Hope a lot of you got that eReader from Santa, so I thought I’d answer that question. First, have you looked at my review page? The short answer is everything. Even I didn’t realize how wide ranging I was until I looked back at it.

Yes, my favorite for as far back as I can remember has been science fiction, but I branched out into fantasy years ago. I finished The World of Time series by Robert Jordan a few months ago.  I took a year and read the Gunslinger series by Stephen King, then picked up the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and started at the beginning again. Such worlds to get lost in . . .

Now I’m concentrating a lot on Romance – Regency, Highlander, Women’s lit. A lot of that is because I know these authors, but I’m also learning so much from them. I love the flow of the voice, the weaving of the plot or the turn of a phrase.

It’s different reading now. I read for enjoyment, fun. If I learn anything, that’s just gravy on top. But the thing is, I do learn every day. It’s kind of like going to plays now. For years I just sat out front and enjoyed the performance. I paid no attention to anything else. Then La Daughter became a professional stage manager (got a degree in it!) and boy did that change my point of view. Now I know how quickly they rush to change scenery, how heavy it is and how they ensure that special prop is exactly where it should be. I even catch the lighting cues and shift in music.

I guess I’m just no longer complacent. I can see the inner workings of books that way too and I’m delighting in it.

What am I going to read next? It’s anyone’s guess!  Books  

This blog originally appeared over at Rebel Reasoning earlier this month – but I thought I’d share it again as I get to see Leigh and family again tonight!

Thought I’d jot down some of those memories of Christmases when I was little. Family is the word that immediately comes up for me. We were a three-generation home, so in addition to my sister (my first real memory is bringing her home the day before Christmas X-years ago – don’t want her to come after me), and my parents, my maternal grandmother lived with us. 

Down the road about twenty miles was Grandmother, Granddaddy, one of my many uncles and all of his family. Leigh is another sister though technically she’s a cousin and the person I guess I’ve known the longest–not counting the parents. So on Christmas morning Sis and I would run down the hall, past the formal living room (where we were never allowed except that one morning) to wake up the parents so we could check on what Santa brought. I never peeked–I swear, I ran past that door for 18+ years and never  once looked in before we got the parents up.

Then the flurry of presents and some sort of breakfast, but we had to hurry because Grandmother would not let Granddaddy open his presents until we got there. I’m not sure he ever called to hurry us up, but I feel like he could have. So we left our new things (we could only take one with us–many many years it was the doll) and raced down to their house. Leigh and family only had to walk across the yard.

Grandmother’s tree was always from the woods out back and while not pretty in the style you see on TV or photographs, it was real and it smelled good. She had glow-in-the-dark icicles on it (these were distributed among the grandkids when she was gone–I got four of them!)

Then there were the meals at Leigh’s house. There was more room there than at Grandmother’s. Yes, there was an adult table, but there was a children’s room (the glassed-in porch) where we got to eat and it was always better than the adult table. Seems like some people even ate in my uncle’s bedroom off the dining area. Hey Sis, am I imagining that? Anyway, Momma couldn’t kick me from that far away. It was always a buffet–turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, casseroles and tons of desserts. Even I could get filled up at those banquets and back then I could eat a lot and it never showed. (Ahh, one the best memories). Then the men would sit around the adult table and talk while the women cleaned up–really.

That changed when my generation got married. Hubby took his own plate into the kitchen and shamed the other men into doing the same. Then the women got to sit around and talk too because cleanup was faster.  It’s kinda funny, but the last time I remember having one of these dinners, my generation still went out to the children’s room–never did want to graduate up. Wonder where my kids ate?  I don’t remember . . .

  Nowhere for Christmas – available now.  Will there be room at the inn this year for a stranger?

I’m at PK Corey’s today – please stop by and say hi!

Yes! It’s Release Day and I’m all over the place. Today I’m at Rebel Reasoning for the Fill Your Heart hop  

– any comment over there will send money to the food bank and any over here get you a chance for a copy of Nowhere for Christmas .

Nowhere for Christmas  is a great stocking stuffer for your eReader at $1.99

Amazon

All Romance

Barnes & Nobles

Congratulations on your premiere novel – Cassie’s Space!  

You’re new here, so tell us about yourself

Thanks for inviting me Donna, this is my first book and I do love talking about it.  I appreciate your letting me visit here. Now about me, I’ve been married to a wonderful man for the past thirty years. We have two grown children and to me they’ve turned out perfectly. I hope to soon retire from a long teaching career and spend more time reading and writing.

What’s your favorite thing to do to relax?

I’m extremely good at relaxing. I love to read, I watch TV and I write. All these are very relaxing for me.

Do you prefer…

Public speaking or public singing?

I’ll take public speaking any day. Get me on a topic I like and I’ll speechify to anyone who will listen. Sadly, despite my dreams, singing is not something I do in public.

Writing in a notebook or typing on the computer?

I usually prefer the computer, but when that’s not possible I sometimes enjoy writing things longhand.

Coke or Pepsi?

Coke products – Sundrop for me!

Living without your cell phone or living without your computer?

NO! ‘nuff said.

Now about you as an author…

Did you always want to be an author?

No, I never considered it. Writing seemed like schoolwork. I daydreamed. I never really believed my stories would go beyond that.

Did anyone in your life influence you or encouraged you to be a writer? (teacher, family member, friend)

I can’t say that they did. But there was no reason anyone should have when I was younger. Writing was just never on my radar. I guess my biggest influence were the readers of my blogs once I did begin writing. They were so very encouraging. When I did begin taking writing seriously, my sister encouraged me a great deal.

