Page

Instagram

Happy Reading!

C.H.

 

 

ROADTRIPS

OR THE BEST WRONG TURN YOU EVER MADE

Roadtrips as a subject is really easy for me (Angi). If you've EVER read this blog, you know I don't need an excuse to jump in the truck and drive. I LOVE ROADTRIPS. On this fine day in March I'm going to tell you how it all got started and about my best wrong turn I ever made. Is it in life? Or is it physically in a car? Which is yours? Leave a comment for this month's hostee giveaway from C.H. Admirand.

E.E.

One of my favorite road trips was a trek I took across the country to help a friend move from Kansas to Northern California. What made it so memorable wasn’t just traveling through many Western states for the first time--although that was AWESOME! It was the fun we had along the way. On the way across Nebraska, I read my poor friend the entire first draft of Tom Sawyer Returns. She recently read the book again and kindly said: “It’s not the same novel.” Then, a bit later, “You’re writing has improved greatly.” Thankfully, my reading didn’t put her asleep behind the wheel.

Another memorable moment came when we stopped to gas up off the highway in some far rural area of Wyoming that I couldn’t point to on a map. We were talking the whole time, in a hurry to get going and find some place to eat, and as we drove off, I heard something “pop.”  A little while later, I looked in the side mirror and saw something poking out of the gas tank... Good Lord! We had driven off with the pump still in the tank! That was the popping sound.

Both of us were horrified. When you pull the handle off a gas hose, do the pumps keep spewing gas? God forbid, it caught fire. I saw no plumes of smoke in the rearview mirror. 

Were the police on their way after us? Should we stop? Keeping going? Turn around? We had two dogs in the car and worried about what might happen to them, if we ended up in jail.

My friend despaired. She began to confess past sins, including the time she’d stolen a bottle of nail polish from her friend’s dresser. I suggested she had better turn around. This unwitting "crime" would haunt her for the rest of her life!

Me and my road trip buddy
after we reached California's wine country

We stopped and removed the pump handle from the gas tank, then threw it into the back seat. The smell was atrocious, so it went into the trunk—the perfect place to hide a body. Then we turned around and drove back to the convenience store where we had purchased the gas. My friend went inside and told the teenage clerk what had happened. He gave her a blank stare when she asked what she should do. She handed him $50 and said “I’m so sorry” and we left. 

Once we reached California, things certainly improved. We visited wineries and the California coastline and many other sites that I don't have space or time list here.

We didn't document the gas pump near-theft. No need to leave evidence!

C.H. 

My parents took us on vacation every summer. Mom liked to visit historical sites along the East Coast, and Dad...well I think he just liked to get away with the family. What an adventure! It was Summer 1973, going into my sophomore year in high school, when Dad packed up the six of us into the family car (PTL...praise the Lord it had A/C!)—during the gas shortage! It was kind of weird how there were gas lines and rationing going on when we left NJ (against our grandparent’s dire predictions of running out of gas somewhere along the way.) The further we got away from the Tri-State area, the gas lines disappeared…and the gas prices dropped! Here’s a link to an article describing it with a picture. 

Dad always stopped at Nagel’s Candy Barn (closed now for years) before vacation and bought a bag of home-made lollipops! We used to joke that he had 32 “sweet teeth.” But boy were we glad when he’d pull that white paper bag out of the glovebox and pass it around for everyone to choose their favorite flavor! By the time we’d reached California, we were running out of our favorite flavors and had to settle for grape, root beer, or birch beer. 

Memorable highlights from that trip: 
Visiting with Dad’s older brothers Uncle Gub and Uncle Bill and their families (and getting to ride in my cousin, Billy’s, new orange ‘72 Datsun 240Z,)    

visiting New Orleans, the Alamo, driving across the desert into California, the San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, Carlsbad Caverns, the Sonora Desert Museum, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, and Louviers, Colorado—a small DuPont Village outside of Denver where Dad was born. The postmistress of Louviers remembered Dad and his family! (We thought she looked old enough to remember when Grandad and Grammy Dobbs were born, but we kept that thought to ourselves.) 

