Romance paperback now available - wrapping up those small holiday gifts....

NEW romance paperback makes a sweet gift for the reader in your life.

The publication of my paperback Dear Ann: Love Letters from Nam, which is a short story, is finally HERE. So happy. Just click the link below to go to Amazon and check it out. The story is told in letters between a young soldier in war-torn Vietnam and his bride back home in West Virginia. Priced at $5.99. I put a lot of hard work and considerable research into this story. It is a part of a much larger work - which may take the rest of my lifetime to finish or I may never. Thus, here's a portion of the story I still love! The letters make a good stand-alone story. I hope you'll enjoy reading it. If at all possible, please leave a review on Amazon. This paperback exists because of the many requests I had to turn this story into a tangible book. Dear Anne is filled with romance, and the emotion and angst that comes with war-time romance. Leaving a loved one behind to go fight in a war in a far away strange land brings the two closer together. You'll get to know the terrain, the unrest, and the heartbreak that consumes nearly every waking hour of this young soldier's life.

This little book could be the right gift for that reader on your holiday list!

Thanks!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0985259132/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1479053304&sr=1-1

Now to my love of gift wrapping!

Do you like to experiment with gift wrapping? I do. Especially when it's a small gift like the book above. Take plain brown or white paper and have fun with items such as initials, artificial flowers and greenery. I often combine lace and shiny ribbon to match the occasion and put the two, add a few berries or greenery and you have an elegantly wrapped present. I'd love to hear your own ideas and how you do or don't wrap gifts. Nothing makes me happier than buying inexpensive ribbons and ornaments, or decorations throughout the year to put on my gift packages. I'm looking forward to the upcoming holiday season so I can once again have fun wrapping up the small gifts I buy. Buying small gifts doesn't mean you have to scrimp on the wrappings or that the wrappings and ornaments have to be expensive. You can make them elegant and lovely regardless of what you've spent. Below are some of my favorite gift wrapping ideas. I love to use buttons. I have a large collection and though I don't give away the ones I love I have many more to choose from. Craft stores are great places to score gift ideas and decorations to add to your gift wrapping supply box. Oh a good pair of scissors and a supply of clear tape help too.

Have fun during the coming holiday weeks. Barb

Me shopping in Cincinnati at the Christmas Market 2016 at Duke Energy Center with two of my favorite girls,

Mackenzie and Jillian. This market was simply amazing.

A Revolutionary New Diet...

Recently I went on a diet. Like most diets this one was scheduled around a major life event. My daughter's wedding. There would be no shopping for a mother-of-the-bride dress until the pounds came off. Typically I go on a diet on Monday and by Wednesday I've folded beneath the weight of a German chocolate cake. I've been hijacked by as little as a stale pink sugar wafer discovered in the dark recesses of the bread drawer. But this time things were going to be different. I could tell as I went to get the mail and discovered the first crocus of the season. Life was looking up. Even though an icy rain began to fall, my spirits weren't dampened. Not even when huge drops pelted me on the head and I had to dash inside. My latest plan would revolutionize dieting. If it worked for me it would work for the world. I smelled a book deal. I could see myself all made-over and liposuctioned sitting between Oprah and Dr. Oz. It was full speed ahead. Gone were those complex menus...

Building a story vs building a house

My latest book! Dear Writer: Writing a story is somewhat similar to building a house. Or not! Remember this: when we give a piece of our story to someone to read - we expect them to see the whole. It's like building a house and offering a single piece of lumber to another builder. “Here, see the house I'm building.” SOME CAN SEE IT AND SOME CAN’T. Here's the thing: MOST CAN'T. This step is as necessary to me as breathing. I need to give you single boards as I create them. AND I expect you to be a visionary and say, “Why yes. I see.” I need you to see how special the piece of lumber is that I'm using and to see that eventually I'll add more pieces to make the whole. Choose people to read your work who like the kind of stories you write. There are as many kinds of stories as there are houses to live in. If you give a brick ranch to someone who only appreciates a cape cod then he'll have a hard time fitting hims...

MY HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 High School - Poca High School, Putnam County, WV What year was it? Fall 1960 - Spring 1963 What were your favorite bands, or singers? Sam Cook, Chubby Checker, Conway Twitty (It's only make believe), Johnny Rodriquez. Meatloaf. ELvis. What was your favorite outfit? Straight skirts, blouses, cardigans or jackets, little heels. Other Outfits? Jeans and a white Dr. Ben Casey shirt. What was up with your hair? Everything. I put peroxide on it. Lemon juice, thinking it needed to be lighter. I cut it, styled it, put it in a pony tail or a french twist. Hair was the most important thing in my life in high school. And hair spray, the stiffer the better. Who were your best friends? Patti Jones, Karen Mattox, and Susie Bailey all thru elem school. Then added on Donna Dailey, Sharon "Mouse" Hackett and Janice Wick and many others. Also Bonnie Kerwood who was older than me and lived near me so we hung out listening to records after schoo...

Writing - the ups and downs

Search This Blog