Category Archives: Guest Blogging

10 Inspirational Quotations

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome back Wild Rose Press author Sadira Stone. Today, Sadira shares ten inspirational quotations and her new release, Gelato Surprise.

Here’s Sadira!

Thanks so much, Joanne, for welcoming me back to your blog. Since I’ve already chatted with your readers about my reinvention from high school teacher to romance novelist, today I’d like to share ten of my favorite inspirational quotations. ‘Cause goodness knows we all need inspiration to keep us moving forward during the Quarantimes!

1. “Honey, ever’body’s got somethin’ to teach you, even if it’s how not to be.” This golden nugget came from an older Southern lady I worked with when stationed in Fort Stewart, Georgia. My job: to help folks process their claims after a reassignment move had mashed up their household goods. Lots of negativity heaped on me by pissed-off customers who often took out their ire on me. This reminder served me well then, and every year since.

2. “Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we might as well dance.” I couldn’t hunt down a reliable attribution for this one, but it’s my Northern Star. There’s so much I can’t change about my circumstances, but I can still enjoy my time, look for new opportunities, and write schmexy romance books.

3. “The grubby chores will still be there when you’re done whining, so you might as well do them now.” ~Mom

Her work ethic and practicality have served me well.

4. “The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Don’t you feel exhilarated after going somewhere new, meeting someone new, trying something new? I sure do.

5. “Do I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes.” ~Walt Whitman

My favorite poet and proto-hippie refused to be squashed into a box of others’ expectations.

6. “Don’t fence me in.” ~Gene Autry

We women, especially, face societal pressures to make our lives smaller. Phooey to that!

7. “Insight, curiosity, to wonder, to mull and to muse why it is that man does what he does. And if you have that, talent makes no difference, whether you’ve got it or not. ~William Faulkner

As a writer, I sure hope he’s right.

8. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” ~Marie Curie

She should know!

9. “Take a lover who looks at you like maybe you are magic.” ~Freda Kahlo

Again, we women must resist others’ urgings to settle for less than we deserve.

10. “The best work anyone ever writes is the work that is on the verge of embarrassing them. Always.” ~Arthur Miller

True! My best work comes when I spill my heart’s blood on the page.

Blurb

She came to the beach to find herself—and found him.

Forty-two-year-old divorcée Danielle Peters ends up alone on her family’s annual beach vacation. Maybe time to herself is exactly what she needs. That and gelato from her favorite ice cream shop. But when the owner’s intoxicating young nephew offers more than sweet treats, she’s tempted to indulge in a hot summer fling before returning home.

Thirty-one-year-old Matteo Verducci craved a fresh start to mend his broken heart, and he’s found almost perfection in Ocean View, where he scoops gelato by day and crafts furniture by night. But when a sexy older woman stops to sample his wares—Mamma mia! He only has two weeks to convince her their passion is more than a delicious surprise.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | Kobo | Google Play Books

Author Bio

Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance and cozy mysteries from her home in Washington State. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, belly dances, plays guitar badly, and gobbles all the books.

Where to find Sadira…

Author Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | BookBub | Amazon Author Page | Pinterest | Instagram | Author Newsletter

Book Blast: Kitty’s War

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Barbara Whitaker. Today, Barbara shares her debut novel, Kitty’s War.

Blurb

Seeking adventure, shy Kitty Greenlee joins the Women’s Army Corps. In 1944 England, as secretarial support to the 8th Air Force, she encounters her dream man, a handsome lieutenant who only has eyes for her blonde friend. Uncomfortable around men, Kitty doesn’t think the handsome officer could want someone like her.

Recovering from wounds, Ted Kruger wants to forget about losing his closest friends and have fun before returning to danger as a bomber navigator. When Ted recognizes Kitty as the girl who rescued him two years before, he must choose between dating the sexy blonde or pursuing quiet, serious-minded Kitty even though he knows he’s not nearly good enough for her.