That connection to Colorado where Dad was born stayed with me, simmering for years, until I was writing my first book and needed somewhere to take my Irish immigrants to get them into trouble. So, of course the reason Margaret Mary Flaherty had to travel to Colorado was her older brother’s fault…my brother was always leading me into trouble growing up! 

I’m giving away a print or e-book copy of Mending the Duke’s Pride, Book One in my new series for Dragonblade Publishing: The Lords of Vice.

AMANDA

I would rather drive anywhere than fly. I love, love road trips! The sheer joy and adventure of being able to stop and discover new places, people, and perhaps things about yourself that you never knew. Today however, I’d like to share an experience on my "writing journey" road trip.

As a writer, my characters rarely have it easy. On their road to their happily ever after there are many twists and turns, delays, bumps in the road, hill-top moments and a few potholes as well!

And it's not a great deal different for the literary storyteller. I suppose that’s why I’ve always believed in potential and possibility.

I told myself that I would never write in a certain genre-that being erotic romance. I just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t in my persona. Even though it was a very popular genre at the time and many publishers—including my dream publisher-Harlequin, were seeking submissions (no pun intended) At this time, I’d been trying for over a year to please my then agent, but to no avail (let’s not get into the confusion of her being listed as having questionable ethics in her business) So, on a whim, I wrote a short paragraph, a steamy little under the stairs Victorian, scene set in London.

To my surprise. It was good. Really good-apparently.

Roughly two weeks later, I received THE CALL from Harlequin Spice, asking if  I thought I could write this scene into an entire book. Fast forward after  YES-- to a four-book contract. I was thrilled and terrified at once. Did  the experience push the parameters of my writing comfort? Absolutely, but in the process, in working with other authors and editors, I gained the experience of realizing my strengths, my weaknesses, and where my voice is best suited. One of my mantras on this writing journey is “I am still learning.” (thank you, Michelangelo) as such, I am grateful to all the large and small press publishers that have contributed to me becoming on this road of writing—a better storyteller. 

The experience lead to many books after, including the Kinnison Legacy trilogy, the Last Hope Ranch series and the End of the Line novels, along with a variety of historical stories, a recipe book, and my first illustrated book-The Hope That Wanted to Be a Prayer inspired by the crappy Co-Vid pandemic. <g>

Where will the road take me next? I’m working on  a new contemporary romance trilogy based on faith, hope and love!  More to come, so stay tuned!

JACQUI

The defining road trip of my youth was almost every summer my family packing the car and driving west from our farm to Alberta, Canada's Rocky Mountains. First came the familiar backroads to reach the highway. Then we were speeding along until we got caught behind a camper, or big rig, or maybe both. Then came the wait to try to pass because it was only a single-lane highway back then. 

Eventually, we'd glimpse the mountains on the horizon. After the gently rolling hills (or maybe slopes) of my prairie home, this first glimpse of those majestic peaks was always thrilling. The trees, rivers, and lakes always looked better in the mountains as well. And then there was the game of trying to spot all of the exotic (to me) wildlife, like bighorn sheep, mountain goats, elk, and bear.

Our final destination was always Miette Hot Springs. To reach this we had to leave the highway—at the point where if we kept driving it'd only be half an hour before we'd reached the tourist town of Jasper. Instead of doing that, we'd head up a steep and narrow road with many, many switchbacks. I looked up the distance and it's only 17 km or 10 miles up these switchbacks but as a kid, this part of the trip felt like it went on forever. 

Talk about a lot of turns that felt like wrong turns! Back and forth, on and on. With the edge of the road feeling way too close to the drop down the mountainside. Thrilling, breathtaking, nerve-wracking, and finally relaxing. There's nothing like finally getting out of a car and getting to spend several days in the mountain air.

Miette Hot Springs cabins

LIZBETH

I've been taking road trips since I was very young. With four kids in tow, car/camping trips were the only way my folks could afford to take us far from home. But we sure had fun--camping our way out to Washington D.C., seeing many Civil War sites (Antietam, Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg) because Dad was a huge CW aficionado. When I was a kid, I got carsick easily. I never threw up, but I got horrible headaches. My brothers HATED me because I got to ride in the front seat a lot to stave off sickness! Still, I loved those trips. And I've carried that love through 46 years of marriage. I'm so lucky to have a hubby who loves to drive--far prefers it to being a passenger. And since I no longer get carsick and I love riding--we're a perfect match. 

