On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
Here’s one of my favorite quotations from Elizabeth Kubler-Ross:
I’m happy to welcome author Maria Alcantara. Today, Maria shares her latest release, Millennial Money Queens
Blurb
The ultimate personal finance guide for millennial ladies, finally live your dream life, banish debt, make more money and create true wealth.
Millennial Money Queens brings millennial women the crucial financial education and life-changing mindset training needed to succeed. Maria shares her decade-long experience along with top financial and psychology insights to empower you to live your dream life. Master your money mindset, start your dream business and invest like a pro.
In this book, Maria starts by giving your money mindset a makeover! We all operate according to belief blueprints we’ve inherited and developed, what she calls the money in our mind. Travel through time and learn how the blueprints for wealth and poverty were created and how they trickled through millennia all the way to our present society. During her career, Maria quickly noticed how some people could have astronomical sums of money and still feel poor, while others could create wealth time and time again while feeling like they were living their dream lives, sharing their fortunes, growing their riches and supporting the causes that mattered to them. They are vibrant, accomplished, healthy and wealthy individuals in every way. The first step to master money is to adopt their blueprint, which Maria has broken down into easy and clear steps, the cornerstones you need to finally have a solid foundation for financial freedom for the rest of your life.
Once your unshakable financial blueprint is in place, it’s time to get to work with the money in our world. The first step is to stop for most millennial women is to stop spending their well-earned money on debt, whether it is student loans or credit cards, the majority of millennial women spend extravagantly on interest payments. Maria shares the best proven strategy for millennial ladies to stop this money leak. Once your debt is in control, learn where else in your life there may be money leaks and how you can make the most of the current expenses, we all have so you can live your desired lifestyle, this is the new way to budget. Whether it is in housing and moving to your dream home, transportation and driving your dream car or personal spending and funding your shopping sprees or trips to exotic destinations, learn about smart and conscious spending to truly live like a money queen. Spending is only a part of the money equation, to increase our wealth, we need to increase our income. We all have something unique to share with the world, Maria shares her secret process to help you find out what your superpower is that will allow you to build your million-dollar dream business. It’s time for millennial women to step into their power, to lead in entrepreneurship and create amazing organizations that will contribute to making our world a better place. With the access to technology and the education many of us have and can continue to gain, the sky’s the limit to what we can create! The final step is learning the money magic that will allow your wealth to grow exponentially. Investing has so far been kept out of reach for many millennial women who believed they weren’t ready to begin investing, who couldn’t afford the professional fees and who continuously postponed creating their portfolios, this ends now. Learn the best strategies to invest like a pro without the exorbitant fees and or the professional knowledge needed to succeed in the markets.
The truth is that many of us are actively keeping wealth away from us with limiting beliefs about ourselves and money and we are lacking the financial education and tools we need to create our wealth. This will no longer be your reality, once you read this book, you will be fully equipped with knowledge, secrets, tips and strategies you need to finally master money and live your dream life. With captivating stories of real millennial women, so you can learn from their journey and timeless wisdom from humanity’s greatest minds, you are in for a life-changing transformation. Maria believes that the true power in knowledge is in its application, so to help you embody the concepts and make the most of all the opportunities the knowledge in this book will give you, every chapter includes a money queen move to help you put into action all the invaluable information that is being shared. It’s your time to shine and become a millennial money queen.
Excerpt
Social media has the magic of being able to connect people worldwide, but it also has created a very insidious culture of idolizing money. Especially for a generation who is so far going down in modern history as one of the worst with money, especially us ladies. This book’s mission is to change that and instead to empower our generation with the financial literacy it so urgently needs.
Financial wellness today has a lot less to do with where you were born or how smart you are and a lot more with what education you receive and how you behave with money. So far, the financial education you’ve received is slim to none, and so, your money life is in shambles. That changes now.
Any of these RKOI kids can blow their money just as any millennial woman who is given proper financial skills can understand money, make it work for them and become a zillionaire, self-made, amigas. Get ready for your money makeover.
If you want to become a millionaire but think it can’t happen for you unless you win the lottery or marry rich, think again. Making money, getting out of debt and growing a fortune is based on a few simple principles you are about to learn.
Applying these principles leads to stories like the secretaries Grace Groner and Sylvia Bloom who died with massive multi-million-dollar estates. Ignoring them leads to stories of boom and bust like Kim Basinger, who, despite living with crippling anxiety, won multiple academy awards and still had to file for bankruptcy.
