He’s Such A Romantic

My Romantic Adventures 01 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What a shame he ended up with me.

The Hub once said the sweetest thing to me.   Actually, he often says sweet things to me, but I’m talking about a specific sweet thing.

A character on tv said that he smiled all day because he had just spent the night with the most beautiful girl in the world.

The Hub said, ‘I know exactly how that feels.’

I bet you all said, ‘Aaahhh!’

I said, ‘Who was she?’

You Reign, Dear

Okay…I admit it: the Hub isn’t all bad.  Fumbling for the kettle first thing this morning, I found that he had left me a love potato:

I’ve mentioned his habit of leaving love notes before, but if you’re new here you won’t have seen them, so here’s a recap:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

There are many more; these are just the ones I photographed over the last year.

To misquote the ex-Mr Roseanne Barr:

Husbands: can’t live with ’em; can’t kill ’em.

Especially when he still makes me gooey after thirty years.

Don’t tell him I said that!  He’ll expect me to be nice to him.

*

Buy The Book (1)

Exciting news!  I have two friends with books out.  I’ll tell you about one today and one tomorrow.

The first is Tom Fleck by Harry Nicholson:

‘Sharp as quivering hares are the Flecks. We’ve eyes and ears for things other folk miss.’

In the aftermath of Flodden, a young man finally understands his father’s words.

 

The year: 1513. The place: North-East England.

Tom Fleck, a downtrodden farm worker but gifted archer, yearns to escape his masters. He unearths two objects that could be keys to freedom: a torque of ancient gold and a Tudor seal ring. He cannot know how these finds will determine his future.

Rachel Coronel craves an end to her Jewish wanderings. When the torque comes to rest around the neck of this mysterious woman, an odyssey begins which draws Tom Fleck into borderlands of belief and race.

The seal ring propels Tom on a journey of self-knowledge that can only climax in another borderland – among the flowers and banners of Flodden Field.

* 

Harry Nicholson now lives near Whitby in North Yorkshire. He grew up in Hartlepool from where his family have fished since the 16^th C. He had a first career as a radio officer in the merchant navy. A second career followed in television studios.

Since retirement he has devoted himself to art (the cover is one of his paintings), poetry and the teaching of meditation. This is his first novel. 

*

I’ve read Tom Fleck; I loved it.  It has a sweet romance but the heart of the book is Tom’s journey: a road trip for the 16th Century.  What I loved most about it is Harry’s gift for interesting detail, the fascinating stuff that’s usually left out and shouldn’t be.

Buy it!  You’ll love it, I promise.

*

You can get it from Amazon and other online retailers, or from the author himself; go to his blog for a taster. 

 

Were He Not Romeo Called

Image via Wikipedia

Thinking about things that made me smile, I suddenly remembered this moment from my youth.

When I was a teenager I was friends with a couple called Colin Healing and Faith Willis; they were fairly serious until he asked her to marry him. 

She turned him down because she refused to become Mrs Faith Healing. 

I swear that’s a true story!

* 

I forgot to share this charming poem with you before Christmas, written by our nine-year old niece especially for us; I have copied it exactly as it was written in the card:

A Poem For You, By Me

when you see snow you know

that Christmas is near, but I fear that we can not

walk on the pier. 

we’ll just have to wait ‘till the snow goes and

the sun comes out and glows.

All for you

xxxx

* 

Is that not the sweetest poem you’ve ever read?

 *

I need help with Word 2007: My documents have suddenly started showing a symbol when I press Enter: two vertical lines with a left-hand solid bump; I can’t show you what it looks like because it won’t copy & paste. 

Does anyone know how to get rid of it?

*

In keeping with the spirit of postaday2011 and Tory Boy’s nagging (a defective gene he obviously inherited from his father), I am going to try and post a poem a day on my other blog.  If you have a penchant for the grim and bleak, trot on over there.  I won’t save the world but my stats will rise.  See, there’s always a silver lining.