Glacier National Park 1975

Grand Teton

One of my favorite trips of my very many over the years was our first vacation as a young married couple in July, 1975. We drove west to Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton National Parks with a brand new umbrella tent, Coleman stove and the camping skills I'd gained with my family. Hubby had never camped--this was a grand experiment for sure. I had never driven to the West, however, (see Civil War buff above) so this trip to the mountains was as good as flying to Oz! Driving through the North Dakota badlands, watching the flat plains turn into rolling foothills--like the kind of round-topped hills kids draw--and then into majestic peaks was soul-changing. To this day, the mountains make me feel as if I'm really home despite the fact that I'm a born-and-bred Minnesotan with nary a mountain to our state's name. 

19-year-old me in Glacier Park

On that trip we saw Glacier Park when it still contained countless glaciers. I fell so in love with tilted Grand Teton that, years later, I set a series of books on a ranch within sight of that massif. I saw Old Faithful and the mudpots, and the geysers of our first National Park. And, I instilled a love of camping in my husband that endures to this day. And, for the record, I would pit his camp cooking skills (among others) against anyone's. We live like royalty with our tent as base! So, yes, give me a road trip any day. Given the time, I'd much rather drive somewhere than fly. Oh, the things you bank in your memories!!

ANGI

My roadtrips began at an early age with my mom and dad (okay, the sibs came along too). My father was in the moving business and drove his own big rig. My mom would follow in our Plymouth Fury III.  We also took trips without the big truck. My dad built a camper--you read that right HE BUILT A CAMPER. He also built toy boxes for the floorboard of the backseat (remember this was before mandatory seatbelts). We were pretty comfortable in that huge back seat and window. It was awesome. 

I later drove this car
when I turned 16.

July 1970 Colorado Mountains

I'm lucky being the oldest because I probably remember more about these trips than my sibs. Like how my two-year-old brother was "potty trained" by learning to pee in a bottle while we were driving. LOL Or one of the only times we slept in a hotel and left because most of the patrons were still up at three in the morning and my dad wasn't sleeping anyway (Colorado 1970). My mom was furious because my dad was driving on pitch-back mountain roads (with very steep drop-offs).  But hey, we got to play in the snow that morning. Yep, those are shorts and cowboy boots.

Yeah, I gave us Hawaii. We've both been there just not with the trailer.

I have now traveled to 48 states, a good portion of them with my parents. But Tim & I are well on our way to visiting all of them together...again. We plan on completing our map of America with our travel trailer. In fact, we just added Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia & South Carolina. We were on this trip when the ice storm hit in Texas (Feb 21). It rained on us the entire trip. Not too bad for adults in a trailer, but definitively bad for three dogs having to do their business in the mud. On our last day we took a detour to Epes, Alabama. It's about six miles off Interstate 20, near the Mississippi border.  It's an awesome break. I wish we'd had more time to explore. 

White Cliffs of Epes Alabama

I have so many stories now about traveling that it's hard to choose, but I wanted to tell you about the best wrong turn I ever made. It was in Valentine, Texas searching for a gas station. Tim & I didn't know that everything closed at dark in that part of the country. It was before we had GPS on our phones, before gas apps and Waze. We followed the road and kept turning to the right hoping to hit the main road again. And in frustration, we stopped the Jeep. We were in the middle of no where with no lights coming from houses or street lights (there weren't any). When we looked around it seemed we were immersed in a million stars. I mean, I felt like I was in the heavens surrounded by nothing but sparkles. I would have enjoyed it more at the time if we hadn't been on the verge of running out of gas. LOL  No pictures, but it did influence my book: Protecting Their Child.

All of my roadtrips end up in a book.

~ ~ ~

Share where your next roadtrip will or would be. 

Be sure to leave a comment, C.H. is giving away a print or e-book copy of Mending the Duke’s Pride, Book One in her new series for Dragonblade Publishing: The Lords of Vice.