As the war gears up with the D-Day invasion, will Kitty and Ted risk their hearts as well as their lives?

Excerpt

It’s all part of the adventure.

Corporal Katherine Ilene Greenlee had reminded herself all the way across the Atlantic. The thrill of exciting voyages to exotic locations had spurred her to volunteer for overseas duty. After fourteen days on a rolling ship with her stomach churning like the waves in a storm, she wasn’t so sure about her decision.

She stumbled onto the gangplank. The heavy duffle bag, balanced precariously on her shoulder, toppled forward and bumped the girl in front of her. One hand went instinctively to her head to keep the steel helmet from falling as she regained her equilibrium.

“Watch it,” the girl complained.

Katherine drew a deep, fortifying breath and straightened under the weight of the bag plus all her other gear. She held tighter, determined to carry it all despite her screaming muscles and roiling stomach.

If she had learned anything in this woman’s army, it was to carry her own load and not ask for help. There had been times when she hadn’t thought she was strong enough to make the grade, but stubborn determination kept her going. She had to prove to herself and everyone else that she could do it.

By rights she shouldn’t be here at all, shouldn’t even be in the Women’s Army Corps. No one knew the truth, no one except her brother, who wouldn’t dare tell, and her father, who’d been so certain she’d fail that he’d let her go without a word of objection.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Apple | BookBub | Goodreads

Author Bio and Links

Barbara grew up in a small town in Tennessee where the repeated stories of local and family history became embedded in her psyche. Fascinating tales of wartime, from her parents and her in-laws, instilled an insatiable curiosity about World War II. After retiring from her sensible career in accounting, she began full time pursuit of her lifelong love of historical romantic fiction. Enjoying every minute of research, Barbara spends hours reading, watching old, black-and-white movies and listening to big band music.

Although Barbara and her husband have been longtime residents of Florida, they both still think of Tennessee as “home.”

Website | Facebook

Giveaway

Barbara Whitaker will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Barbara on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

The Not So Pretty Way to the Next Act in Life

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Wild Rose Press author Colleen Donnelly sharing a unique perspective on reinvention and her new release, Letters and Lies.

Here’s Colleen!

Thank you for allowing me to stand back with your readers and smile at the colorful course I took to my second, third, and fourth acts in life. I was “one of those kids” I hope someone else can relate to.<

Act I – Innocence and Acceptance

Naked we came into the world—then someone added a diaper. Then nourishment, smiles, yawns, pensive looks, raised brows, hugs, and shaking heads. We were kids. Ready to live life fiercely and love unconditionally, empowered by parents or someone we saw as God who was equipped to fulfill our every need. At least I believed that as I sallied forth into what I expected to be a perfect world where all toys were mine, friends would delight me, and no tear would ever be shed. That euphoric journey might be true for many, but I found my nicely charted path diverted by unexpected surprises such as the little brother no one warned me was coming, the amount of sharing that would involve, and new rules which tainted my perception of unconditional love as I pondered it during time out in a chair or a corner. I did not approach Act II gracefully. I came at it determined to make up for Act I.

Act II – Hormones and the Need for Acceptance

Puberty, the doorway between Act I and Act II, opened to a whole world of options beyond our parents to affirm us and meet our needs. It looked glorious from the childhood side and lured me toward what turned into a twisted trek to glowing acceptance mottled with acne, larger thighs, and fierce competition. I floundered forward into brutal, teenage battles to be noticed, yet not to be, while my parents sagely countered my foibles with clever Act II countermeasures to replace Act I’s corners and chairs. Undaunted, I joined the ranks of those who missed a euphoric end to Act II. Hiding red-faced flops of looking for love in all the wrong places, my childhood determination morphed to desperation as I faced to the door to Act III.

