Love is in the air!

Winter is a time of blustery winds, warm blankets, and book friends to fill your heart.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

The Misplaced Bride

Welcome to Summer!

I am very pleased to announce my new release!!!

The misplaced Bride is now available on Amazon.



Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Pregnancy & Rizzoli and Isles

I love watching television!

One of the shows I currently love to watch is Rizzoli and Isles. 

It is based on a series of novels by Tess Gerritsen a Maine based author. It takes place in the beautiful city of Boston. It has a fabulous theme song that shouts out Boston. 

It is about two professional women, who are best friends, portrayed by the beautiful and fabulous Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander.

It returns for its fifth season on TNT.

Because the show has to deal with the real life death of one of its actors I was reading an article on how they were going to deal with it. 

(I am not going to deal with this here and now. It is very sad, but not what raised my ire.)

I read the comments and saw a few things I wanted to address!

One of the criticisms of the show is that Jane Rizzoli is pregnant. Another is that they broke Jane and her military boyfriend up because neither one of them wanted to leave their careers.

Let us first deal with the break up first.

One commenter felt that Jane and Casey (the military boyfriend) could have gotten married without either one of them giving up their careers, because people in the military do it all the time.

Casey was being promoted to General, and although I have never been married to a General I have watched enough Army Wives episodes to know that being the General's wife is a full-time, non-paying job.

Jane is a homicide detective on the Boston Police Force. This is not a job that can travel with her if she wanted to live with her husband, the General. Nor would it wait for her to return to Boston when his current tour of duty in Bosnia ended. Jane worked hard and for many years to become a homicide detective. It is not just a job for her, it is a calling.

Besides that, I did not want Jane with Casey Jones, I didn't think he treated her well enough, but I was glad to see Jane in a relationship. I liked her best with Lt. Joey Grant the nemesis of her childhood. However, Lt. Grant was played by Donny Wahlberg of Blue Blood fame. I don't think Donny will leave CBS at this point, even though it would make me very happy to see him and Jane get together.

Now I will address the issue of Jane's unplanned pregnancy. One commenter really riled me up when it was stated that a professional career women would never accidentally get pregnant with an unplanned pregnancy. 

Hello! Do you need the word ACCIDENTAL defined for you? 

Hello! Haven't you ever read the warnings on birth control pills, devices, and condoms? The only 100% sure fire way not to get pregnant is not to have vaginal sex!!!

Those little microscopic spermies are like rats. They are great swimmers and very determined to reach their goal. For the sperm it is to embed itself into an egg and for a rat it is to travel through a watery tunnel and come out in your toilet.

Beware of the sperm! It can impregnate even career women!!!!

Even professional career women are subject to accidents. Ask any insurance claims adjuster if he ever has to pay out a claim to a career woman who might have gotten rear-ended in a traffic jam.

And here is a news flash! Women who find themselves accidentally pregnant do not rush right out to get an abortion. A woman has to decide how best to deal with the situation. You might not like what she decides to do, but it is still the woman's decision, and it is never reached without careful thought.

And here is another news flash!!!

Most of us are the product of an accidental, unplanned pregnancy. 

It is only in the last generation that pregnancy became something you planned and not just something you crossed your fingers and hoped for the best about.




Saturday, June 14, 2014

Happy Flag Day!



It's not the greatest picture of the flag, but it is the one I took on my way home from New Orleans.

We were passing through Hartford, Connecticut and off in the distance I saw the flag waving from a highrise crane. This shot was taken from a moving vehicle (on the highway) through the window glass.

I wish I could express the emotions I felt seeing the flag after driving through and experiencing thousands of miles of the roads and sites of America!

I met many wonderful people on the trip and I must thank Hannah Howell for taking me along for the ride.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Velvet Reed

Velvet Reed has a new book coming soon. I love this promo!!!



This promo got Velvet put into FB jail. 

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Are We Minimizing Dads

Okay. Many people might find this blog offensive, so I apologize in advance. (But I am going to write the damn thing anyway!)

I guess someone in the Sinatra family wants more money because the image and voice of Frank Sinatra (He died on May 14, 1998), not to mention his name, is being used to sell Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select.



That is a business decision someone has made, and it is a brilliant marketing plan.

However, the commercials remind me of Mia Farrows' claim that the son she previously claimed was the product of Woody Allen's loins is actually the result of Frank Sinatra's sperm.


