Get a copy
of A BLANKET FOR HER HEART free MAY 24
AND 25 at
I took a walk recently on a very bright and sunny day.
Global warming has been filling the skies with clouds lately, but the sun
looked really good. And since we had rain not too long ago everything was that
brilliant Springtime green. Wonderful. But, enough about the beautiful day.
I've got a bit of news about my books and a few others.
I've been very busy editing my new book (number three
-- A Little Bit of Baby) and writing
a new one and promoting the two that are out there already, so taking a break
for the sunshine was really great. Despite all that I've had the time to read
three books on my Kindle. Some of you may know the work of Kristan Higgins?
Laura Moore? Natale Stanzel?
I've read most of Kristan Higgins books and loved them
all. But I think she's outdone herself with the latest -- Somebody To Love. Parker Wells stuck with me from an earlier book
even though she was a minor character in that one. This time she's the star of
the show, and a very humble one at that. Kristan's humor cracks me up, but in
the end this is a book that pulls at your heartstrings. Can't wait for the next
one.
Another writer I'm hooked on now is Laura Moore,
author of the Rosewood series. Her book, Believe
In Me, the second in the series, was the first of hers I've read, but I'll
be back for more. The Radcliffe sisters and their clan are the kind of cozy
family you just wish you were a part of. And when Jordan meets Owen her world
warms up considerably. (After it falls apart a bit.) Like Kristan's book,
Believe In Me warms your heart as well.
My third recent read was Pandora's Box by Natale Stenzel. I had never heard of Natale until
we connected on Linkedin. Liking romantic comedy, I thought I'd try her book,
then discovered I was reading paranormal romantic comedy. Now there's an
interesting genre combination- and Natale pulls it off very well. Once I
started reading I couldn't put it down. Mina was a great heroine and I was
ready to pop the Puca upside the head a few times, especially when it looked
like Teague was in trouble, but with a few surprise twists the end was very
satisfying.
Okay, I said I had some news about my own books. Here
you go. I will be doing a free giveaway of A
Blanket for Her Heart. It's about Anne Hoskins, who is suddenly faced with
a decision that can change her life completely. Choose to hide, or give wings
to her life? Which way will she go? Check out Amazon May 24 and 25 to get
yourself a FREE read. I haven't gotten any formal reviews yet, but folks are
going out of their way to tell me they enjoyed it. Take a look at the excerpt
below and have fun. I hope you like it too. Cheers RC
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A BLANKET FOR HER HEART- EXCERPT
~ ONE ~
First light formed leaf shadows on the
cabinets as she entered the kitchen. Those big trees had been there for years,
but they were old now, tall and thinned out, blocking less of the early morning
sun. Winter sometimes seemed better, on sunny days when bright rays slid
through barren branches to flood the breakfast table. Not always though. Not
when winter’s cold was dark and penetrating.
Bright and sunny, just comfortable,
the day was starting well. She’d been up since three, reading and pacing,
waiting for the light so she could start her day outside. Early was a pattern
lately, into bed and out of it, bored to numbness when sleep was so elusive.
Her friend Molly thought it was time
to see a doctor, but there was nothing a professional could say she didn’t know
already. Physically her health was perfect.
"I need a new bed, that’s
all," she told her friend. "Besides, I’m always thinking of what I’m
going to do in the morning."
"What’s so important?" Molly
asked, and she offered the usual list of things.
That was what she did, things. This
thing, that thing, nothing. Tend her garden, read Jane Austen or some travel
book; wash the dishes, paint, or whatever. Granted, her paintings were
beautiful and she did so many one always sat unfinished on the easel, but she
hadn’t sold any. Furniture restorations brought in some income, but she usually
didn’t do that many pieces.
Fifty-four years old and not counting,
she lived like a hermit with few friends. She did know one neighbor, but she’d
never married, and had always lived alone. Molly often told her she’d be
happier if she did more with her life and she struggled with such thoughts
these days.
She turned on the TV, hoping the movie
channel might have something good.
Sly Stallone in his first Rambo. So stimulating. Thought
provoking. Annoyed but too bored to care, she settled back in the sofa and
within minutes the images barely touched her mind. By seven-thirty, she’d had
enough and punched the off button with the remains of her wrist. Dry cereal and
milk, half an orange, and coffee for breakfast; she dumped the dirty dishes in
the sink twenty minutes later and abandoned the kitchen.
The patio garden looked like an
impressionist’s palette. Her one green thumb coaxed flowers to brilliant life
year round. Indoors in winter of course, but she had plants ready to bloom as
spring temperatures began. Each morning she spent two hours weeding and
pruning, winding her fingers through the dirt to carefully arrange it to her
whim. The stump of her left arm served as well as her right hand, caressing
dirt and flowers with the same gentle touch. It was a touch returned by the
earth, giving her the best hours of each day in quiet occupation of her mind.
She put a dozen pansies in a juice glass and remembered she hadn’t thanked
Molly for picking up the flats this year.
After gardening, she returned rake and
hoe to the garage and cleaned up at the slop sink in the corner. She wiped
black dirt from her knees and delivered a good scrubbing to the right hand. A
brush screwed to the wall just above the sink did the job. Small stitch scars
in her stump got an easy wipe. The skin was smooth and quite soft for all the
abuse it got. Both hand and stump got a dose of hand cream, spread liberally,
but only lightly rubbed. A wipe with the old towel she kept handy finished the
job.
Lunch was the usual. Peanut butter and
grape jam on white, red wine, and a handful of Lorna Doones. Sometimes it was
cream cheese instead of peanut butter, chocolate chips instead of Lorna Doones,
but that was about it as far as variety went. She took two glasses of merlot
this time instead of one. That was not unusual lately.
Afterwards, she wrapped a dishtowel
around the left arm and secured it with two rubber bands to wash the dishes.
"You’d be amazed what I can buy
through the mail now, Hannah. Rubber bands, seeds, books, clothes, all sorts of
things. You’d probably be selling things on a website these days
yourself." She wiped the breakfast bowl with the left arm towel and set it
on the drying rack. "Not like me though. I hate that ridiculous computer.
Molly talked me into buying one, but I can barely turn it on right.
"I’m having trouble with that
painting I've been working on too. It looks so bland, not even that maybe, so
much as gray and dismal. I should probably trash the thing. You know what? I
think I’m going to catch a little sun this afternoon."
It was one sided, this conversation
with her dead grandmother, but quite all right. She knew it was imaginary,
though sometimes it almost seemed she got an answer.
Her father got an occasional remark as
well, but little more. It was Hannah she talked to, Hannah she often wished
were truly at her side. Their chats had served to keep her company, at least
until now. There was no one else to talk to most of the time.
Except Molly, or Grace, when one of
them came around. Which didn’t seem to be that often lately. The house was
still too, her world so very silent these last few months.
Dishes washed, towel removed, she
headed for the bathroom, stripping off her pink tee shirt as she went. She
dropped it in the hamper, brushed her teeth and hair, and relieved herself
quickly. Then it was out to the patio, where she pulled one white lounge chair
into place and stretched out to take the sun on her back. She’d heard all the
cancer warnings, but never did the sun thing very long. Besides, everyone
needed some vices in their life.
Face down on the lounge, wearing only
shorts, she was drifting into sleep when something made a sound behind her. She
turned. A man smiled weakly, then stared, eyes wide, as she dashed for the
house.
"Please. I need help," he
called as she slammed the door in his face.
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