Act III – Adulthood and Self-Acceptance

Opportunity sprouted legs in Act III, changed to responsibility, and taught baby adults how to walk. Acceptance became one with success and performance, and schools of sharks began to pool in groups of academics, career, marriage, and children. We found ourselves clawing backward for the tools we recalled from our parents and drew from them to design our own. School became the school of hard knocks, and euphoria began to resemble a never-ending black moment in a romance novel. Act III, in all its agony and trials, did what it was supposed to—give birth to the person we were meant to be in Act I. I spotted a glow the end of Act III that wasn’t Act IV. It was me; the polished shine that remained after I and the world had a hard go at me.

Act IV – The Golden Years of Accepting Others

For three Acts I learned to share, lived in a body never photographed for a cover, suffered bitterly jealous, was betrayed, bought the wrong gift for important someone’s, pretended knowledge I had to later scramble to learn, until I met and liked the culmination I was born to be. I carry the full script now. And when I meet children, teens, and young adults, I skip to the back, to Act IV which is Act I with something extra at the end.

Spotlight for Letters and Lies

How did I write such a tale of a young woman determined to get what she believed was hers at any cost? If you skipped my introduction, you’ll find the answer there. Starting today, you can follow the escapades of jilted spinster Louise Archer for 99 cents as she heads west to find and marry her man.

Blurb

Louise Archer boards a westbound train in St. Louis to find the Kansas homesteader who wooed and proposed to her by correspondence, then jilted her by telegram – Don’t come, I can’t marry you. Giving a false name to hide her humiliation, her lie backfires when a marshal interferes and offers her his seat.

Marshal Everett McCloud intends to verify the woman coming to marry his homesteading friend is suitable. At the St. Louis train station, his plan detours when he offers his seat to a captivating woman whose name thankfully isn’t Louise Archer.

Everett’s plans thwart hers, until he begins to resemble the man she came west to find, and she the woman meant to marry his friend.

Excerpt

“He wrote and changed your plans? Why didn’t you tell me? You know I love hearing his letters.”

Everyone loved hearing his letters. Or at least they’d pretended to. I glanced at my friends, especially the one who’d first suggested I correspond with her husband’s homesteading friend in Kansas who was ready to look for a wife. She dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief while she flicked the fingers of her other hand in a weak wave. I dredged my soul in search of a smile. The man she’d introduced me to truly had penned everything I’d ever wanted in a husband, months of letters which convinced Mama Jim was my open door. Letters I’d foolishly carted from family to friend to blather every word like a desperate spinster. Drat.

“He didn’t send his change of plans in a letter, Mama. He sent them in a telegram.” Don’t come, I can’t marry you. The only words I never shared.

“Well I imagine your Jim has a surprise for you and didn’t have time to send a letter before you left for Crooked Creek. How thoughtful to wire you instead.”

Thoughtful…I felt poisoned and Mama would too if she ever found out Jim had shut my open door. Which she wouldn’t, since as soon as I got out there and found him, I’d wedge it back open again.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes

Bio and Social Media Links

Born and raised in the Midwest, Colleen studied and worked in science, using that career to travel and explore other parts of the country. An avid fan of literature, both reading and writing, she loves tales involving moral dilemmas and the choices people come up against. A lover of the outdoors as well as a comfy living room, Colleen is always searching inside and out for the next good story.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Other Books by Colleen L Donnelly

Amazon #1 Bestseller “Mine to Tell”
Asked For
Love on a Train
The Lady’s Arrangement
Out of Splinters and Ashes
Sonata Contineo


Charlotte O’Shay’s 10 Life Lessons

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome back Wild Rose Press author Charlotte O’Shay. Today, Charlotte shares ten life lessons and her upcoming release, Always, Almond Fudge.

Here’s Charlotte!

Hello Joanne,

It’s such a pleasure to visit your blog again.

I’m certainly old enough to know better. Finally I do—kind of. In spite of my patient parents, it took me forever to learn these lessons. Anyway, here goes.

1. Every day is a gift. Unwrap it. We make plans and we have schedules, calendars and appointments and of course, some of these are commitments we cannot neglect. But take a moment to appreciate the energy and promise of the new day. Be open to it unfolding in a way you might not have anticipated or planned.