If that is true, why did she let the world go on thinking for a couple of decades that the poor boy was the son of an alleged pedophile? Growing up with the stigma that your "father" raped one of your sisters is not something a loving mother should do to her child, especially if the young man was not the offspring of the alleged pedophile.

Then we have all the young women, and some not so young women, going on Maury and other talk shows wanting to prove which man out of the multitudes "is my baby's daddy." 

The woman is always "one thousand percent sure" the man in question is the "daddy" because he was the "only one" she was with, or if more than one man has been tested, "the only other one."



What is the purpose of these tests? The woman always claims she wants the man to step up and be a daddy, but you can't force a man to act like a daddy if he doesn't want to.

If a man wants to love a child and be a daddy he will step forward. Bringing a bunch of men (there was at least one woman on Maury that had over 29 men tested at various times for the same child) onto a television show to have a DNA test does not a daddy make.

Due to the nature of our Hunter/Warrior forebearers, a man's role in the raising of a child had been minimal. The man brought home the meat and killed the enemies. The Hunter/Warrior placed himself in danger and didn't always survive to come home, so children were raised primarily by mothers.



In today's society men have serious choices to make, but if they choose wisely they will not be stuck making child support payments for the next 18-22 years. A man can wrap it, get a vasectomy, or he can keep it to himself.

If he spreads his sperm around the courts can order him to pay for the results of his activities, but they can't force him to be a daddy.

A woman has to decide if she wants to be a Mommy who is willing to love and nurture her child, whether she has a committed partner or not.

As a reader of romance, I always love the "secret baby" stories. 

As a writer, I love to write them.

As a realist, I know that not all men are Daddy material. If a woman chooses to have a child, she must face up to the fact that at some point in her life she may become a single parent. This could happen through death or design. 

If it is through design, such as a divorce, a good man will step up to the plate and remain in his child's life, but you can't force him to. If you have a child as a single mother, you must love the child enough so that he or she doesn't have a diminished self-esteem not having a father. 

That is not done by a constant search for a new daddy, nor is it accomplished by bemoaning the fact you have to do it all. 

It is achieved by doing the best you can and loving your children unconditionally.

There are fabulous fathers who love their children unconditionally too. 

To re-enforce your child's self-esteem never, ever, bad mouth the other parent. Remember, 50% of your child's DNA comes from that other parent. Even if that parent is no longer in the child's life.

As we approach Father's Day I would like to wish all the Daddies a Happy Day.






Saturday, June 7, 2014

Write a Review



In a perfect world a writer would not have to depend on strangers reviewing her book. 

However, in order for an author to be noticed reviews are necessary. 

If you read a book and you like it, an author would appreciate a simple review.

You don't have to summarize the book. 

You don't have to analyze the book.

All you have to do is rate it and say something nice.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Born to Bitch Revisited

A couple of years ago my friend Blanche Marriott wrote a book called Born to Bitch. 



http://www.amazon.com/Born-Bitch-Blanche-Marriott-ebook/dp/B006K7Y1H0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401772377&sr=8-1&keywords=born+to+bitch+blanche+marriott


(If you don't like people complaining about some hard truths now would be a good time to step away from this page.)

My Bitching revolves around driving.

The other day I had an appointment in the closest large city. I was driving a mommy van that I am not used to, on slick roads, on a two lane divided highway. 

I quickly discovered the brakes weren't as sharp as I like, so I increased my safety zone by an extra car length. 

A white Chevy joined us on the highway, quickly climbed up my butt. Me and my lead foot were in the passing lane because we were going fast enough to pass everyone in the slow lane.

The white Chevy then pulled into the slow lane, sped up, passed me on the inside (which is illegal in this state), and then cut back in front of me. On my nose! And hit the brakes to slow down. 

When white Chevy realized the butt riding wouldn't work on the pick-up in front, it then repeated the process. 

The second time they were stuck. No one would let them pass on the inside. For ten long miles I watched a very unhappy Chevy traveling one car ahead of me.

We exited the highway together. It was sweet Karma to know that all that tailgating had failed to get the Chevy anywhere fast.

When I was little the Shell Company had commercials on the air that said you should keep one car length between you and the car in front of you for every 10 MPH you are driving. 

Me and my lead foot have lived by that axiom for decades and it always pisses me off when some idiot cuts into my safety zone. Especially when I am driving a heavy vehicle with questionable brakes.

We were all lucky that day. My brakes worked well.