WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS #33


Whew! I almost missed this week. For some reason I had a life and didn't even give my story a second thought - read that as in NO words written this week. My bad, but I don't feel guilty. I spent time with family and hubby, so it was productive in a different way. Back to the grindstone next week. No excuses.

Last week we left off with Lord George cradling Kitty in his arms as they stood in a ditch. Creative license used with punctuation...

“There is a natural incline over there.” She pointed to the area where the gully gradually met the road. “If you must carry me, this would make it much easier to gain access. I don’t wish to be a burden.”

“Miss Bennet, you are no burden, I swear you are as light as a feather, but I agree, the access is much easier over there.” He began walking toward the berm and within minutes set her on her feet, holding onto her arms for a few seconds longer until he was sure she wouldn’t collapse.

“I’m fine, Lord George, I’ll be on my way.” She attempted a small curtsy and winced.

“What kind of gentleman do you think I am, allowing an injured female to walk home when I have a perfectly fine horse to carry us?”
"No!" She pulled away from him and almost fell again, as this time her ankle refused to hold her weight.

Other authors take part in this weekly writing exercise. To see their posts and for the details/rules about #wewriwa, click on this link here:  



Friday with Friends ~ Christina Lorenzen


Welcome, Christina Lorenzen, who is here to talk about her newest release, Healing Seas.


In just a matter of days, Addie Mayfield's life is upended. Through an arrangement her father makes, she sets sail on the RMS Titanic as governess to the two young Fairchild children. When tragedy strikes, she finds herself rescued alongside strangers on the RMS Carpathia, headed for New York City. Far from home, she is taken in by the O'Reilly family to wait for her family to send for her. With no money for her passage home, she's brought to the small hamlet of Montauk to become a caretaker for a great aunt she has never met.

Captain Frank Shea is man without a ship. Removed from duty as captain of the RMS Morrow, he's come to Montauk to recover from a leg injuty. More painful than the injury is his fall from grace after spending his entire life at sea. The ocean was his home and he has never needed anyone. Now faced with an uncertain future, he's desperate for a way back to the sea. Until he meets Addie Mayfield, a woman who is just as lost as he is.

Can these two people find hope for the future after all they've lost? Can an unexpected love heal two broken souls?
"Yes, then Aunt Tillie." She stood awkwardly, the weight of the bulky coat tugging her down on one side.
The woman shook her head and patted the sea of blankets.
"Please, come sit down. Let me get to know you. I haven't seen my nephew in more than thirty years. I know I have never seen you."
Addie sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, not sure where the woman's small body was underneath the blankets.
"Yes, that's what my father and mother told me. I...I want to thank you for having me here."
"Oh, well, we'll see about that thank you later on. Your father informed me you were heading off to be some fancy governess for some fancy family. You'll find no fancy here, Adelaide. I need someone who can get things in order while I'm recovering from the influenza." She stopped speaking and stared at Addie, as if deciding on how to further proceed.
"Yes, I understand. I don't need fancy, ma’am...Aunt Tillie. I'm happy to have a place to stay until my parents can send for me."
"Yes, well then, Adelaide...is that what they call you?" She stopped and waited.
"Uh, no, it's Addie."
"Well, then, Addie, as I was going to say, it looks like we'll both be recuperating one way or another." Her bright eyes darkened for a moment. "I'm glad that you made it through such a horrendous disaster. I understand the family you were employed with was not as fortunate."
Addie felt a cloud of heat surround her face. The familiar funny feeling spread from head to toe. She did not want to talk about the ship sinking, the sounds of screaming people, the smell of the ocean slowly swallowing them.
"Yes, that is true." In an effort to change the subject, she looked around the small bedroom. "Is there anything I can get you right now?"
Aunt Tillie eyed her and nodded, seeming to understand Addie's need to escape the subject. "Well, a cup of tea would be lovely. You'll find a few supplies in the kitchen that the church ladies dropped off earlier in the week. I trust you know your way around the kitchen?"
Christina started writing as a young teen, jotting stories in wire ring composition notebooks. Her first typewriter made it faster to get all those stories out of her head and down on paper. Her love of writing has sustained her through a myriad of jobs that included hairdresser, legal secretary, waitress and door-­to-‑door saleswoman.