2. Say yes. Of course you’re scared, but there is no growth without fear. Have courage. Be open to learning, doing something new. This gets harder as you get older, but more necessary.

3. Say no. Your time is precious. Don’t let people waste it. You don’t need to say yes to every invitation, join every committee or raise your hand to do something because you think you should. Take on what you truly can and want to do, and do it with joy.

4. Surround yourself with the people who make you happy. There are toxic people out there. As you get older you can see them coming from a mile away. Life is too short to engage with vitriolic people whether on line or in person. Corollary: Tell the people you love, that you love and appreciate them.

5. Surround yourself with the things that make you happy. I’m not talking about expensive objects. This is for all the yard sale lovers out there. I’m talking about a pine cone found while walking, sea glass from the beach, a pretty plate from a tag sale or a wonderful piece of music. I’m also not talking about hoarding. If you find something new, give away something you no longer need. If a color soothes you, paint it on a wall.

6. Trust your gut. We’ve all been there. A tough, even dangerous situation. Or you’ve met a new, potentially important person. Maybe it’s a big decision you must make about a job. There’s that niggling feeling like an itch you can’t get to in the middle of your back. Don’t ignore it. You may not know why you feel the way you do, but learn to scratch the itch by trusting your gut.

7. Struggling with a big decision, dilemma? (see 6. above) Walk. Running is okay and so is biking. But there is nothing quite like walking to ruminate. Extra points if you can walk on a beach.

8. Don’t complain, make a change. I vent. You vent. And we all have the friend who vents—constantly. But when does it cease being a vent and more just a state of being? After you hash out your issue with a few trusted people, take action. Don’t complain about something endlessly. Can you change the situation? Do you need legal, medical, educational, psychiatric help? Reach out for it. Educate yourself. Take action.

9. Listen (patiently, not waiting to barrel in with your side of the issue). Sometimes spoken words aren’t necessary. Write a thoughtful, appreciative letter. Hug it out.

10. Sleep on it. This works for problems in writing and all manner of life issues. Let your subconscious mind lead you to a solution. Meditation helps too.

Blurb

On a lengthy car ride to their annual seaside vacation, a mother recounts the true story of a sweet family tradition.

It’s the summer of 1941 in the seaside town of Langford, Rhode Island, and seventeen-year-old Meredith Franklin works as a server at Seymore’s Ice Cream Shoppe.

When aspiring baseball player Anthony Fanelli strolls into the ice cream shop, his teasing banter leads to romantic sparks and dreams of forever love.

Their whirlwind courtship comes to an abrupt halt on December 7, 1941, when America enters World War Two, forcing the couple to put their future on hold.

Decades later, a treasure trove of letters details the wartime romance of Merry and Anthony and the sacrifices of a generation.

Bio

Author Charlotte O’Shay was born in New York City into a big family and then married into another big family.

Negotiating skills honed at the dinner table led her to a career in the law.

But after four beautiful children joined the crowded family tree, Charlotte traded her legal career to write about happily ever afters in the City of Dreams.

Charlotte loves to challenge her heroines and heroes with a crisis and watch them figure out who they are while they fall in love.

Where to find Charlotte…

Website/Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | BookBub | Pinterest | Instagram

Spotlight on Who’s Your Daddy

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome–Caren Crane, Jeanne Adams, Nancy Northcott–the authors of Who’s Your Daddy.

10 Cool Facts About DNA (from Caren Crane)

Thanks for having us today, Joanne! The anthology I wrote with Nancy Northcott and Jeanne Adams, Who’s Your Daddy: A DNA Anthology, is three stories based around people finding out unknowns from having their DNA tested. This has been a hot topic the past few years, because so many of us are having our DNA tested from the comfort of our homes. When I chose to do mine, I used 23andme.com, because they give you all the raw data (unlike ancestry.com) and also provide you with ongoing information about the medical data gleaned from your DNA. Those things were important to me, though others may not be as invested in those aspects.

