A very Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there and to my hubby! He’s been a great dad to our daughter and I know he will be an awesome grandfather to our soon-to-be-here grandson. Have a great Father’s day!
Wonderful Shoutout for Escape the Everglades
I can’t believe there are only 10 days until the release of ESCAPE THE EVERGLADES! It’s so exciting and I want to thank those who already have their copies of this romantic suspense and have taken the time to leave a review. Reviews really do help authors and we appreciate them more than you can imagine. Today’s shoutout is to Wendy H. who left this wonderful review on Bookbub!
5 Stars: “The second book in this series and it’s no less compelling and emotional as the first one. Plenty of action and investigating … Twists and turns, PTSD, grief and second chances … It’s raw at times for both characters and it certainly tugged at my heart strings, both have been through so much but something just clicks between them. Attention held from beginning to end, it’s well written and a fairly fast paced read but it also has lots of depth both with feelings and information and details. Suspense and some full on scary scenes it had everything I love in this genre including the romance, a k9 and a small boy. Amazing story.”
THANK YOU so much, Wendy. If you’d like to get your hands on ESCAPE THE EVERGLADES, run, don’t walk to https://bit.ly/EscapetheEverglades.
Celebrating National Strawberry Shortcake Day
I love strawberry shortcake. I love it so much that hubby and I had that as our wedding cake! There’s just something about that mix of sweet cream, tasty biscuit, and the sweet/tart of strawberries that’s wonderful. When strawberries are in season, hubby and I often do strawberries, cream, and those little dessert shells for a treat! What about you? Do you love strawberry shortcake? If you want to try making your own, here’s a quick recipe for you! P.S.-If you love stories with chefs, I’ve written a number of them! Check out SOUTH BEACH LOVE or the books in the At the Shore series. You can find them all at https://amzn.to/3RnvrVG.
Ingredients
For the strawberries:
2 pounds strawberries (hulled and sliced)
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of one orange
For the Biscuit:
2 cups flour (sifted)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 tbsp unsalted butter (chilled and cut in cubes)(one stick)
1 1/4 cups cream
1 tbsp orange zest
For the Whipped Cream:
1 1/2 cup heavy cream (the colder the better)
2 tbsp sugar
Directions:
Zest the orange before you juice it for the strawberries.
In a bowl, mix hulled and sliced strawberries with sugar and juice of one orange. Set aside in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In another bowl, sift flour, sugar, and baking powder. Cut butter into the flour mixture until it looks like sandy soil. Add orange zest and cream and mix until it’s combined, but don’t overwork it or it will become tough. The dough may be sticky and that’s okay.
Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop the dough into eight evenly-sized mounds onto the parchment sheet. They should be placed about 2 or so inches apart.
Bake until bottom until the bottoms are brown and the tops are golden! This will take about 15-20 minutes.
Cool the biscuits.
In another bowl, or in a stand mixer, whisk the sugar and cream until stiff peaks form. Do not overwhip unless you want sweet butter!
You can make the whipped cream in advance, but it’s usually better to do it when you’re getting ready to serve the shortcakes.
To finish, slice the biscuits in half. To the bottom half, add the strawberries with some of their juice. Top with whipped cream and the other half of the biscuit. Top with some more strawberries. Serve immediately. Shortcakes do not keep well so it’s best to make them when you are ready to eat them.
Exciting Visit to Stonehenge
When my daughter had the opportunity to study abroad, we were lucky to be able to visit her and see many parts of London. We also did a day trip to visit Bath to see the Roman baths and various Jane Austen spots. I think the highlight of that daytrip for me, though, was a stop at Stonehenge. I’d always heard so many things about the mystical aspects of this site and it was a very atmospheric trip as it was a windswept and slightly overcast day. It really added to that mood as we walked around the stones (from a distance). You can’t really get right up to them unless you pay for a Circle Experience. There was also a wonderful exhibit explaining how Stonehenge might have been built and its history. If you get a chance, it’s worth a visit and also to nearby Bath. I also understand that it’s not far to Woodhenge and the Roman settlement of Old Sarum. If you like stories set in areas like this, you might want to check out The Vampire’s Consort or More than a Mission (one of my fav books).