Luckily for her, writing proved to be successful and a lot less walking than going door to door. Healing Seas, her first historical romance, is Christina's fifth book. She is also the author of A Husband for Danna, its sequel, A Wife for Humphrey, Snow Globe Reunion and Harvest Blessings. She is busy working on a modern retelling of the classic tale, Rapunzel. When she isn't writing or reading, she can be found walking her dog, talking to her herd of cats and spending time with her family.

 Readers can connect with Christina here:

Wordless Wednesday #1

Craigdarroch Castle

Craigdarroch Castle is a definitively Victorian experience, the home of industrialist Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal.

This legendary Victorian mansion, built between 1887 and 1890 on a hill overlooking the City of Victoria, has four floors of exquisite stained glass windows, intricate woodwork and fabulous Victorian-era furnishings.

For more information about Craigdarroch Castle, visit their site here:


WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS #32

We left off with poor Kitty sitting in the bottom of the ditch, covered by mud and weeds. Not the best way to meet a young man, even if he was the one that forced you into said ditch.
He slipped and slid closer and with a perfunctory ‘Sorry’, cradled her in his arms and lifted. She clenched her jaw tight and tried to not cry out, but couldn’t stop a small whimper from escaping.
“I’m truly sorry, Miss Bennet. I wouldn’t blame your father if he called for a public flogging because of my recklessness.”
“No worries, Lord George,” she panted out in quick breaths. “Father isn’t bothered by much. Mama wore him down years ago.”
She thought she heard him chuckle and dared to glance up at his face, which was achingly close now that he held her in his arms. She noted a firm chin and full mouth, which was most definitely curved in a smile at her comment. Before he caught her staring, she fixed her eyes on the ditch they stood in.
Well, I made it under the ten line limit without resorting to creative punctuation. Yea me!

For other author's work and rules of how Weekend Writing Warriors work, please click the link here.
I look forward to seeing you all next week, and remember to hug someone you love today. Even if you're mad at them right now. HUG THEM! You'll be glad you did.



Monday Meditation ~ Sin and Forgiving

May 15, 2017

A word of truth this Monday.

I pray everyday for God to forgive my sins. Sometimes I get angry, say words that hurt and need the Lord to forgive me. This does not impugn me from asking forgiveness from the one I wronged - I absolutely have to ask their forgiveness, but I have the blessed assurance that if I humble myself before the Lord, He is faithful to forgive.

Don't let anyone tell you different. God's word is immutable and He cannot lie. His word states that if we ask for forgiveness, He will grant it. 'Nuff said.



WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS #31


Poor Kitty, taking a tumble into the ditch. Shall we see who the careless rider was? We ended last week with: 'She raised her hand, but when he went to pull her toward him, she cried out at the sharp pain in her side.'

And now, to continue:
"You're injured!"
"I'm not sure," she managed to breathe out and clutched her right side where the pain still radiated.
She finally glanced up at the rider, gasping at the sight of Lord George Kerr, brother of Lord Nathan who was to marry Miss Caroline Bingley in a few short months. She and Lord George met briefly at her sister's wedding breakfast, their conversation lasting only a few short minutes before she'd been called away by Mama.
"Miss Bennet!" He seemed equally surprised. "I'm so sorry for having caused you such undue pain, allow me carry you up this embankment."
Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment. She'd been giddy about the small attention she received from him last November and for months painted a romantic dream around his dark, good looks and storm colored eyes. Now, the fantasy presented itself in living color and she was mortified to be covered in mud and weeds, through no fault of her own.
Oh dear...what now?

Please take the time to check out other outstanding authors and their weekly selections. You can find a clickable list HERE.

Friday 56 #2

This Friday 56 is coming from my novel CAROLINE.