Since this anthology and our stories are all about DNA, I thought I would do a list of 10 cool things to know about DNA. I am no expert, so I gleaned these from several great articles: 10 Interesting DNA Facts by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D., on thoughtco.com, 10 Quick and Interesting DNA Facts, by Steve Minchin, on explorebiotech.com, and 10 Fun Facts About DNA on the DNA Diagnostic Center blog at dnacenter.com. I have gleaned only the most fun of DNA facts from these sources, never fear!

1. 8% of human DNA is made up of ancient viruses that used to make us ill.

2. If you could type 60 wpm, 8 hours a day, it would take about 50 years to type out the human genome.

3. If we unraveled the DNA in a human, it would stretch out for 10 billion miles. That’s more than the distance to Pluto and back!

4. Apparently, DNA has a half-life of 521 years. In simple terms, this means the oldest organism that could be cloned could not be more than 2 million years old. So, we could never clone a dinosaur. (Sorry to crush those Jurassic Park dreams!)

5. DNA is fragile. About 1,000 times a day, things happen to damage it and cause errors. However, our bodies have very clever systems in place to act as repair mechanisms (though not all errors are reparable).

6. Humans share 99.9% of their DNA. It’s the 0.1% that makes us unique!

7. Genes only make up 3% of your DNA. Until recently, the other 97% was thought to be “junk”. Scientists have discovered, though, that the non-coding DNA contains switches that turn genes on or off and control other compounds.

8. We can sequence the DNA of a fetus with only blood from the mother and spit from the father. Therefore, they can now detect genetic diseases in offspring with no invasive procedures.

9. DNA has been traced back over 300,000 years. The DNA of a man from South Carolina was found to have an ancient Y chromosome that had been passed down intact for 338,000 years. The chromosome carried a mutation found in people of the Mbo tribe in Cameroon. That means an ancestor of the Mbo interbred with an archaic African human.

10. Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA in 1869, although scientists did not understand it was the genetic material in cells until 1943. Prior to that time, it was thought that proteins stored genetic information.

As stated, I’m no expert on DNA, but I know cool stuff when I read it. DNA is very cool!

Blurb

Presenting three tales of secrets revealed and histories uncovered by DNA testing.

Brown-Eyed Boy by Caren Crane

A carpenter discovers his father isn’t actually his father. Coming to terms with the truth reaffirms his place in his family, but it also leads him to love with an old friend’s sister and helps him find a path for his life.

Lost in Time by Jeanne Adams

A lawyer learns his grandmother had a secret marriage before his father was born. With the help of a talented genealogist, he tracks down his ancestry. Will he find the truth about his grandmother’s secret before whoever’s trying to kill him succeeds?

Worth Waiting For by Nancy Northcott

A burned-out spy goes home for a holiday and re-encounters the woman he never dated but never forgot. As he and she grow closer, he learns her niece, his ex-girlfriend’s child, bears an uncanny resemblance to him. When the truth comes out, it will alter three lives.

Excerpt (From Brown-Eyed Boy by Caren Crane)

Eric Burns had simple tastes. He loved cold beer, working with his hands, and hanging with his big, rowdy family. He didn’t have much use for trendy things.

So when his brother Tim gave everybody in the family DNA test kits for Christmas last year, Eric wasn’t thrilled.

But he set up a profile on the testing website. He spit in the test tube and mailed it off. When he got the email saying his results were ready, he clicked the link and logged into his account. It showed he shared half his DNA with his mother, Bebe, of course. Among his siblings he saw most of them shared about half their DNA with each other.

Then he saw he only shared about 25 percent with his sibs. That he shared so much less with all of them than they did with each other made no sense to him.

Then he saw two other people in his list of DNA relatives who shared about the same amount of DNA with him as his siblings did. Two people with the same names as kids from their neighborhood. He felt all the blood drain out of his head and a roaring sounded in his ears as he realized the only thing that could mean.

