Cracks In The Sidewalk

First of all I owe an apology.  Looking at my blog I realized that it has been over a year since I’ve posted anything.  Every time I’ve done this I swear that I will post on a regular schedule.  I love writing especially the creative side when the story comes together. I hate marketing and promoting, no wonder I’m horrible at it.

With that said, this blog isn’t about me. In fact I’m cheating a little in that it is a cross post. I am a member of the Over The Backyard Fence bloggers group where almost all of the blog members are authors.

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Cracks In The Sidewalk is a story based on true life. The author, Bette Lee Crosby interviewed the Grandparents extensively.  It’s an amazing story of courage, love and forgiveness.  It might not be an inspirational genre, but it was for me as in the end I found myself thinking, “God is Good.”

It’s a story that was thought provoking. For one thing I’m afraid I wouldn’t or couldn’t be so forgiving.  And, yet you could see how the mother and grandparents always put the children first. It was unselfishly never about them.

I hate to risk putting in spoilers but nothing I can say takes away from the impact of the story.  When the daughter, Elizabeth, is pregnant with her third child she is diagnosed with a terminal cancer.  Instead of supporting and caring for her, her husband uses the children to extract financial funds from her father. The grandfather, after financing the son-in-laws failing business for over $100,000 finally says enough.

Elizabeth is forced to move in with her parents when her husband refuses to let her come back home and eventually stops bringing the kids to see their mother and grandparents.

Elizabeth is fully aware that her condition is terminal and wants more than anything to instill in her children that they are loved. She wants to leave them with memories that will insure they never feel abandoned. The bravery of Elizabeth is amazing. As she fights to stay alive and see her children, her parents are right there with her.  Finally with no other recourse they take the fight to court where Elizabeth’s husband is ordered to comply to visitation.

You see the best and worse of humanity in this story. Sometimes it’s so horrible on the ugliness of the husband that it’s hard to believe it isn’t fiction. Can people really be so cruel?  The husband with a failed business and unpaid bills disappears with the children and for years the grandparents don’t know where they are. Not only have they lost their beloved daughter, her children are lost to them too.

This story ends well.  It brings tears, but also in the end you regain faith in humanity.

This is the first time I have read a story from this author and I might have missed it if not for Bookbub.  I joined a few months back and would highly recommend it. I get a list of books everyday. Some are free and others at discounted prices. There is nothing I’d rather shop for than books so I start my day with a cup of coffee and Bookbub selections for the day.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

I’d love to hear from you. If you have a minute leave a comment or drop me an email.

Lavada 

 

 

 

Indie Author Fringe

I know those of you who follow this blog are both writers and readers and I try to do posts that speak to both. However this one is for authors or those who might be entertaining the idea of writing.

Indie Author Fringe is an online workshop put on by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLI). They are putting on the next event this coming Saturday, June 3. It starts at 10:00am Eastern time. But the good thing about Fringe is that you can view the workshop sessions anytime. And you can pick which ones you want to do. I usually try to do one session a day sometimes skipping a day.

There is a wealth of information in the Fringe sessions and on the ALLI website itself. I can’t say enough about the value to Indie authors this group provides.

I will look forward to hearing from anyone who attends. If you have time please get back to us with your comments.

Getting Started — Again

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a blog. This time it wasn’t so much neglect as a conscious decision to take a year off from writing. In fact, at the beginning of 2016 I was seriously thinking of retiring from it. Then after a year off I needed the creative outlet so this year I’ve set some goals. Not real ambitious goals, but at least ones that will move me forward on the writing journey.

1^st, I received my rights back for 4 books published by Bookstrand. “For Love Or Money” was re-released as an Indie last year. “Open House On Murder” has just been released in ebook and will shortly be available in print.

For all you authors out there, my experience with Bookstrand has been wonderful. They support my books when they come out and have worked with me all the way through. When the contract ran out I couldn’t have asked for better people in getting the rights back.

Back when I started writing I though all you had to do was write the story. Hah, there is so much more. And, I am behind in just about every facet. So another goal is to redo my websites. The year’s goals are looking like this:

1.re-release the last two books

2.redo the website

3.finished a couple more Holiday short stories and put the collection into an anthology that will be in both e-book and print format.