What is your favorite aspect or writing? Your least favorite?

I just love the flow of a good story, it’s often pretty well written in my head before I begin typing. I enjoy all that, but I suppose the very best part is when a story veers off course and goes in a direction that I never expected or a new character I knew nothing about shows up.

Least favorite, getting started. To love writing as much as I do, I understand why I put off starting. I’m a procrastinator from way back, but you’d think, as much as I enjoy telling the story I wouldn’t drag my feet so.

What aspect of writing would you most like to improve on?

Time management and speed, I’ve heard others saying how many words they’ve written in a day, and evidently I write slower than most.

Do you have any “must haves” with you while you’re writing?

I can write anywhere, the shower, driving, mopping the floor (ha, as if I ever do that) so I don’t guess I have any ‘must haves’, but I have many ‘wants’. I want everyone in the family to be out of the house and happily engaged in an activity of their choice, I want to settle into my chair with a good cup of coffee, and I want the fire going. And just to keep me from getting distracted, maybe the internet should be down for a little while.

Do you have a common theme or item that appears in each of your books?

Well yes, you might say so. I write about domestic discipline, that is consensual adult spanking. I know many might find this offensive – but maybe not as many as you’d think. My friends and I had been exchanging stories of this nature for years when Fifty Shades of Grey came out. We all laughed to see it take off, but it did show that this is a fantasy for many women. I’m not saying every woman wants it in real life, but having a strong man who loves her, protects her and even sometimes takes her across his knee – well, that the stuff fantasies are made of.

What’s been the most difficult or frustrating part of writing?

Time! I desperately need more hours in the day. I need time to let stories roam through my mind and form. I need time to actually get them typed. I need time promoting the book that’s coming out. I need time to read the fantastic books written by all the wonderful authors I’m meeting. I need time to write my blogs and read and comment to my friends. As I said, they were the one who encouraged my writing in the very beginning. I want to get a new books ready and, and, and… Retirement cannot possibly come soon enough to suit me!

What have you learned the most from being in the writing business?

That there’s way more involved than anyone would imagine! I’ve been stunned to realize the writing was the easy part. Editing – getting it ‘right’ is tough. And networking with other authors to let people know about your book and helping others do the same. It ends up being overwhelming at times.

Tell us about your latest release:

My first book, Cassie’s Space, is out now. In this book you’ll meet Cassie and Tom, a couple married for decades. Their marriage has always included spanking – sometimes erotic, sometimes in play, and yes, sometimes for discipline.

Cassie shares many stories of their early marriage, as she tried to adjust to Tom’s belief in the power of the hairbrush. Although Cassie agrees in theory that Tom is the head of their home, she spends much of her time doing exactly what she wants and hoping Tom won’t catch on. Over thirty years later, she still does what she wants and Tom still catches on.

Cassie still doesn’t always act like the perfect lady and doesn’t always manage to follow Tom’s rules. She sneaks off with friends to visit an ‘adult’ toy store and she has begun talking to ‘strangers’ online and blogging about the private life she and Tom share, knowing full well if Tom ever does find out she’ll be sitting sensitively for days to come.

Cassie wouldn’t change her life for anything. As she says, “There are two things I want everyone to take away from our stories. First there is nothing wrong with an old fashioned marriage where the husband guides and protects the wife. There is nothing wrong with him being in charge. There is nothing wrong with him giving the occasional spanking to make sure his wife is fully aware of who is in charge. And, there is certainly nothing wrong with the wife trying to get away with as much as possible.

Second, and most important, I hope our stories convey that love and passion are not the sole property of the young. Love and passion grows and changes with age. While aging may bring on challenges – the love and passion between two people only grows stronger.

Blurb

Meet Cassie, a former wild child, who meets her match, and creates the match of a lifetime. Cassie has survived emotionally distant parents and an abusive marriage. Widowed young, with plenty of money, she turns her energies to partying twenty-four/seven, until Tom spots her at a party. To nearly all who know her now, Cassie is a vivacious, sweet southern lady, who is the epitome of grace and proper behavior. Look a tiny bit closer and you’ll see Cassie has another side – the one whose language could make a sailor blush as she drinks him under the table. Thanks to her loving husband Tom, who never hesitates to put Cassie over his knee when she strays too far from his view of ladylike behavior, few people other than close old friends know this side of Cassie exists.

Excerpt

I had on only my bra and panties when Tom took my arm and pulled me across his knee. He only used his hand, but managed to create quite a sting. He stopped and rubbed for a minute, slipped my panties down, and began again. The spanks came fast and furious and the burn became intense. I knew it couldn’t last much longer. We had to get ready, and neither of us ever wanted to be late.

Finally he stopped and began to rub gently. “Let’s use a little lotion,” Tom commented as I felt him rub in the cooling lotion. But it only took a second to realize something was terribly wrong. That devil had not used lotion – he had used BenGay! And let me tell you, their claim of deep, penetrating heat: not false advertising.

Tom grinned like a schoolboy who had gotten away with a delightful prank. We had used this before because I like after burn, but I always knew when he planned to use it. We only used it at bedtime when I wouldn’t be wearing anything. Now I felt I was on fire and I had to put on that darn – shoot, Tom’s not going to read this – that damn rubberized, skin-tight, heat-retaining girdle. I felt like I was burning up.

Arriving at the wedding, I felt like my rear sent off pulsing waves of redness and pain, much like you’d see after a cartoon spanking. The wedding absolutely gorgeous, I still could barely sit without squirming. I kept shooting dirty looks at Tom and he kept silently laughing at me.

Amazon

Barnes & Nobles