Lazy Hazy Summer Days
I’ve been very busy the last few weeks with getting ready for my new grandbaby and work on the new South Beach Security Colorado Cousins (Tentative title) romantic suspense spinoff. So even though we’ve had the unofficial start of summer and the beach is calling, I haven’t been able to go to the beach and hunker down for some reading. But hubby and I decided to play hooky and hit the beach on Monday. It was a lovely day, with a clear, cerulean sky, no humidity, and great breeze. I got to finish RANCHER IN HER BED by Joanna Rock. It’s one of the old DESIRE series and I loved it! The day was so lovely I had to snap a photo to share with you! This is a picture of the nearby fishing pier. It somehow survived Hurricane Sandy even though Sandy took everything else – boardwalk and buildings – along this part of the Jersey Shore. If you’ve read the AT THE SHORE series, I mention seeing this pier from the fictional town of Sea Kiss. If you haven’t read the series, what’s keeping you from grabbing these beach reads about three friends at a crossroads in their lives? ONE SUMMER NIGHT, the first book in the series is specially priced at 99 cents at https://amzn.to/3KH2xvI.
Please welcome Mickey Flagg
I’m very happy to have my friend and fellow author Mickey Flagg visiting with me today! I’ve known Mickey for quite some time since we were both writing vampire romance. I still have to start FIGHT FOR LOVE, the last book in THE CALLING IS REBORN series (and am not sure when that will be) but Mickey is still going strong with her fabulous vampire romances. So please welcome Mickey!
Happy Tuesday Takeover, everyone! I’m Mickey Flagg and I’m thrilled to be here today with Caridad. I write Paranormal Romance with lots of suspense thrown in. I add in a little bit of light horror in a scene or two, but my stories always have a happily ever after because that’s what I like to read. I’m proud to be published with The Wild Rose Press and self-published as well.
My paranormal series has three novels thus far. The fourth, Night of the Crescent Moon, takes place sixteen years after the third one. It will be available on October 2, 2024, the perfect release date: my son’s birthday! Many years ago, knowing how much I enjoy the paranormal genre, my son urged me to write about vampires. I had thought I’d have a teensy-tiny short story about two pages long. I never dreamed I would write an entire series based on the idea of redeeming a vampire. Both he and my daughter have been the inspiration for some of my characters (not the vampires ????).
I’ve worn many hats through the years: musician, actor, mother, teacher, school administrator. Those experiences become unique components in writing, with many disguised in my novels about unique vampires, witches, mystical warriors, and different realms.
I have one specific writing spot that is like my kitchen to cook up my novels. Outside a huge back window, I see natural beauty. It focuses me. There are four cardinals (two couples) that visit every day along with a red-bellied woodpecker, many mourning doves, and other little birds. There are bucks and deer with their young, a very old groundhog and baby bunnies, not to mention far too many chipmunks. The wildlife is scrutinized by my rescued Maine Coon. The man-cat weighs in at 24 pounds. He is full of affection and loves to greet company. I swear he wags his tail, not flicks it.
I tell you about where I write because it’s part of my recipe for writing. I rarely cook these days, so my recipe is existential for writers of paranormal fantasy. Like creating a special dish, you start with imagination. World building is next. It’s the most intriguing, especially within any paranormal trope. The next ingredients are creating mood, atmosphere, and setting. Then, I add characters and relationships to drive the drama within the storyline. In my recipe, the world’s elements and rules must remain consistent—or maybe not? All authors put their own secret ingredient into a writing recipe, so I’ll say that’s up to the individual to choose or even bend their own rules once in a while.
After all, no two pots of pasta sauce tastes exactly the same, right? Like a good cook, you might add a little bit more of this or that. In paranormal writing, whether it’s folklore, legend, heavenly entities, symbolism or science, the choice is yours. In my recipe, there is always a thin line between good and evil. In my paranormal fiction, romance and suspense are folded in for flavor.
Do you have a recipe for writing? Please leave a comment and share. I may have left out an ingredient or two!
Thank you for having me, Caridad. Many blessings!
This or That: Strong Hands or Sexy Eyes?
There are lots of things you might notice about a man right away. That delicious triangle of broad shoulders and lean hips. Their height or lack of it. Abs and butts. But what about other features like a strong jaw with an evening beard. A head of thick hair you want to rake your fingers through. Or maybe today’s This or That: Hands or Eyes? I’m a sucker for a man with light eyes but I also love strong hands on a man. I find a man’s hands very sexy. What about you? Are you more attracted by a man’s hands or his eyes, the proverbial window to the soul? P.S. – There are only 6 days until the release of ESCAPE THE EVERGLADES, #2 in the South Beach Security K-9 series. If you haven’t started this series yet, it’s not too late. Snag your books today at https://amzn.to/3Kt2G5Q.