The mother he adored, the one who had given birth to him and his five siblings, who had mourned his daddy so much that she basically couldn’t function for most of his childhood, had cheated on his father.

buynow

Author Bios and Links

Jeanne Adams writes award-winning romantic suspense, fantasy/paranormal, Urban Fantasy and space adventure that’s been compared to Jack McDevitt and Robert Heinlein. She also knows all about getting rid of the bodies. Both traditionally and indie published, Jeanne has been featured in Cosmopolitan Magazine. She teaches highly sought after classes on Body Disposal for Writers and Plotting for Pantzers, as well as How to Write a Fight Scene with her pal Nancy Northcott.

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook


Caren Crane began writing warm, witty contemporary romance and women’s fiction to save herself from the drudgery of life in the office. An electrical engineer by training, she longed to create worlds where things were any color except cube-wall gray. She still works in a cubicle, but gets to hang out with witty, fabulous people whenever she’s writing, which greatly encourages butt-in-chair time.

Caren lives in North Carolina with her wonderful husband and semi-feral rescue cat. She has three fiercely intelligent, gorgeous grown children, having neatly side-stepped her mother’s threat that she would have children Just Like Her. You can find info and excerpts at her website.

Nancy Northcott’s childhood ambition was to grow up and become Wonder Woman. Around fourth grade, she realized it was too late to acquire Amazon genes, but she still loved comic books, history, and genre fiction. A sucker for fast action and wrenching emotion, Nancy combines the romance and high stakes (and sometimes the magic) she loves in the books she writes.

She’s the author of the Light Mage Wars/Protectors paranormal romances, the Lethal Webs and Arachnid Files romantic suspense series, and the historical fantasy trilogy The Boar King’s Honor. With author Jeanne Adams, she co-writes the Outcast Station space opera series.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway

The authors will be awarding one copy each of Kick Start by Caren Crane, Dead Run by Jeanne Adams, and Danger’s Edge by Nancy Northcott to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow the authors on the rest of their Goddess Fish tour here.

Book Blast: Stormed by Paula Quinene

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Paula Quinene. Today, Paula shares her new release, Stormed.

Blurb

A medical doctor educated in the United States, passionate and fierce Liz Taimanglo must now fulfill her promise and return to her island home. Liz makes the long flight across the US and the North Pacific Ocean to Guam, uncertain of what her future holds. Heading into the epicenter of her family and prime typhoon season for the Mariana Islands chain, the disquiet of her heart threatens to do more damage than any typhoon might inflict on Guam. Little does Liz know, the man featured in the newspaper would indeed unleash delicious torment rivaling even a Category 5 super typhoon.

Manny Artero is adamant about fighting for his island, his culture, and the rights of Guam’s Chamorro people, after having been fired from his teaching job. That is, until Liz walks up to him with her machete-wielding eyes and her undying respect for the American military. Manny had vowed never to risk his heart again and to become a more vocal activist, but this woman threatens to challenge all his intentions about love and life on Guam. Brushing off the safer choice, he plots a series of surprises to change her mind.

For Liz, becoming a doctor of medicine was supposed to be the right path, but her universe imploded when her training failed to save the life of the most important person in her world. Though a former US Marine, Manny could no longer accept the loss of land, rights, and freedom that Chamorros continue to suffer in their own homeland. Helpless against the strengthening attraction between them, Liz and Manny must face not only their opposing political views, but the storms stirring in their hearts and the very land upon which they stand.

Excerpt

Liz stood still, blindfolded. Rearranging furniture? We haven’t gone in the house yet. Water tumbled against rock perhaps, not too far from her. The striking of a match. A whiff of smoke brushed by her nose. Soft music filled the air, but Liz couldn’t make out the words because she was on edge. His surprise must be out here.

“Almost done.”

She bit her lip and swayed side to side. I might regurgitate my lunch if he doesn’t hurry up. The sun had already set so whatever he was planning, he needed to be quick. “You have about killed me with all this secrecy.” After another minute, Liz felt Manny standing behind her.

