#FunFriday Paraskevidekatriaphobia

I dare you to say that word real fast: Paraskevidekatriaphobia. Who can even say it for starters?

But if you’re afraid of Friday the 13th, that’s exactly what you have: Paraskevidekatriaphobia. There I did it again! LOL!

So why do we freak out about Friday the 13th? There are lots of theories, but as I’ve discovered while researching them, it appears that the origins of this fear don’t really exist before the 19th century so Paraskevidekatriaphobia appears to be a more modern phobia.

But why the fear? Here’s some possible reasons!

Jesus Christ was crucified on a Friday and was betrayed by Judas, the 13th apostle. There were 13 people seated at the Last Supper and in some cultures, seating 13 at a table is considered bad luck as one of the diners may die after the meal, just like Judas. My family followed this superstition and we never ever set a table for 13. FYI, fear of the number 13 is triskadekaphobia.

On Friday the 13th in 1307, King Philip of France ordered raids on the Knights Templar resulting in the torture and /or murder of thousands of knights.

On August 13, 1521, a Friday, Cortes captured Cuauhtemoc, the ruler of TenochtitlÃ¡n (now Mexico City), bringing an end to the Aztec Empire.

In 1989 there were two Friday the 13th occurrences. On the first one in January, the Friday the 13th virus affected computers in several countries, wiping out programs and infecting data. In October, the Black Friday mini-crash shaved 190 points off the Dow Jones, the Nasdaq fell nearly 15 points and the S&P fell nearly 22 points. That may not sound like a lot, but back then it ranged from 3% to almost 7% of the total market values.

On March 13, 1931, Al Capone was indicted for tax evasion.

Italian composer Rossini died on Friday the 13th.

Scary thought if you have Paraskevidekatriaphobia: 2015 has three Friday the 13ths in it! February, March and November.

Hope you enjoyed this Fun Friday! Have an awesome weekend!

February 12, 2015

#ThrowbackThursday Catherine Bybee at RT

It’s always fun to meet your online buddies up close and personal. Catherine and I became friends by starting a conversation on the Internet. We started chatting and exchanging ideas. Catherine was awesome and even hosted a video chat with me. It was really exciting for me to get to meet her face-to-face at a convention and I’m so proud and excited for her at how well her career has taken off!

February 11, 2015May 10, 2017

#WriteWed Military Heroes Inspire Me

As you might now, I’ve included a number of military heroes in my books from my early romantic suspense novels to my latest releases in the Take a Chance series. That includes both military men and women heroes.

In each of the stories, I try to bring out what it must be like for our military heroes and their families as they cope with being away, being at war and coming home. I’m honored to say that I’ve heard from a number of military people that they felt my portrayals of the issues were accurate and heartfelt. Thank you for that and thank you for your service and sacrifices.

I want to share this video of truly awesome surprise military reunions! Click here to watch the military reunion video if you can’t see it below.

February 10, 2015July 9, 2019

#TeaserTuesday Sexy Excerpt from STAY THE NIGHT in the BE MINE Erotic Romance Box Set

WOO HOO it’s release day for the BE MINE Erotic Romance Box Set! So so exciting! Since it’s Teaser Tuesday, I’ve got a sexy excerpt for you from STAY THE NIGHT.

As I’ve mentioned, STAY THE NIGHT is my reunion story that is included in BE MINE. The story is about sexy Navy Seal Rafe Castillo who is home from war and afraid that his wife has become someone he doesn’t recognize any more and worse, who might not want him any more. His wife, Elena, is totally in love with him but is afraid that since they got married because she was pregnant, Rafe might not want to stay in their marriage.

When doubts arise in both of them, Elena asks Rafe to stay the night and see if the love they once shared can be rekindled. This is a sexy and emotional story and I hope you’ll enjoy it and this excerpt.

WARNING – This excerpt is extremely hot and only for Mature audiences.

You can click here if you can’t see the STAY THE NIGHT excerpt below.

You can get BE MINE at the following retailers:

BE Mine Erotic Romance Box Set
Amazon: http://bit.ly/AMZBeMine
Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/AMZUKBeMine
Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/AMZCABeMine
Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/AMZAUBeMine
B&N: http://bit.ly/BNBeMine
Kobo: http://bit.ly/KoboBeMine

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway from the BE MINE authors!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

February 6, 2015

Slow Cooker Roast Pork #FoodieFriday

With the winter weather the other day, we had to stay home and shovel snow. Since I was home, I wanted to put together something warm and tasty for that night’s supper and hauled out the Crockpot. This was also another cleaning out the fridge meal and what I had on hand was a pork loin roast, so that’s what I decided to cook. After a visit to Pinterest, I adapted one of the recipes for you!

