The Calling is Reborn is a series of my heart. The stories are a blend of paranormal and suspense, think Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets The X-Files. The first book in the series, DARKNESS CALLS, was an RT Top Pick and introduces you to sexy Southern vampire Ryder Latimer and kickass FBI Agent Diana Reyes who you will get to see in all the other books in the series. To download the free e-book, please visit http://bit.ly/DarknessCallsFreebie. If you can, please leave a review at one of the retailers. Reviews really do help authors!
Elementary School #ThrowbackThursday
Part of what I’ve been doing now that we’ve downsized is gathering and scanning old photos in order to preserve them. I’ve found some fun photos that brought back memories of growing up in Queens and then Levittown. I’m pretty sure this is an elementary school photo, probably first or second grade. I did those two grades and third grade in Queens before we moved to Levittown. I seem to be wearing red in a lot of those early school photos I guess because red is my favorite color!
#WisdomWednesday – Small Steps, Big Changes
I’ve been hearing a lot about micro-goals lately, whether in relation to dieting or any other kind of task. Without really thinking about it, it’s something I’ve been doing for a lot of my life. While thinking about the big picture, like becoming a published author, I was setting smaller more achievable goals along the way. Write a chapter and the chapters became a book. Finish the book and look for an agent. Start the next book. Small steps leading to a big change. I took the same approach with my diet. Do ten minutes on the elliptical. Walk 10,000 steps. Lose 1 pound. Each small step leading to a bigger change.
Why is that so important? Setting goals that are unrealistic only sets you up to feel like a failure. No one is going to lose 100 pounds in a month or even a few months. It takes time. The same with writing. No one is going to become a bestseller overnight. It takes time and dedication.
But if you approach that goal with small steps, it not only seems more attainable, it is more attainable. When I do workshops and people say that they can’t imagine writing a book, I ask them “Do you think you could write a page a day?” The answer is invariably yes which prompts me to say, “Well if you did that, you’d have a book in a year, right?”
I’d like to think that my helping them think about doing such a big thing in small steps might help them reach that bigger goal, namely, writing a book.
#TuesdayTip – Cuban Flan
Flan is one of my fav desserts and a staple at our Christmas table and other holidays! It’s creamy, sweet, and oh so tasty. In SOUTH BEACH LOVE the two competing chefs make a number of different flavored flans, including a mango flan. Nom nom. Today’s tip is a recipe for a traditional Cuban flan and I hope you like it and try it. If you do, I’d love to hear how it comes out for you. To get the recipe, please visit https://www.caridad.com/2006/11/08/cuban-flan/.
#ManCandyMonday – Jackson Whitaker from COLD CASE REOPENED
Who doesn’t love cowboys, even someone like me who you could say is a city girl at heart. We used to love seeing the cowboys roaming the New York City streets when they’d come in for the rodeo in Madison Square Garden. That’s what made it so much fun to write a cowboy-style hero like Jackson Whitaker in COLD CASE REOPENED. I’d love to hear from you if you love cowboys also! If you do, and if you also like cold case files, please check out my upcoming March release from Harlequin Intrigue at https://amzn.to/3iJnWWp.
Colorado Dreaming #ThrowbackThursday
I was lucky enough to be able to travel to Denver for the 2018 Romance Writers National Conference. When I wasn’t going to workshops or networking, I made it a point to explore the city. Little did I know that a few years later I’d be setting a novel there! I loved being able to include some of my real-life experiences in Denver in COLD CASE REOPENED. I think being able to visit a place gives you insights that you can’t just get from research, but like I said, I was lucky to be able to visit. This is a photo of the state capitol in Denver.
#ManCandyMonday – Jackson Whitaker from COLD CASE REOPENED
I know many writers who collect photos of who they would cast as their heroes and heroines before they start writing so they have a strong sense of what their characters look like. I normally don’t do that. Instead I start with general ideas about height, weight, hair and eye color because I like to leave it to the reader to fill in that picture in a way that pleases them. So when I thought of Jackson Whitaker, the hero in COLD CASE REOPENED, I pictured a tall, leanly muscled man with close-cropped sandy brown hair and gray eyes. Who do you picture? Josh Holloway? Jensen Ackles? Share your fav hotties that you would cast as this handsome detective and don’t forget to enter my giveaway for COLD CASE REOPENED at https://www.facebook.com/Caridad.Author/posts/10157710232845913.
P.S. – Here’s a teaser from when Rhea first meets Jackson!
- It wasn’t room service. It was six-plus feet of lethal male, dressed in police blues, with a white Stetson held in hands that he shifted uneasily on the brim. He had shortly cropped sandy-brown hair that screamed former military and eyes the gray of lake waters on a dreary day. He clenched and unclenched his chiseled jaw as he stood there, obviously hesitant, before he finally said, “You should be more careful and check to see who it is before you open the door.”
Anger ignited instantly at his chastisement. “I was expecting room service. Not the police.”