“I hope you’ll think it was worth it. Ready?”

“Very.” Liz bit her bottom lip.

“Ai, nangga hit. Wait sa’ I need to close the light.”

Oh my God I’m going to burst. It took a moment for Manny to return to her side. Liz shivered even though it wasn’t cold. It was warmer where she stood. Wood crackled. A stronger scent of burning tångantångan wood filled the air. If she bit her bottom lip any harder her teeth would puncture the gum.

The blindfold fell away. She opened her eyes and her jaw hung open; not a word came out. Liz looked at Manny then back at the firepit in front of her, a low orange flame dancing. The sound of cascading water caught her attention again. A small statue of Sirena, Guam’s mermaid, sat atop a rock. It was set off to the far-right corner with water flowing around her in a waterscape. Liz looked up. Only dusk hung over them.

buynow

Author Bio and Links

Born and raised on Guam, Paula Quinene continues to take pride in her Chamorro heritage. The Chamorros are the native people of Guam and the Mariana Islands. Paula, like many of her fellow islanders, left home to pursue a higher education. A resident of North Carolina since 2000, Paula’s homesickness has resulted in her Guam cookbooks, A Taste of Guam and Remember Guam, and her Guam romance novels, Conquered and Stormed.

Follow Paula’s Guam food and romance novel antics here: Website | Facebook | YouTube

Giveaway

Paula Quinene will award a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Paula on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Blurb Blitz: 7 Steps to Clarity

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome executive coach and author Nicole Stephen. Today, Nicole shares her new release, 7 Steps to Clarity.

Blurb

The sheer amount of decisions in life can become an overwhelming burden. Sometimes we just want to know the answers to our questions. We want to know we are making the right choices. It can be hard to see the right path with the noise of the world. There are voices and media all around us, influencing everything we do. In all that noise, where is the true voice, the one that knows? You can call it God or Source or the Universe or your Higher Self, but it is contained within you. Accessing it and giving it room and silence to speak to you is the real key to achieving your best life.

In seven steps, Nicole Stephen shows the way to a happier, more peaceful daily life. To reclaim yourself, you need to shut out the “shoulds,” but in order to do that, you need to notice them. Exploring the questions and challenges that Nicole includes in this book will open your eyes to the pressures that you may have been submitting to unknowingly. In clearing up the way you see the world, you can clear a path to knowing yourself, and with that true voice guiding you, you will always find the way.

Excerpt

Do you ever wonder what your life is all about? Why you are here? You are not alone. As a coach and teacher for many years, there is a common thread that runs through students, young professionals, and even CEOs at the height of their careers: “So what? Now what?” And there is confusion, lots of confusion. “Do I stay in my current job? How can I get a better job? Do I start a family? Do I stay with my current spouse? Why haven’t I found love yet? Why didn’t I stay in the band? I would have had such a different life. Maybe I should be doing something more important, something worthy to impact the world in a positive and meaningful way?” What if I told you that there is a guru—a genie perhaps—that can answer all your questions? This person can make themselves available to you day or night, can answer any question, and can give you clear insights on any situation or decision, no matter how small or difficult. And this guru is free of charge and full of love and support for you. Too good to be true? Well, it is true and the person who has all the answers to unlock your potential with ease and fun is, yes, you may have guessed it, YOU!

Buy Links

Paperback | Kindle

Author Bio and Links

Nicole Stephen is the founder and principal consultant for Miramar Group. During her 20-year career as an executive coach and organizational development consultant she has worked to help individuals, teams, and organizations accelerate growth and realize their potential. She holds a Masters’ and PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Virginia Polytechnic and State University. Nicole lives on the coast in the San Francisco Bay area with her husband, two children, and dog Henry.

Website | Goodreads

Giveaway

Nicole Stephen is offering a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card in a Rafflecopter giveaway. Find out more here.

Follow Nicole on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.