Wish me luck. I’ll try to keep you posted on how I’m doing.

And now, how about you? Have any goals for the year? Let me know and I’ll root you along.

Until next time, keep reading there are bunch of stories to enjoy out there in every genre imaginable.

 

 

 

 

Happy 4th of July

I can’t believe how long it’s been since I’ve posted a blog. I know I’m horrible at promoting but not every post is a promotion, or it shouldn’t be.

So a new non-New Year resolution ––– “Stay in touch.”

I wrote a blog on Over The Backyard Fence for the 4th. I’d love for you to pop over and maybe comment. OTBF is eclectic blog by a small blog community. We have a lot of fun and would love to have you join us.

Here in the Pacific NW (known for it’s abundance of rain), we have been having record-breaking temps. As you might guess a lot of us don’t have A/C. So right now I’m trying to get one asap. I’m regressing. Must be the story teller in me.  🙂

Anyway, I recently purchased a plant  that like me droops in this weather. It looks about ready to gasp its last breath, I water it, and it comes back to life. Yesterday I finally took a bucket and a bit of yarn and helped the poor thing out. I’m thinking some containers like this might help some of the other plants that want more water.

I know this doesn’t take a rocket scientist so why did it take me weeks to do it.    🙂

Have a Happy Safe 4th and stay cool.

Good Morning

Brrr, cold outside this morning.  But the sun is shining.

 Just a quick note to let you know that I’m the featured author on the Snow Globe Contest today. If you have a second pop over for a visit. The site is at http://snowglobeawardcontest.vpweb.ca/contest-participants

A Warrior’s Love

A Warrior’s Love is offered at a 10% discount at Bookstrand. Offer ends midnight CST, December 2nd.

Buy Link 

November has been a busy month with a short Christmas story release and now I’m so happy to say the release of the 3^rd book in the Blackhawk Brothers series.

A Warrior’s Love is Tyrell’s story. I wasn’t sure when I started if it would be Devon’s, Tyrell’s or maybe even both of their stories combined. But, as has always happened, as soon as the characters step out they take over. They come to life and the story unfolds in their point of view.

Bookstrand will keep exclusive rights for a few weeks and then the book will become available on other outlets like Amazon, Barnes & Noble and hopefully your favorite store. Available in e-book immediately it will also be offered in print in a few months.

Excerpt:

Tyrell’s eyes narrowed as he watched the woman. Along with a distinct dislike, there was something else. Something as familiar to him as breathing asserted itself, making him catch his breath. Tamping down a growl, he willed his totem, the wolf that lived within him, to be still. Two months ago, he’d lived more in his wolf form than his human one. The whole team had. Wolves didn’t need a fire at night to keep them from freezing. They could blend into the terrain. It was the defining factor of their team, what made them able to carry out rescue missions that were all but impossible. That was then, and this was now. It was his and his team’s decision to change their course. Living a domestic life meant he would have to let his wolf form sleep. No more shifting, no more letting instincts dominate.

He took a deep breath and forced a smile. “I see you brought company.”

Devon motioned for the woman to slide into the booth beside Tyrell and then took the seat next to Page. “Page, Tyrell, this is Nadia. She is on the way to New York with her grandmother.”

That figures. She looks like New York. Tyrell barely kept himself from speaking his thoughts out loud. He glanced over at Devon, who looked a little uncomfortable. To bad they hadn’t had time to finish their breakfast because if they had, they could have gracefully vacated the booth and left Devon to it. As it was, he could envision some indigestion. He again fought against the wolf as he picked up her scent. Damn, why did Devon seat her beside him.

