Romance Writers Weekly

Hello and welcome to this week’s hop. We are really happy when you spend time with us!

Here’s this week’s challenge:

The saying goes “Never judge a book by its cover,” but be honest – you have, right? Share a couple of your favorite book covers – whether your own or someone else’s – and explain what it is that draws you to them.

My cover artist, Jena Brignola, is the best. I am so happy with all my covers, so it’s hard to choose just one or two. I know there are all kinds of opinions on book covers: color choices for the background, hero, heroine, both. For me, though, it seems Jena reads my mind and understands exactly what I want for each book, so my covers are very diverse, since I write different genres. And I really like them all!

I’m going to post three of my favorites and I’d love it if you would tell me which ones you like best.

Also, today is release day for another of the fabulous Brenda Margriet books:

http://bit.ly/CrossroadsCornerUS

Let’s check out her other choices of covers….

http://www.brendamargriet.com/blog

 

 

 

Romance Writers Weekly

Happy Tuesday. Thanks for joining us today! We are always happy when you’re here! This week’s challenge comes for the incomparable A.S. Fenichel:

It’ s almost Halloween… do you like to dress up? Did you ever? What’s the most fun part of Halloween for you and how do you celebrate?

Remembering some of the years and some of the silly and wonderful costumes always makes me smile. I love Halloween. There are always parties and lots of candy! And there is also fun. This is one of my favorite holidays because you can be anyone you like. From royalty to alien to vampire, the right makeup and wardrobe and you’re there!

Also, there are the wonderful classic horror movies. I love a little scare now and then. I don’t mean the gory, slasher ones. Those kinda make me sick. I mean the ghost ones and Stephen King movies like “Salem’s Lot”. There are the really old fashioned ones, like “Night of the Lepus” about mutated angry rabbits and “The Omen”, as well as pretty much anything by Alfred Hitchcock. TV has a field day with these oldies but goodies this time of year and they are just plain fun.

So whether I’m going out to a party or staying home and waiting for the adorable children in their costumes to show up for treats, I repeat: I love Halloween.

And coming soon…

Now let’s hop over to the amazing AJ Andersen and hear about her Halloween…

https://smutweedsmycrazylife.wordpress.com

Romance Writers Weekly

Happy Tuesday and welcome to our hop. So glad you took the time to be with us! This week’s challenge comes from the amazing Jenna Da Sie:

It’s time for a micro flash fiction! Write 250 words with a genre of your choice, the location is a tunnel and the object is a flower.

It’s just too easy to get tunnel vision. Get up, drink coffee, go to work, come home, drink wine, go to bed. There is comfort in routine, but, let’s face it, it’s also boring. I longed for something different, some excitement. And, I was lonely and ready to think about a relationship. The last one ended just as miserably as they always seem to, but it was time to pull up my big girl granny panties and trade them in for some lace.

I decided to start by getting off my butt and taking a walk in the park nearby. I probably needed a puppy to attract the right kind of attention, but the animal shelter was closed today and, besides, that’s no reason to adopt. Although, I did have room in my heart.

So, tennis shoes on, and off I go. It was a beautiful day, perfect blue sky, warming breeze. I walked about fifty yards and looked around. And suddenly, up comes the cutest dog you ever saw. With a flower in her mouth. And a very handsome man walking just behind her.

Now let’s pop over to the incredible Jenna Da Sie and see what she came up with….

https://jennadasie.com

Romance Writers Weekly

Hello, happy Tuesday and welcome to this week’s hop. We’re so happy you’ve joined us! This week’s challenge comes from the amazing Brenda Margriet:

As the weather gets cooler in Northern British Columbia, I tend to make more stews and casseroles and soups. Share your favourite cold weather meal recipe!

To me, nothing says comfort food in cooler weather more than soup. It warms inside and out. And my favorite (excluding tomato soup and grilled cheese, of course) is this tortilla soup.

If you have a crock pot, it’s easy and delicious. If you don’t have a crock pot, you can cook this on the stove on medium heat for the first three hours and low heat for the last three.

4 boneless chicken thighs (about 1 pound)

2 cans (15 oz each) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (4 oz) chopped mild chilies, drained

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1+ cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

4 corn tortillas, sliced into ¼ inch strips

2 Tbls. chopped fresh cilantro

½ cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 avocado, sliced

Lime juice

Place chicken, tomatoes, chilies, onion, garlic, chicken broth, cumin and salt and pepper into a crock pot. Cook on high for 3 hours. Remove chicken and shred with forks and return to pot. Adjust seasonings and add more broth if necessary. Continue cooking on low for 3 hours. (Note: If cooking on a stove, check broth every hour or so.)