Charles Bingley has come across his sister, Caroline, sobbing in the drawing room and supplied her with a linen cloth for the second time in the space of a few days. They are leaving to visit the Miss Bennet's who are staying with their Aunt and Uncle in Cheapside.
"You are forever supplying me with dry cloths. I've become a regular water fountain these past few weeks."
"That's me, Steward of the Linen Cupboard," he teased. "Now...move your body in the general direction of the front door. I am leaving in ten minutes."
"Are we not waiting for Louisa?"
"She's indisposed again and has taken to her bed. Let us be off."
"Please allow me to freshen up first."
"Ten minutes, Caroline. I won't wait a minute longer," he threatened in a teasing voice, and brought out his pocket watch, tapping the face of it.
She smiled and hurried from the room. There was one thing she wished to take and give to Jane. It was an heirloom that had been passed down to Bingley brides for generations and would satisfy the 'something borrowed' part of the traditional, 'Something old, Something new, Something borrowed, Something blue'.
An hour later saw Caroline seated in the front parlor of the Gardiner's residence on Gracechurch Street. Her memory of the room had been it was much too small to entertain guests, and the miniscule salon hadn't improved with two more bodies added to the venue. It also didn't help her temperament that she was seated directly across from Miss Elizabeth Bennet and her Aunt Gardiner whom she recognized from Pemberley. Miss Jane and Charles were on the settee opposite them and Mr. Gardiner reclined by the crackling fireplace, a mug of cocoa in his hand.

WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS #30


Creative license used with punctuation and over usage of commas in order to comply with the 8-10 line rule. :)

Finally, Lord George and Catherine meet again, although not in a good way.
Kitty turned onto the road that led to Longbourn, traversing the small slope immediately following when she heard thunderous hooves pounding from behind. Before she could move out of the way, a horse and rider nearly ran her down, jumping over her body at the last minute. Startled, she screamed and tumbled into the ditch.
Arms flailing helplessly, she rolled once and came to a soggy stop at the bottom of the shallow gully and with shaking hands pushed her bonnet back off her face and took a few precious seconds to gather her wits. Nothing was broken, that she could tell, and her heart raced along as though she’d run all the way home from Lucas Lodge. She heard the rustling of grass as the rider of the horse slipped down the embankment toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
She nodded, not trusting her voice and tears threatened to overflow onto her cheeks with the realization of how perilously close she’d come to being injured, or killed.
“Here, take my hand. I’ll help you up.”
She raised her hand, but when he went to pull her toward him, she cried out at the sharp pain in her side.
Poor George. Not the best way to reacquaint himself with a girl that sparked his interest a few months ago. I guess we'll wait and see if he redeems himself.

To visit other authors taking part in this weekly writing exercise, click here.

Have a fantabulous day!

Friday 56 #1

Welcome to Friday 56, where you go to page fifty-six of either a work in progress, or one of your published works and share a scene or the whole darn page, like I did with this scene from Man of Her Dreams:
Yeah, she'd want the white picket fence and all the trimmings. She may not realize it, but she was a future PTA mom and would be good at it.
He opened the door and threw his keys into a bowl on the table. His cell phone vibrated and he glanced at the call display. Briefly he toyed with the idea of not answering, but Daran usually didn't call this late.
"Hey, Daran, what's up?"
"First off, the pages look great."
Unease coiled down his back when a long pause followed. "Why do I feel like the axe is about to fall?"
"How soon can you be in New York?"
"What do you mean, how soon?"
"Like tomorrow morning? Say five a.m."
"What?" He visualized Daran pacing the floor.
"I've snagged you a slot on Good Morning America and they're going to feature 'Nowhere to Hide', but it's a last-minute cancellation, and you have to be here for tomorrow morning.
They spent the next few minutes discussing itinerary and Daran forwarded him details for his boarding pass. Not only had Daran gotten him on Good Morning America, but he'd also arranged appearances on two or three talk shows while in New York. In frustration he realized he'd be gone about four day.
He should have kissed her.

Making it in a man’s world as a home renovation expert is tough, but Lindsay Swanson’s up for the job, leaving no time for family and friends, let alone any kind of social life.
Jared Kane moved to Ravenwood for some much needed peace and quiet to finish his next book, which is hard to do when he’s hired his sexy neighbor to renovate his kitchen.
Then Lindsay overhears Jared talking about her notebook. A notebook wherein she and her BFF – after one too many bad dates and one too many glasses wine – concocted a checklist of the perfect guy. Is Jared the real deal, or has he been molding himself into the man of her dreams to get past her defenses?