Bahama Christmas

After being pretty quiet on the news front, Bahama Christmas is giving me something to blog about. Jillian Chantal is featuring Bahama Christmas over on her blog today. It’s an interview and I love Jillian’s questions. They make me want to pull out my luggage and book a cruise.   So for a bit of cruise ambiance pop over it’s at http://jillianchantal.com/2014/11/20/lavada-dee-and-bahamas-christmas/

 

And, Bahama Christmas is also featured on Snowglobes Festive & Fun mini contest. This contest runs from today through Nov. 26^th. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment with the Title and Name of the author of the cover your voting for and your email address. Snowglobe is at http://snowglobeawardcontest.vpweb.ca/mini-contests wishing you all luck.

SnowGlobe Award Contest

Jennifer Snow is holding her annual Holiday Contest. I judged for this contest last year and was impressed with the quality of writing. My Christmas book last year (No Perfect Marriage) wasn’t released in time to enter it. I vowed to not have that happen this year and with that motivation Bahama Christmas is an entry.

This is a really a great contest for Authors and Readers with prizes for both. Right now they are holding the Simply Christmas mini contest. And the prizes for this one are:

Author Prize:

• A book cover ad in Still Moments Magazine
• A book cover ad in the chat room on Coffee Time Romance & More website

Winning Voter Prize:

• $10 Amazon Gift Card (delivered wirelessly)
• e-copy of The Mistletoe Melody

The schedule for the mini contests are:

• Simply Christmas Nov. 6-12
• Warmth of the Holidays Nov 13-19
• Festive & Fun Nov 20-26 (I may enter Bahama Christmas’s cover in this one)
• Catchiest Opening Line Nov 28 – Dec 4
• The contest closes Dec 5^th with a Last minute cover contest

Take a break and pop over to the website at http://snowglobeawardcontest.vpweb.ca/ you’ll be glad you did. Oh and be sure and send me a post if (when) you win. You can do that in a comment to this post or email me at Lavadadee@gmail.com In return I’ll send you an e-book of one of my Christmas stories to say Congratulations.

New Release in time for Christmas.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a release or much of anything new to report. At least writing wise. Life just sort of got in the way. Well that plus retirement. And, while I’m loving it I do miss not getting the creative high from seeing a book I’ve written launched.

Bahama Christmas, is a short Christmas story. I’ve been trying to do one a year with the end product being an anthology that I’ll do a print run on as well as an e-book.

Blurb:

Maddie Coleman is ready to move on, but first she has to get through the holidays. It has been two years since her fiancés death and her friends and family are ready to help but Maddie doesn’t want any help. She doesn’t want blind dates and feeling like the fifth wheel. Solution, a cruise and not the ones for singles.

Dane Matthews has long denied his feeling for Maddie but no more. With a mission in mind he books on the same cruise. He’s tired of the big brother roll he has been cast in. What once was a big age difference is no longer the case because her twenty four years to his thirty five pales in light of the woman she has become.

As the ship pulls out of port Maddie turns from the rail and right into Dane. The years fall away and she is again the young girl with her school crush. Her excitement at seeing him quickly morphs into the old guilt. He rejected her once, will he do it again.

It’s for sale at most online bookstores, search for Lavada Dee or go to my books page and click on one of the links.

 

 

 

Retro Sale

I know many are experiencing severe weather. Here in the Pacific NW we are getting some heavy winds and rain but feel fortunate we don’t have to shovel it.  Good reading weather but then it’s always good weather for me to read.

I just got notification that my publisher, Bookstrand, is featuring Forever Love as a retro release and has it on sale for $2.50.

Blurb

Roman Ragazzi, criminologist turned bestselling author, works as a special investigator for the prosecutor’s office. When Bethany Towers is assigned to prosecute his latest case, he has a problem. He thought he’d gotten over his love for her, but finds out a love like theirs isn’t all that easy to walk away from.

 

Bethany knows she’ll be working closely with Roman, and she’s not sure she can keep her professional and personal feelings separate. She’s loved him for what seems like forever and knows she always will. Once he felt the same way, but she made a decision that changed their lives. Will telling him the whole story restore his love, and what about his trust? She wants it all. 




 “I admire women who escape abusive and violent relationships to build a new life for themselves. I can imagine their sacrifices, fears and loneliness. I wanted to write a romance around the dark side of their life to bring out the hope of happy endings.” ~ Lavada ~


Buy Link