Just before serving, add tortillas and cilantro.

Serve and top with cheese, avocado and a squeeze of lime juice.

And, in between bites, I’m working on getting “Freed From Morocco” out by the end of the month!

Now, let’s pop over to the fantastic Christina Alexandra for her favorite recipe…

And check out her presale for The Worth of a Viscount, and the The Haute Ton Reader Society… she has a half-yearly birthday celebration coming up at the end of the month. Lots of fun stuff planned!

bit.ly/WorthAmazon

bit.ly/WorthBN

https://www.ChristinaAlexandra.net/blog

 

 

 

 

Romance Writers Weekly

Hello and welcome. So glad you could join us! This week’s challenge comes from the fabulous Jenna Da Sie:

I love game nights! Do you have a favourite game you like to play when you get together with friends or family?

I’m with Jenna! I love games. Card games, board games. I enjoy the challenge and the competition. I used to play bridge all the time, but no one seems to play these days.

I recently played Hearts with my neighbors and had a great time. And Monopoly is always a go to.

But more and more these days, people are so caught up in electronic media, they don’t make the effort to actually interact with one another. This will make me sound really old, but I miss the days when people would get together all the time to play (not virtual) games, exchange news and stories and just talk to each other.

As much as I appreciate what my computer and phone, etc. do, I don’t like the isolation that is inevitable. That’s why I so enjoy where I live here in Florida. The pace in my neighborhood is slower and we actually converse with one another. One of these days, I’m going to bring a deck of cards or a board game when I go to visit…

Now let’s hop over to the incredible Jenna Da Sie and hear about her favs…

https://jennadasie.com

Romance Writers Weekly

Hello and Happy Tuesday! Thanks so much for joining us this week!!!! I came up with the challenge:

Tell us the best book you’ve read lately.

I love to read. Sometimes I read up to two or three books a week. And an author I have read lately that I think is one of the best is Rachel Caine and her “Stillhouse Lake” series. There are three out so far and I couldn’t put them down. Another one comes out in January and you know I pre-ordered it.

Another one that tops the list is “The Chain” by Adrian McKinty. Such a unique premise and so well executed.

Two very different authors, both mesmerizing.

I also love my classic historicals: Julie Garwood always gets me hooked on her Scottish heroes. And, of course, Jude Deveraux and Kathleen Woodiwiss, among others, are always wonderful. A.S. Fenichel’s books are also must reads. And there are too many more to mention.

The bottom line is I adore good writing. Give me believable characters, interesting plots and a happily ever after and I am enthralled.

It makes me sad to hear people say they don’t read. They are missing out on so much. You can experience different times in history, different people and places, different situations and never leave the comfort of your armchair. Books are just one of those miracle gifts I appreciate every day.

Now let’s pop over to the amazing Cristina Alexandra and check out her favorite book(s).

https://CristinaAlexandra.net/blog

Romance Writers Weekly

Hello, happy Tuesday and welcome. This week is exciting because we have added new members and we are so happy they’re here! I’ll bet you are, too!

This week’s challenge comes for the amazing A.S. Fenichel:

I do a lot of research or my books. Tell us one or more fun/interesting thing you recently learned in your research.

Like Andrea, I, too, do a lot of research. If you want to create a believable background for a story, it’s vital to get the details right. The “Morocco” series took hours of research into a time and place I knew very little about previously. I found it fascinating. The harem and its hierarchy, Sultan Moulay Ismail and even the nomadic people who populated the outlying areas. I hung out with camels at the zoo (I love them!) and read every book about the Sahara I could get. I studied about the women themselves and how they came to accept the lifestyle. My heroines could never consent to living that way, but others appeared to thrive.

I immersed myself in the land and its people and it was like taking a trip back in time to an exotic place. It was terrifying and intriguing.

That’s what I love about research. It takes you to places and periods in history ready to be discovered. It’s not about dates or facts, but more about how people lived and reacted to the events surrounding them. It makes me wonder who I would be if I lived in those places or those times. And that’s why I love reading and writing. I can go there and watch stories unfold and experience the world in a whole different light. Without ever leaving my chair.

 and coming this fall…

And now let’s hop over to one of our new (and, of course, fabulous!) members and see what she has learned from research…

Clair Brett https://www.clairbrett.com/blog