Goodreads Giveaway.

I am giving away a signed copy of The Counterfeit Bride at Goodreads.

http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/52137-the-counterfeit-bride

Escape!

Today I escaped the house and those adorable little guys that always manage to lure me away from my laptop. I went to the cafe at Barnes & Noble and was crushed to find my favorite tables were all taken. (Those are the ones near the two electrical units we need to charge our laptops when they start to run down!!!)

I ended up sitting way off to the side where I couldn't easily motitor when one of the lucky people left. But I eventually parlayed my little table for two into a bigger, and closer table for four. I was there for about twenty minutes when the table next to my favorite opened up. I scampered away before anyone else noticed, which was good because right after I moved a tutor came in with her client who was wheelchair bound and the table for four was more suitable for them. It gave them the space they needed to spread the books and worksheets across it.

It took a total of two hours before I reached my desired seat. Last time I came the people at my tables out stayed me. They were there more than nine hours! I was only there for six.

Now all is right with the world. 

And how is your day going?

Fare Thee Well, Annette

And now it's time to say goodbye to one of our family . . . (To paraphrase the old farewell song.)

Even though we had never met, Annette played a big part in my life. She was the big sister I always wanted. She could sing, dance, and people loved her. I watched her as a Babe in Toy Land, she had adventures with Zorro, she was a girl with spunk and heart.

When I learned how to read I devoured a Golden Book fiction series in which Annette was the heroine. Oh the adventures we went on in those chapter books! Annette taught me that a girl could have adventures. 

Then we met Frankie Avalon and spent summers singing and dancing on the beach. (Well, they did, while I watched them in a nice air conditioned movie theater while I ate Raisonettes.)

After my children came along Annette shared her favorite peanut butter with me.

It is with great joy that I remember what Annette meant to a lonely little girl and great sadness that I say goodbye.

This is my favorite MMC memory of Annette.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6NatiMGTH4

Rest in Peace, Annette.

My friends, it gives me great pleasure to announce The Counterfeit Bride is now on sale at both Amazon and Amazon UK.

Blurb

Texas rancher and bar owner Cassidy Flynn is shocked to learn the bride’s name in an upcoming high society wedding – Cassiopeia Dolmides. Cassidy is a woman of secrets; the deepest is the identity she was born with and thought she had escaped long ago. If this bride is impersonating Cassidy, what trouble will that cause Cassidy and her infant son?

Greek tycoon Theron Christofides needs to gain possession of Dolmides Cruise Lines and the little Greek island where it left a shipwrecked eyesore. A lot of people are at risk without his intervention. Old man Dolmides will sell on one condition: Theron must marry Dolmides’ illegitimate daughter. Seeing no other way to rescue the island’s people, Theron agrees to sacrifice himself and his future.

As Theron stands at the altar with his bride-to-be, a fiery-haired woman in snakeskin boots and a cowboy hat interrupts their vows by calling his bride a fraud. In order for the wedding to continue, Theron must convince Cassidy Flynn to drop her lawsuit. Can he withstand Cassidy’s allure while he gains her cooperation? Or will they both be consumed by the fire of desire?

I hope you will stop by and check out The Counterfeit Bride. While you are at Amazon, please add Cassidy and Theron's story to your wish list. (It will help my placement.) After you read the book I would appreciate it if you would leave a review. Good or bad. I hope you will love the book as much as I did writing it.

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/c8lstot

Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/cbs6oqc

This week's post is going to be late . . . So instead I hope you will enjoy this picture.

Changes

Late last week I found out that my publisher has been sold to another company. (Well not the woman who was my publisher, but her company, this is not a blog about human trafficking.) 

To be honest I have mixed feelings about this. I enjoyed being able to say "my publisher" and I worked with many wonderful people in the company, but I have also given into my independent wild child and have already taken the plunge into self-publishing.

To be honest, my age has a lot to do with my decision, to self-publish. It takes a lot of time to submit your work to a publisher and it can take a very long time before you receive a response. Then it can take up to a year or more before your book is ever sees the public. I like the instant gratification I get when I put a book up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and itunes. 

There are many advantages to having a publisher. One of them is the community of writers that is built around the publisher.

Through my publisher we had an active author's loop. We weren't allowed to promote or even talk about books coming out through another publisher (that includes self-published works). That was understandable, but we were not supposed to include the books in our signature either. That was a little more difficult to obey. We all tended to have automatic signatures with our books and social media addies in them.

It was sad watching the goodbyes on the loop. People were promising to keep in touch and trying to record the contact information of others. It felt like the end of the movie Grease!!!

And then, one brilliant woman started a yahoo group! No more sad goodbyes.

However, it was sad taking my books down from here and my website. Don't worry, they'll be back in a few months, with new covers and maybe even a friend or two. (Spirit Board is still available and The Counterfeit Bride will be released on April 1.)

In the meantime, I hope you will stop by my new website! 
http://imawit2015.wix.com/liberty-blake-#!books/cnec 

P. S. 

Before you leave here today, if you could please hit the "follow" button (if you haven't done so already), I would greatly appreciate it. 

Hair

http://youtu.be/7dyl0j3WU6Y


If you went to the link above you had the pleasure of watching the song Hair from the musical of the same name.

My thoughts have been revolving around hair. 

My hair grows very fast and as a child my mother kept it short. I hated it short!!! Then the 60s came and I remember the girls around the Beatles all had gorgeous, long, straight hair. Well, I had straight hair, and I didn't have to iron it to get it straight. If I could keep my mother's hands and scissors away, I could even have long hair.

I had a mission! I was going to grow my hair long. And I did. It didn't take very long to grow my hair down to my waist. When I had a baby she never pulled or yanked on my hair, until I cut it. 

I began to wonder if there was something to the Samson story. Did I become stronger with the length of my hair? 

At one point my hair reached below my knees. That was a challenge. The children were constantly getting lost in my hair. Sticky fingers pulled out braids. Tear streaked faces buried in the hair, seeking comfort and getting their tears (and noses) wiped at the same time. I spent a fortune in shampoo.

I have cut my hair several times and donated the hair, but still it grows back. I like long hair. I like the way it looks. The way it feels. I like the soothing feeling of the brush gliding through my hair.

Now we come to my dilemma. I always picture my heroines with romantically long tresses, but now I am thinking my current heroine might want to have short hair for work reasons.

I have consulted with an expert in the field and she said she kept her hair long while on the job. 

Eeeek! It sounds like a petty trifle to be fretting about, but I have to get a picture of my heroine in my mind.

And now I can't get that song out of my head!!!