And Now For Something Completely Different…

Today sees a new departure for me: I’m going to let somebody else do all the talking. I have a guest in my blog, American author Sherry D. Shumard. Sherry is the author of Heartbroken Promises 1 & 2. 

Heartbroken Promises 2: Vicky Wainright decides to visit Jake’s Island so she can be close to her sister Miranda. She is offered a nanny job by Jordan, a handsome bachelor who is raising his son alone. She meets waiter Noah, and is quickly torn between loving him and Jordan. Miranda is kidnapped and her sister believes that Noah was one of the kidnappers. How will she feel about Noah after she finds out the truth? Will Miranda be rescued or killed?

Welcome, Sherry. Please tell us a little about yourself. 

I love to read and write books. I’m the published author of a series of books titled: Heartbroken Promises, Heartbroken Promises 2 and I’m currently working on Heartbroken Promises 3. The books are available on Amazon, booksamillion.com, and Barnes & Noble, to name a few. I plan on writing many more books since I have a lot of ideas I want to write about. My dream is to someday soon see my books come to life as a movie or a television series – that would be great.

I’m married and have three children and two pets.

Do you have friendly critics who read your early drafts, and how difficult is it to hear constructive criticism?

I have had friendly critics who read my early drafts and it is very helpful. When I hear constructive criticism it can sometimes be hard to take in. I’ve learned that it isn’t about me personally when I get negative feedback about my writing. I will take all suggestions and apply them in my writing if necessary and I will only become a better and stronger writer because of constructive criticism. When I got non-biased reviews recently yes, the negative feedback did hurt at first but now I know what I need to do in my third novel. I need to have more character development so that the reader will get to know them on a more intimate level. I will also make the story longer and not have it so fast paced. One of the reviewers said she likes to linger in the story so that’s what I will do – take my time in writing and have the events play out longer. One of the reviewers loved the passion and the drama in my second novel.  In my third novel I will take all of the suggestions; this next book will pick up where the second one left off and it will be full of drama and passion, so that the reviewers will be shocked and pleasantly surprised. Overall, the reviews weren’t that bad. One of the reviewers said that the passion was so thick that you couldn’t cut it with a knife. I will try to top that in my next novel.

Do you believe in the existence of writer’s block and, if so, how do you combat it?

I think that there is writer’s block. Sometimes I have to take a break when I write if I feel like I’m too tired or the story isn’t going where it is supposed to be going. I don’t use an outline when I write so who knows until I start writing what the characters are going to be doing? The best thing for writer’s block is to take a break and come back refreshed and then start again.

Do you believe that sites like iUniverse and Lulu are the future of publishing? 

I do believe that sites like iUniverse and Lulu are definitely the future of publishing. With so many readers online it is perfect to have books accessible for them to order and download. I’m already a published author with iuniverse.com with my first novel.  My second novel is published through PublishAmerica.

Where do you write? 

I write in the front room on a computer or on a laptop outside, either on the front porch or back deck. Sometimes I will write down story ideas on paper at a park or wherever I may be at. I think it is easier for me to be at a computer or laptop because I think that it is less work to just type the story. If I write them down, then I have to also type them later. That’s just my writing style.

How do you write? 

I don’t use an outline when I write my chapters. I just visualize my characters in my head and write down what they would say or do as I go along. I can just picture them on Jake’s Island – the setting in my story – and it is so easy to write that the story just flows along. I just have to use the available time that I have to write because I have a very busy life.

Why do you write? 

I love books and I love to create characters and drama and mystery for my readers to enjoy. It is exciting seeing my name and the title of my books on the covers. I have so many ideas on books and I wish I had more time to write. I’ll just have to keep writing because it gives me a great sense of accomplishment and I love to throw my heart and soul into the storyline and give the reader an escape from their normal lives. The Heartbroken Promises series is set on Jake’s Island, a fictional island; but in my mind it is really Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia.

Thanks for your visit, Sherry; and good luck with the book.

You can read more about Sherry at http://www.sherryshumard.com/blog.html