Author Bio and Links
Maria Alcantara is the founder of Millennial Money Queens, a leading financial empowerment movement for millennial women worldwide.
She is a chartered investment manager and money coach with over ten years of financial insights experience working with high-net-worth individuals to manage and grow their wealth. After a decade devoted to mastering money, she realized the gap existing between young women and financial education.
Deeply touched by the current state of millennial women’s finances, where many have fallen into debt, are unable to create inspiring opportunities for themselves and their communities, and are suffering financially, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, Maria created Millennial Money Queens to create a much-needed shift. After working with millennial clients and friends, she expanded her method to impact a whole generation, our younger sisters and our descendants. She specializes in using behavioral economics and finance to help women achieve financial literacy, freedom and independence. The results are life-changing, with the right financial and psychological preparation, young women are finally able to create purpose, independence and the confidence to live fulfilled lives.
Born and raised in Brazil, Maria witnessed the polarity of money. She vowed at a young age to make a difference in the world. During her childhood, her family moved to Canada where she studied economics, psychology and finance. She started out with big dreams like saving the rainforests of the world and creating animal-assisted therapy programs. The defining moment happened when she was not able to get funding to make those projects come to life. Feeling discouraged and powerless was a huge catalyst. Sometimes in our lives, our temporary defeats hold our most precious gems, Maria decided to master money so that she could personally fund all the projects that were important to her and reflected her values of sustainability, health, welfare and abundance for all.
Thus, she embarked on a journey to understand the financial world. She worked in banking, brokerages and wealth management, carefully observing how people handled money differently and the effect it had on their overall life satisfaction. While money can’t buy happiness, the lack of can certainly create chaos in one’s life. She found this to be true most clearly with millennial women. With promising futures and careers ahead, the women she spoke with, read about and worked with all shared tremendous baggage of feeling insecure when it came to money. While many millennial women are incredibly well educated, many are uncomfortable discussing money, including negotiating their hard-earned salary and requesting equal pay. Maria dove deeply into the history of women and money and found that outdated societal beliefs widely held by both men and women still influence our behavior today. In order to create lasting change, millennial women need to be the rising tide. It is our time to rise to our potential and pave the way for the younger generations. Financial literacy including both the psychological and external world perspectives of money are key to empowering women worldwide. That is Maria’s mission in creating the Millennial Money Queen movement.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Book Link
***Millennial Money Queens is on sale for $0.99***
Giveaway
Maria Alcantara will be awarding a $15 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.
Follow Maria on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A longtime fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to receiving their daily emails. Here’s some excellent advice for these challenging times:
Far too often we think that mental strength is all about how we respond to extreme circumstances. How did she perform on stage during that televised event? Did he bounce back from that heart-wrenching divorce? Can she keep her life together even after suffering from a major, debilitating injury?
There’s no doubt that extreme circumstances test our bravery, determination and mental strength, but what about common, daily circumstances?
Just like every muscle in the body, the mind needs to be exercised to gain strength. It needs to be worked consistently to grow and develop over time. If you haven’t pushed yourself in hundreds of little ways over time, of course you’ll crumble on the one day that things get really challenging.
But it doesn’t have to be that way…
Choose to lift some weights when it would be more comfortable to sleep in. Choose to do the tenth rep when it would be more comfortable to quit at nine. Choose to create something special when it would be more comfortable to consume something mediocre. Choose to raise your hand and ask that extra question when it would be more comfortable to stay silent. Prove to yourself, in hundreds of little ways, that you have the guts to get in the ring and wrestle with life.
Mental strength is built through lots of small, daily victories. It’s the individual choices we make day-to-day that build our “mental strength” muscles. We all want this kind of strength, but we can’t think our way to it. If you want it, you have to do something about it ritualistically. It’s your positive daily rituals that prove your mental fortitude and move you in the direction of your dreams over the long-term.
The bottom line is that when things get difficult for most people, they find something more comfortable to do. When things get difficult for mentally strong people, they find a way to stay on track with their positive daily rituals.
Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website.
I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Pamela Thibodeaux. Today, Pamela shares her inspiring reinvention story and her novel, My Heart Weeps.
Here’s Pamela!
Thank you, so much Joanne for hosting me on your incredible blog! I absolutely love the idea of reinvention. So many times in our lives we have to start over or ask for and take a second (or third, or fourth) chance for a do-over. Reminds me of those movies of people trading places so popular in the 80’s.
I guess you could say my first act, after being born into a great family with three brothers was marrying at the tender age of sixteen (yes, 16!). That union lasted ten years and sadly ended in divorce which brought about my first need for change. Five years later I married a wonderful man who died a short seventeen years afterward, throwing me into my 2nd second act and time of reinvention.
For most of my adult life I was someone’s wife or mother. After my husband’s death in 2009, I began the long and arduous journey from wife to widow to individual.
When I separated from my first husband (with no self esteem intact), I adopted the motto, “What you see is what you get. You like it? Good! You don’t? Hit the road, it’s your loss.” This was out of self preservation, not a sense of self worth or self love. With my second husband, I always felt beautiful and worthy in his eyes, but never in my own.
Years after being thrust into the dating scene—something I never felt comfortable with anyway—I learned the true meaning of self worth and self love. Now, when I say that motto, I know what I bring into a relationship, therefore I mean it on a deeper level.
Today I am happy with myself, my life and my relationships!
If anyone planning to pursue a second act would ask my advice, the first thing I would tell them is to work on their inner self and internal dialogue. After all, you’re going to take you into every aspect of your life so you might as well love and appreciate yourself! I built myself up layer by layer by writing and repeating positive ‘I Am’ affirmations….
I am love and I am loving. I am forgiven and I am forgiveness. I am healthy, whole and complete. I am beautiful. I am peaceful. I am joyful. I am happy and others are happy with me. I am (YOU fill in the blanks).
Read books like, You Can Heal Your Life and Mirror Work by Louise Hay, The Power of I Am by Joel Osteen and other similar titles. Positive affirmations are one of the kindest and most rewarding things you can do for yourself in any situation, but especially when you are in need of, or in the midst of change.
My Heart Weeps is Melena Rhyker’s second act—her journey from grief into new life and parallels my own.
Blurb
After thirty years married to the man of her dreams, Melena Rhyker is devastated by her husband’s death. Relief comes in the form of an artist’s retreat at the Crossed Penn ranch in Utopia, TX. She rediscovers a forgotten dream as her artistic talent flourishes into that of a gallery-worthy artist. Will she have the courage to follow the path she was destined to travel?
Garrett Saunders has been on the run most of his life. Abused and abandoned as a child, he escapes the clutches of a past filled with pain and shame, and hides from his calling as a Native American healer. His years as a CIA agent aid in overcoming his childhood and honing his talent and skill as a fine art photographer.
Follow their journey as two people who come from totally different backgrounds, but share gifts of gigantic proportions, find meaning and purpose in the Texas Hill Country.
Excerpt
At 6 p.m., she pulled into the carport, turned off the engine and laid her head on the steering wheel.
“Well, I’m home again. Made it through another agonizing eight hours or so, now to get through another night.”
Gathering every ounce of courage she could summon, she disembarked from her vehicle, retrieved the mail from the box beside the door, and entered the house. She thumbed through the envelopes and advertisements, then laid them on the table and poured a glass of juice. She reached for the bottle of over-the-counter pain reliever and froze.
It would be so easy to end this pain.
Oh, what an enticing thought. Just take a handful of pills and end it all. Would she wake up in heaven? Would Jesus meet her there? Would Jonathan? What about the kids or Mama—would they understand? Or would she destroy them? Where was the faith she claimed to have? Why was it failing her now?
Buy Links
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU
Author Bio
Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with an Edge!”™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.” Sign up to receive Pam’s newsletter and get a FREE short story!
Where to find Pamela…
Website | Blog | Newsletter | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Amazon Author Page | BookBub | Instagram
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
In a recent interview on Spirituality & Health magazine, therapist Nedra Glover Tawwab shared what she considers the four most important words in our increasingly chaotic world: Set Boundaries, Find Peace. Those words are also the title of her recent release.
Here’s a thought-provoking excerpt from that interview:
It is a spiritual practice to tune into yourself and consider the why of your feelings. What’s trying to come up that I may be trying to push down? What’s trying to be released that I need to let go of? Often, when we’re having uncomfortable feelings, there is a boundary that needs to be addressed.
Of course, we can’t live a life without uncomfortable feelings. But what are they trying to tell us? What things do we need to practice to deal with that feeling better, or even reconfigure the trigger for those feelings?
The real breakthrough is not, “Oh my gosh, I have an issue with anger.” The real breakthrough is realizing that when I put myself in situations where there are no boundaries, I have an issue with anger.
Source: Spirituality & Health, February 2021, p. 49
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
A longtime fan of acclaimed psychologist Dr. Sonya Friedman, I like to reread many of the insightful passages from her best-selling books. Here’s one of my favorites from Take It From Here
In nature, chameleons adapt to the environment by changing color, blending in, and thus fooling predators. Nothing could be more descriptive of getting real and rolling with the punches. Although we’re a much higher form of life than a chameleon, capable of thinking and having a conscience, we can essentially do the same on another level: adapt to better fit into a personal environment of family, relationships, and work. You may have had twenty jobs in your life, or three failed marriages, and your bombs may be greater than your successes, but if you stretch your ability to adapt to what is real, you can gain the courage to keep going out there and, ultimately, achieve greater success.
Welcome to my Second Acts Series!
Today, we have Candace Colt sharing her multi-act life and Familiar Blessings, Book 1 in the Magic Potter Series.
Here’s Candace!
I’m honored to be a part of Joanne’s Second Act Series. Reading the other Second Act posts has been so inspiring, and I am sure you feel the same way. May I add that when you read another person’s story, and it doesn’t sound exactly like yours, perhaps you will find encouragement that change can be good no matter what the circumstances. Maybe you’ve already made a change (planned or unplanned). Another person’s story might give you the reassurance that you will be “okay.” The most important thing is this: have trust and faith in yourself!
First Act
“In my day,” a woman’s career options were a bit limited. That’s an understatement. Honestly, there few choices. Wife and mother (in tandem), nurse, airline stewardess, secretary, teacher. All worthy paths, yes. But even with a professional degree, many women quit the job after they got married. In my case, I got married, but I did not stop working. In fact, except for a few in-between-job periods, I worked full time until I retired in 2014.
I followed the teacher track and taught K-6 for several years. But then my husband’s job took us to a university town where teaching jobs were non-existent. Why? Because all the male grad students’ wives were teachers supporting their husbands. Does this sound familiar?
So, what’s a girl to do? Reinvention!
By some miracle, I was accepted into a Nuclear Medicine Technology program, with not much clue what that was! After graduation, I was hired, and naturally, I was the queen of the world! Then, a teaching job opened up in the field (college educator) that took me on a glorious seventeen-year journey. But then program funding disappeared, and there went that dream job! Another career change led me into entry-level college administration. Then to a college library director position (hello, I’m not a librarian!), where I had ten great years working with the best people in the world.
Fast Forward to the Second Act!
Retirement provided me the wherewithal to follow my heart to become a writer. Trust me, writing and promotion is full-time work, but I love it. Since I’ve retired, I’ve had nine books published in contemporary paranormal romance. By the way, each one has a wise older woman in the story. Imagine that?
I am nothing if not persistent. I don’t possess great intellectual genius. My changes were out of necessity rather than a master plan. If you ask me for advice, I will keep it simple. Paraphrasing my yoga teacher, no matter who you are or where you are in life,”Just keep showing up and shining out!”
Blurb
Familiar Blessings: The Magic Potter Series Book 1 (Cat’s Paw Cove Romance)
The magic begins when you trust your heart.
Tired of being hounded by the greedy dead, gifted medium Dr. Theodosia Blessing, the wonder-child of historians around the world, yearned for anonymity. After renouncing her magic, she reinvented herself as Theo, the potter. She returned to her hometown of Cat’s Paw Cove, Florida, where she lives with her familiar, a mind-reading tortoiseshell cat named Aloysius.
Former Army Ranger Ethan Cooper was content to live a reclusive life in his cabin in North Carolina. But as Christmas draws near, he agrees to repay a debt to an old man whose wise counsel brought him out of war’s dark shadow. Ethan accepts one last mission: to track down Theo.
Ethan appears unannounced on Theo’s doorstep with an envelope containing the old man’s letter. If what it says is true, the reluctant medium, skeptical Ranger, and wiseacre cat must travel back to 1720 to save a young boy from the gallows.
FAMILIAR BLESSINGS originally appeared in MEOWS & MISTLETOE, a Cat’s Paw Cove Romance Holiday Anthology. It won the 2019 Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewers’ Choice Award.
Excerpt
Curious but cautious, Theo hesitated, then carefully opened the parchment envelope and removed the folded paper.
She waved the letter at the stranger. “You drove all the way from North Carolina to give me this?”
“I suggested he could mail it certified, but he said it was too important. The old man’s my loyal friend, so I couldn’t refuse.”
Who was behind this? A stranger shows up with a letter an old man gave him. Sure.
Have I ever lied to you? Read it.
Theo glanced down at her cat, Aloysius. “Hush.” She noticed the man’s confusion. “Didn’t mean you.” He was obviously an Ordinary and hadn’t heard a word the cat said.
Theo cleared an imagined tickle in her throat and unfolded the paper. The ink had smudged in a few places, but the handwriting was legible. Her archivist expertise told her this was written in old English. F was used for S. The sentences were sprinkled with thee and thou.
In her former university position, she had analyzed documents like this before. Why would someone want this one hand-carried all the way to Florida when there were competent researchers in North Carolina?
Aloysius gave her ankle a ‘get-on-with-it’ shove. Read it out loud so the human can hear.
“All right, already.” She took a breath and began reading.
Dearest Theodosia,
I suspect thou hast many concerns about the manner in which this letter came to thee.
Please read it to the end. Trust ’tis written with the intentions of someone who loved and has watched over thee since thee was born.
Theodosia Blessing, thou comest from an old family. Thy God-given gift must continue–.
Theo’s throat tightened, and words bunched inside. Besides her family, only one living being on this earth knew her reason to abandon the magic: the ten-pound cat sitting at her feet.
Buy/Read
Candace’s Cat’s Paw Cove Romance Books are available on Amazon.
Candace’s Nocturne Falls Universe Books are available here:
About the Author
Candace Colt lives the good life on Florida’s west coast with her husband of 48 years. After careers in education and the medical field, she launched her second life as a writer. Since she retired, she’s published nine paranormal romance books. She chose paranormal because it’s fun to write and because even shape-shifters, elves, psychics and time travelers deserve their happily ever after.
Links
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon Author Page | Bookbub | Goodreads
On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.
While cleaning out my files, I came across the following post from Elizabeth Gilbert, best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love and City of Girls.
I know there are a lot of arguments AGAINST running away. I know that running away from your problems can be a coward’s path. I know there are some issues in life that you can’t avoid forever. I know that in the recovery world, they call running away “pulling a geographic”–and addicts are wisely advised against trying it. I now that wherever you go, there you are. I know that there are times in life when you have to stay right where you are, and deal with things bravely and head-on.
And I am certainly familiar with the old adage: “You can’t change deck chairs on the Titanic.”
But you know what I always think when I hear that adage? THERE WERE SOME PEOPLE ON THE TITANIC WHO SURVIVED. And largely, the people who survived did so based upon where they were placed, geographically, on that ship. (Which had a lot to do with social class and injustice, I know–but for the sake of my argument, just go along with me on this…) In other words, there actually WERE some deck chairs on the Titanic that were better placed than others.
Which means: Sometimes there IS a better place for you to be, geographically, than where you are right now.
Sometimes there IS a safer place.
Sometimes there IS a more inspiring place.
Sometimes going two or three thousand miles away and changing your name really CAN change things–helping you to get away from bad old habits and bad old influences, and letting you become somebody new.
Sometimes running away CAN offer you a better chance of surviving your own life–getting you out of third-class steerage, let us say, and moving you closer to the front of the ship, to the top of the ship, where the light and the lifeboats are.
I truly believe this.
Sometimes running away really, really, really does work.
Welcome to my Second Acts Series!
Today, we have multi-genre author D.V. Stone sharing an inspirational post about her life journey.
Here’s Donna!
Briefly describe your first act.
Daughter, wife, mom, employee, volunteer EMT, we all have a variation of the first act, don’t we? We’re young and have hopes and dreams of who we want to be and where we want to be. The idea that love lasts forever. Children will be exactly who we want them to be. Our job is something we leap out of bed in the morning to get to. Our life will make a difference.
Then the reality hits. We learn love doesn’t last for everyone. Illness strikes. Your child decides to leave and go live with his father. A second job is needed to make ends meet. Anyone living the fantasy in paradise? Of course, to various degrees, not. Different times and challenges often suck the joy and hope out of us.
What triggered the need for change?
Everyone’s triggers are different and can happen in a series of unfortunate events. (Did you just think of Lemony Snicket?) My triggers were a series. Divorce in my early thirties. Re-marriage (this time a keeper). The child mentioned above moved out and broke my heart. A second job is needed to make ends meet. Then business failures. Don’t stop here and think it’s all bad all the time. This is real life, remember? Not the impossible images of the perfect family on TV and in commercials. But it’s the nitty-gritty life that is often messy. Then came not the most significant trigger, but the one that brought me to today. Today where I’m sitting and typing this. I worked at a job for nine years. It was the one I most enjoyed. One where I felt I made a difference most days. One of those days, I showed up for work, then was shown the door. It was a time when the economy tanking had hit hard, and my position was eliminated. Unemployed for the first time in almost thirty years. After a few weeks of feeling sorry for myself, the thought came, “You finally have time. What do you want to be when you grow up?” I grabbed my computer.
Where are you now?
So here I am today. I have five published books—both independent and traditionally published. I run two different author blogs. I’m back at work but not for long. The Third Act retirement is beckoning, and when you read this, it’s only a month away. My DH and I bought a camper, and we’re planning on seeing the country. I have so many books and pieces of books I’m itching to get to. So this show is going on the road.
Do you have advice for anyone planning to pursue a second act?
Fear nearly brought my publishing dreams to a halt. What if nobody likes my writing? What if I make a fool out of myself? What if I’m just bad at it? My advice is more of a question. Who are you going to listen to? The voice that says you can’t? Or are you going to take a leap of faith to grab that dream and shake the stuffing out of it? Tear it up and put it back together in a way that works for you—today. Don’t let old dreams pass by unfulfilled. Take them out of the box you’ve shoved them into. Look at them. Really look. They may be unrealistic. But maybe we can make it a more reasonable achievement. You may never be the princess of your youthful dreams. But you can write about one. Perhaps even in the first person. Have you always dreamed of being a singer? Same thing. Even if you can’t sing worth a dime, you’ll always have music. What were your dreams, and how can they be brought forward to today?
Any affirmations or quotations you wish to share?
I love this quote.
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” — Maya Angelou
Blurb
Aden House, successful but driven chef and TV personality, refuses to slow down. His life implodes one night, damaging him both physically and emotionally. He’s rescued by a woman he thinks of as his angel.
Shay McDowell has rebuilt her life after her divorce. She juggles volunteer EMT duties and her job, while dreaming of becoming a chef. She finds her way to Rock House Grill and back into the life of the man she helped save.
Can love be the ingredient needed to survive the many obstacles they face?
Excerpt
“Easy, you’re going to be okay.” A soft voice eased through the chaos around him. The owner of the voice grabbed his arms and held them in a firm but gentle grip. “I’m right here with you. You are not alone.” “Can hardly m-move.” His voice slurred. “C-can’t see anything.” “You’ve been in an accident. I’m an EMT with the ambulance squad,” the velvety voice calmly explained. “You can’t see well because we’re under a tarp. Hold still, okay?” “‘K.” A small light flickered at the edge of his vision. It shone into a bag next to him. Penlight. “You’re restrained to a board. It’s to keep your head from moving and causing more injury.” She continued to talk to him. The voice reached down somewhere inside him, calming and peaceful, so he focused on it. A glow from spotlights on the outside lit whatever covered them. The shadow gave the woman the appearance of a halo—like an angel.
Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBook | Google Books | Kobo
Author Bio
Hi, my name is D. V. Stone. I am a multi-genre author of two independently published books. Felice, Shield-Mates of Dar is a fantasy romance. Agent Sam Carter and the Mystery at Branch Lake is a mid-grade paranormal. Recently, Rock House Grill was released by Wild Rose Press. Rainbow Sprinkles, a novella released on July 8th. I also host Welcome to the Campfire and A Peek Through the Window, both weekly blogs. Here’s a little more about me.
Born in Brooklyn, D.V. Stone has moved around a bit and even lived for a time on a dairy farm in Minnesota before moving back east. Throughout her wandering, she always considered herself a Jersey Girl. She met and married the love of her life, Pete—a lifelong Jersey Man, and moved this time to Sussex County. They live with Hali, a mixed breed from the local shelter, and their cat Baby.
D.V.’s career path varied from working with the disabled to become a volunteer EMT, which in turn led to working in hospital emergency rooms and then in a women’s state prison. After a few years, she took a break from medicine and became the owner of Heavenly Brew, a specialty coffee shop in Sparta, NJ, and a small restaurant in Lafayette. Life handed some setbacks, and she ended up back in the medical field, but this time in a veterinary emergency hospital.
“Thank you for taking the time to read about me. Each time you open the pages to one of my books, I hope you’ll be swept away by the story and find encouragement in your own life, never to give up on hope.”
Where to find D.V. Stone…
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Bookbub | Goodreads | Newsletter | Amazon Author Page
Other Books by D. V. Stone
Rainbow Sprinkles
After the storm come the rainbows.
Felice, Shield-Mates of Dar
One foolish thought. One brutal act. Instead of a peaceful alliance––war.
Agent Sam Carter and the Mystery at Branch Lake
A Mid-grade paranormal
Australia Burns
Anthology – Contributing Author