Ingredients

3-4 pound pork loin roast
1 apple thinly sliced
1 orange sectioned and sliced
2 large onions sliced
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup honey
2 cloves finely minced garlic

Directions

I didn’t cook my onions first, but I really think you should. The dish will be that much more sweeter and full of goodness. Otherwise, here’s what to do:

Take the pork roast and cut slits about one inch apart. Place a slice of orange and one of apple in each slit.

Layer the slow cooker as follows:

All the onions. Half of the remaining apples. The pork roast you sliced and filled. Sprinkle the garlic over the pork roast and nstle the rest of the apples around the roast. Mix the teriyaki sauce and the honey and spoon this over the pork roast.

Cook on high for 6 -8 hours until tender. Serve with rice and/or vegetables! That’s it! Hope you all have a good weekend!

February 5, 2015

#ThrowbackThursday A Visit to London

I can’t believe it’s been nearly five years since I visited London! It was awesome to walk around and see the sights that I wanted to include in a number of books I was writing. Two have been published, but the other one, which had a story revolving around the Knights of Templar, might never see the light of day. Sigh. Too many books to write and too little time.

This is a photo of me, my daughter, and my husband in front of Big Ben. We love to walk around and explore the city and we really had a wonderful time doing just that. I can’t even imagine how many miles we clocked since we spent most of the day walking. One of our most fun adventures on this trip was a Jack the Ripper Tour. Very informative and interesting to walk the same streets as where the crimes had occurred. Now that’s one thing I will definitely fit in a book in the future. Maybe Diana and Ryder will have to take a trip there to help out Scotland Yard with a copycat killer or maybe even a vamped out Jack the Ripper!

February 4, 2015October 4, 2017

#WriteWed #Military Heroes in the Coast Guard

I’m in the midst of writing ONE NIGHT OF PLEASURE which features sexy retired Navy Captain Mark Smith and veteran Army Staff Sergeant Bridget Sullivan. If the Sullivan name is familiar, it’s because you met Bridget’s younger sister Maggie in ONE LAST NIGHT. It’s also familiar because you meet both Mark and Bridget in STAY THE NIGHT, Rafe and Elena’s story.

One thing I always think about while writing one of these novellas is how I can give you a quick intro to some of the characters you might see in a future book. In ONE NIGHT OF PLEASURE you’ll get to meet Lieutenant Commander Samantha Whittaker who is now in the Coast Guard and veteran Seabee Zack Rodriguez.

Why the Coast Guard (and I promise you’ll see more about the Seabees in another Write Wednesday post)? Well, I happened to be rescued by a very charming Coast Guard vet when I was stranded on a hotel balcony during an RT Convention in Orlando. To this day we both smile whenever we see each other and recall that very interesting (and embarassing) incident. You see, my friends and I had gone out there to have a glass of wine on a beautiful day. As we powershut a very recalcitrant sliding glass door, the security bar came loose and came down perfectly, trapping us on the balcony.

Luckily our hero walked by and seeing our dilemma, called for hotel security to come free us. He then graciously offered to get us some more wine as well. LOL!

So in his honor and to honor the service of our Coast Guard veterans, I thought it was time to highlight that branch of the military in one of the upcoming TAKE A CHANCE series novellas.

So here’s a little bit more about the Coast Guard, my Write Wednesday inspiration for EMBRACE THE NIGHT (late spring 2015), my story with Samantha and Zack.

Did you know the Coast Guard just celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the act to create the Coast Guard? You can click here to read more about the Coast Guard Act. However, the Coast Guard has been around since 1790. The 1915 Act was really more of a change of name of the service.

During times of peace, the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security (as of 2003). During times of war, the Coast Guard is part of the Navy. Coast Guard heroes like Douglas Munro, a Medal of Honor winner, have saved countless lives during both peace time and war.

The Coast Guard is one of five military branches. Its motto is “Semper Paratus” in Latin which means “Always Ready.”

The Coast Guard does have an academy which is located in New London, CT. You can get more facts by clicking here.

And now here’s a look at the Coast Guard in action! If you can’t see the video below, click here to see the Coast Guard in action in Texas!

Coast Guard Emblem Photo Credit: By U.S. Government [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons