Living the Dream

April 15, 2025. Halfway through the month and the challenge. Rain’s back with the potential for snow. Old man winter might’ve been down for the count, but he wasn’t out. Oh well, I haven’t got anywhere to go anyway.

I’m slowly getting things organized. I’ve got meals ready in the freezer for my early recovery days. My husband is a great guy, but while he can make a simple cold cut sandwich, and K D, better known in the US as Kraft Macaroni and Cheese dinner (no real cheese needed) he can’t cook. So, there will be a lot of take out, delivery, and frozen meals until I’m able to resume kitchen duties.

Today’s letter is M. Last week when I mentioned my Cocktails for You series, one on my readers noted that they sounded interesting but that she didn’t drink alcohol. I’m not a heavy drinker, basically just a social one, although I do enjoy a glass of wine watching television, but in preparation for my surgery, I stopped drinking any form of alcohol a month ago. For The Last Supper, I had a Virgin Caesar, same as a regular Caesar, minus the vodka. The term given to non-alcoholic versions of cocktails is mocktails. So, this morning, M is for Mocktail.

I went online and found a few mocktails just for you. Here’s the link if you would like to find more of them than the three I’m offering you. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/g42297893/best-mocktail-recipes/

The most common mocktail is The Shirley Temple named after a child actress.

This O.G. mocktail, dating back to the 1930s, was reportedly created for the famous child actress. One story goes that Shirley and her parents were at the Brown Derby (or Chasen’s, by some accounts) in Hollywood. Her parents were nursing cocktails, and little Shirley complained that she wanted a drink like the “grown-ups,” so the bartender created a nonalcoholic version on the spot.

Throughout the rest of Shirley Temple’s life, waiters and fans would delight in giving her the drink. Turns out, at least as an adult, she thought it was too sweet. Our not-as-sweet version of the Shirley Temple drink uses homemade pomegranate syrup and seltzer. We think adult Shirley would have approved, but to give it more kid-appeal, you can use a little more syrup

Here’s one that would work for Halloween! It’s called Black Charcoal Lemonade!

Activated charcoal powder into fresh-squeezed lemon juice makes this an extra-spooky sweet-and-sour drink. The ingredients include:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. activated black charcoal
• 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice
• 4 cups cold water

Directions:

• Step 1In small saucepan, combine sugar and 3/4 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer (do not stir) until sugar dissolves, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in charcoal, and let cool completely.
  1. Step 2 In large pitcher, combine lemon juice, cooled sugar syrup, and 4 cups cold water. Serve over ice.

Here’s one for the holidays: The Cranberry Basil Spritzer. This one is made to share.

Ingredients

For Basil Syrup:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

For Spritzer:

• 2 cups unsweetened cranberry juice
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 L chilled club soda
• 4 slices lime
• 1 cup fresh cranberries
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, plus more for garnish

Directions

• 1. Step 1Make Basil Syrup: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring water and sugar to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add basil leaves, remove pan from heat, and let steep for 20 minutes.Strain syrup and let cool for at least 1 hour. 
  2. Step 2Make Spritzer: In a large pitcher, combine syrup, unsweetened cranberry juice, and fresh lime juice. Fill pitcher with chilled club soda, then add lime slices, fresh cranberries, and basil leaves. To serve, pour spritzers over ice, top each with a splash more club soda, and garnish with basil.

So there you have it. Three non-alcholic drinks. In actual fact, you can order just about any cocktail on the menu. Just ask them to make it a virgin.

And of course, after that there’s only one suitable song.

Come back tomorrow for the letter N. Here’s the MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/tauke86z

April 14, 2025. Spring may have booted Old Man Winter out of the way and sent him back to wherever he resides for the warmer months. I’m not saying he’s ready to listen, but it’s sunny today, and the temperature has climbed back to double digits–just 12C, but I’ll take it. That’s warm enough for me to put on a light jacket, sit in a sheltered area, and enjoy the sun on my face. I’m having the front entrance of my house redone next month, building a veranda there, so that I can sit in the sun and engage in a little people watching, letting my mind wander. Some of those passing by are neighbors I know. While many walk dogs, others just walk, some leisurely, others as if the hounds of hell are chasing them.

Today’s letter is L. Many times I’ve used this letter to blog about love, and while that is definitely a valid topic, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of blogs about it today.

I’ve decided to blog about lies. We all lie. It’s a fact of life. Sometimes, we lie because we know the truth will hurt someone. We call those white lies. Sometimes, we lie by not revealing the truth about something. We call those lies of omission. As a parent, we lie to our children to protect them.

I could add a few more to that list, such as the tooth fairy pays more for clean teeth. Then there’s Santa Claus bringing coal to naughty children, and of course, the Easter Bunny brings eggs to those who behave–how old were they when they realized that bunnies didn’t lay eggs, especially chocolate ones?

Of course, there were others that involved a squirt of magic potion, water, to scare away the monsters in the closet and under the bed, but whatever story I invented to respond to something that could harm them, was made out of love.

But there are other lies out there, the kind that while meant well, often end up hurting those we love. Everything is going to be alright is probably the worst one. Most of us can’t predict the future. We can’t see that they’ll land the job of their dreams. We don’t know that there won’t be a broken heart in their future, an abusive relationship, an illness, a death, or something else that will NOT make everything alright for them or for us, since we’ll suffer right along side of them.

I think the worst kind of lies are the ones we tell ourselves, the ones where we chose to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the truth in front of us. Our world is sick. Our air is polluted, and parts of our planet are suffering because of it. People are dying because of lies, ideologies that are aimed at destroying others for the sake of wealth and/or religion. When will the lies stop?

On that gloomy note, I bring you today’s song, something a little more upbeat.

That’s it. Tomorrow I’ll explore the letter M. Here’s the MASTER LIST  https://tinyurl.com/tauke86z

April 12, 2025. Today is the day! The Unforgettable Revenge Box set is FREE! Seven full-length bestsellers from amazing authors. I still can’t believe that they let me publish my work with them.

Mimi Barbour – Special Agent Hunter
A ruthless killer resurfaces, taunting Special Agent Hunter for a final deadly showdown. Can he outmaneuver the twisted game before time runs out?

Angela Stevens – The Devil’s Own: Bowker Street
A priest. A devilishly seductive woman. A confession that changes everything. Not all sins can be forgiven… or resisted.

Taylor Lee – Topaz: Ladies of the Night
A dark past ties Topaz to a high-ranking cartel leader. Now, she must face the demons she buried—before they bury her.

Susanne Matthews – Fire Angel
When a serial killer strikes again, the past and present collide in a terrifying hunt for justice. She won’t stop until the flames of vengeance are extinguished.

Callie Bardot – Looks Like Trouble to Me
He’s running from trouble. She is trouble. Sparks fly when their worlds collide in a fiery clash of desire and danger.

Jennifer St. Giles – Kaylee’s Justice
She sees the truth… and it could cost her everything. A dangerous enemy will stop at nothing to silence her forever.

Susan Jean Ricci – Turning Up the Heat
Wedding bells are ringing—until a scheming adversary threatens to destroy everything. Will love conquer all, or will old enemies win?

Grab your copy now! https://mybook.to/uRevenge

Today’s letter is K, and I’m going to talk about killers. Almost every romance suspense novel revolves around killers–they’ve killed or they’re about to kill. Some of them are more devious than others as if the case of my Fire Angel, one of the books you can get free today only.

Book Description:

Everything happens for a reason.
Criminal profiler Jake McKenzie returned from Afghanistan minus a leg, determined never to let anyone get close enough to hurt him again. When his old friend asks him to help with a serial arsonist case, he jumps at the chance to prove his worth, but as the bodies pile up, he realizes he needs help. He convinces the chief to bring in a fire investigator, stunned to discover that the woman is none other than the girl who vanished from his life twenty years ago.

Alexis Michaels fled Paradise and an abusive uncle only to almost die in a fire that left her scarred not only on the outside, but on the inside, leaving her with psychic abilities. With that gift, she’s climbed to the top of her profession. Her abilities may be the only thing that can find and stop the Fire Angel, a pyromaniac turned revenge arsonist serial killer who’s slowly turning a peaceful town into Hell on Earth. The problem is, to do the job, she has to return to the one place where she swore she would never set foot again.

Faced with confusing emotions and a killer who’s made it clear he wants her to stay out of his business, Alexis must deal with the past before she can move on. But things may get too hot even for her as the Fire Angel moves toward the final act in his revenge drama.

We all have demons. Luckily, we don’t all set them free.

Here’s your song for the day.

Come back Monday for the letter L. In the meantime, why not check out some of the other bloggers? MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/tauke86z

April 11, 2025. Did that make you laugh? My husband emails me a Dad joke every morning. some are funny, some are real groaners, but in their own way, they all make me smile. Starting a day with a smile on your face, and a cup of coffee, can make everything seem brighter.

Laughter is the best medicine is more than just a saying; it’s a necessity. There is enough doom and gloom around us every day that we really do need to lighten up, and I don’t mean lose a few pounds–although in my case that’s probably true.

There are lots of political jokes out there and lots of lame ones, too, but there are some that still make me laugh.

We’ve all known people who consider themselves to be funny. As a teacher, I often had to deal with the class clown. In a lot of cases, those kids acted out to hide their insecurities, thinking no one would realize that there was a whole lot going on under their goofy behavior. Sometimes, it was tolerable. At others it came far too close to bullying to be funny.

What I don’t like are mean jokes, those made at the expense of others. Those cutting remarks that hurt. It doesn’t matter who you are, you do not have the right to belittle someone for laughs. Those jokes are right up there with so-called practical jokes. There’s nothing practical about them. Nine out of ten times, someone suffers because of those.

I’ll leave you with one more funny meme.

Just a reminder that Unforgettable Revenge will be free on April 12, 2025. This is your chance to score 7 full-length novels for free. The Amazon link is https://mybook.to/uRevenge

UNFORGETTABLE REVENGE:
A Thrilling Romantic Suspense Collection

Passion. Danger. Justice. Revenge.

Seven New York Times, USA Today, and International Bestselling Authors unite to bring you a powerhouse collection of Romantic Suspense stories that will leave you breathless.

Brace yourself for heart-pounding thrills, edge-of-your-seat twists, and unexpected love in the most perilous situations.

From Fearless Law Enforcers to Everyday Heroes, these captivating tales feature Bold Heroines and the Irresistible Men who risk everything to protect them. But when the past resurfaces and deadly secrets come to light, love and survival become the ultimate stakes.

Mimi Barbour – Special Agent Hunter
A ruthless killer resurfaces, taunting Special Agent Hunter for a final deadly showdown. Can he outmaneuver the twisted game before time runs out?

Angela Stevens – The Devil’s Own: Bowker Street
A priest. A devilishly seductive woman. A confession that changes everything. Not all sins can be forgiven… or resisted.

Taylor Lee – Topaz: Ladies of the Night
A dark past ties Topaz to a high-ranking cartel leader. Now, she must face the demons she buried—before they bury her.

Susanne Matthews – Fire Angel
When a serial killer strikes again, the past and present collide in a terrifying hunt for justice. She won’t stop until the flames of vengeance are extinguished.

Callie Bardot – Looks Like Trouble to Me
He’s running from trouble. She is trouble. Sparks fly when their worlds collide in a fiery clash of desire and danger.

Jennifer St. Giles – Kaylee’s Justice
She sees the truth… and it could cost her everything. A dangerous enemy will stop at nothing to silence her forever.

Susan Jean Ricci – Turning Up the Heat
Wedding bells are ringing—until a scheming adversary threatens to destroy everything. Will love conquer all, or will old enemies win?

When the stakes are high and the risks are deadly, love becomes the most powerful weapon of all.

Grab your copy of UNFORGETTABLE REVENGE today! https://mybook.to/uRevenge

Here’s today’s song.

Come back tomorrow for my response to the letter K. For now, check out other bloggers here. MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/tauke86z

April 10, 2025. I’m sitting here sipping my coffee and taking a writing break to do the blog post for today and plotting the next scene in my book. I’m almost finished with my romantic comedy. It’s another of my Cocktails For You series. That series was born during COVID when everything seemed as bad as bad could get. I wanted to create something that would make people laugh a bit and sigh when the happily ever after happened.

Many of those books recount my own adventures, so for the most part, they were easy to write. For example, I went to Los Cabos, Mexico and used what I saw for Tequila Sunrise. I’ve been to New York City several times, for Make Mine a Manhattan. We took the Rocky Mountaineer for our 50th anniversary and I even put myself into the story as a minor character in Emerald Glow, and finally, I spent a few days in St. Andrews By the Sea, the setting for Sea Breeze. This book is titled, From Paris With Love. No, it isn’t set in Paris, France, or even Paris, Ontario. Paris is the name of my heroine. Friends of mine have five children, four girls and a boy. Guess which is the youngest? If you said the boy, you’d be right. One of the girls is named Paris. I thought it the perfect name for my story, especially after I found her cocktail.

From Paris With Love, How to Make a Classic Boulevardier Cocktail

While the boulevardier (pronounced bool-ah-vard-ee-a) might be less known than the Negroni it’s derived from, it’s a drink that deserves a place in everyone’s wheelhouse. Having a bourbon base, this drink is a great introduction to bitter or aperitif-style cocktails. Step outside of the typical vodka box with this Jazz Age recipe.

Ingredients:

1½ ounces whiskey

1 ounce Campari

1 ounce sweet vermouth

Ice and king cube

Orange peel for garnish

Instructions

In a mixing glass, add ice, whiskey, Campari, and sweet vermouth.

Stir rapidly to chill.

Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice or king cube.

Garnish with an orange peel.

And thus, From Paris With Love was born. Since today’s letter is I, it seems the perfect time to talk about the importance of imagination to a writer. While a title is critical to the way my mind creates a story, it also needs a plot and an outstanding cover. I went digging into the depths of my brain to find a plot that was original, but that would be easy to write about, and my cover artist outdid herself again. Here’s what we created.

Book Description:

When Paris Galanis’s novella, Captive Hearts, written under a pseudonym, wins a writing contest, the hair salon owner is both elated and terrified. While all she’d expected was feedback on her entry, what should be a dream come true becomes a nightmare.

The publisher’s decision to serialize her novella on their website sends her into panic mode. The last thing she wanted was for the people of Timberton to read her story and recognize themselves, especially the town’s most popular bachelor.

While all the single ladies in town view Russ Templeton, the owner of Hunter’s Haven, the town’s only bar and grill, as a ruggedly, handsome, dream catch, Paris sees him as an obnoxious, self-centered jerk with commitment issues that date back to high school when he nicknamed her PG, the Greek geek girl, and made her life miserable. When someone leaves a copy of a particularly steamy chapter of the serialized story on the bar, he’s more than a little curious about the local author who writes with such passion and is determined to find out all he can about Sahara Winters. Who better to ask for help and advice than Paris? After all, eventually, every woman in town sits in one of her chairs.

When she seems unable to find the mysterious author, he decides to offer a reward to the person who reveals the identity of the writer. When the town’s resident gossips and matchmakers decide to get in on the action, keeping her secret will be harder than ever. Opposites attract, and when they connect, anything can happen.

Just a case of letting my imagination run wild!

The book will be realeased in mid-May as part of a multi-book box set. Visit the blog next month to learn more. I found this cute meme that describes imagination well. What most adults lack today is the innocence and imagination they had as children.

Before I leave you this morning, I have a great deal to pass along. The Unforgettable Revenge box set featuring my novel, Fire Angel, will be free –that’s right. Here’s your chance to pick up seven full-length novels written by NYT bestselling authors free on April 12, 2025. Mark your calendars. If you want to see how wild my imagination can get, check it out. https://mybook.to/uRevenge

So, here’s my song for the day.

Cme back tomorrow for the letter J. Find other bloggers here: MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/tauke86z

April 9, 2025. My father died just a few months before COVID 19 struck. Had he lived, today would’ve been his 97th birthday. I think he would’ve been very disappointed in the world we live in now, a world divided with so much lack of compassion.

During WWII, he wasn’t old enough to enlist at the beginning although he tried. He did join in 1944, but he wasn’t sent overseas the way his friends and sisters were. Instead, he patrolled along the canal, watching for German subs and potential sabotage.

While he worked at the local pulp and papr mill, he stayed in the militia after the war, got into the medical core, and when he finally left the army, he remained a staunch Legion member and a supporter of the Canadian Armed Forces. He was proud to see my grandkids join the army cadets and the two oldest were part of the Honor Guard at his funeral. The last thing he would ever have expected to see was the fractured world we live in and the rise on Naziism in the United States.

Ghandi’s words provide hope in what is essentially a world gone mad. The expression, history repeats itself has never been more relevant. And the adage that says, those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it, resonnates.

It doesn’t matter what your personal political beliefs are so much as what your ethical ones are. We are all human, and we are all flawed in some way. We have faults and qualities, we may have different skin colors and sexualities, our sexual preferences can vary, as can our religions, but we are all stuck on this big blue marble together. Peal away all those layers, and we are all the same: bones, cartilage, nerves, organs, and hopefully souls. We should treat each other with compassion and follow the golden rule. Do onto others as you would have them do onto you.

Today’s letter is H, and I’ve chosen to focus my thoughts on my oldest grandchild, the one who made me a grandma. Hannah lives in Europe, so we don’t see her as often as we would like. With the advent of Skype and Facetime, we do get to talk to her and we’ve watched her grow into an amazing young lady with an incredible sense of humor. Her studies have focused on pharmacy. She’s working on her master’s degree. She speaks several language and has traveled extensively. Opportunities to do do living in Europe are vastly different than they are here. Meet Hannah.

And here is a song for her.

Come back tomorrow for the letter I. Looking for other bloggers? MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/tauke86z

April 8, 2025. I hope you’re having a great time following my convoluted thought patterns as I work my way through the alphabet. The weather is improving slowly. Instead of freezing rain yesterday, we had a thunderstorm in the middle of the night, and the temperature went up to 20 C in the afternoon! Sadly, we’re back in single digits today. April is unpredictable. It’s supposed to follow the rhyme that claims April showers bring May flowers, but I learned long ago that precipitation takes many forms including snow and ice.

One of my greatest joys is my grandchildren, the gift God gives parents for not only having children but raising them without feeding them to the wolves. You’ve met Tonio and Eleni. Today, I want to introduce you to Georgia.

Georgia is my youngest granddaughter. While she may not look like her mother, she has her temperament and some of the family artistic ability. She is fiercely competitive in sports, a hard worker, and determined to get whatever she wants, but to her credit, she is willing to put in the work necessary to get it. She comes here on a weekly basis and helpd me do the things I can’t or shouldn’t, and I will miss her sorely when she leaves for college in August.

Georgia loves to sing and even manages to get up on stage with the cover bands on occasion. She also volunteers to read at church, participate in pageants, and even help out the choir. At times, she’ll react rather than act which can lead to some impressive disagreements. She can also be impulsive, diving into a situation without checking for rocks and other pitfalls, but she has a huge heart and is willing to go the extra mile when she needs to. She’s a member of her school’s senate and strives to do what’s best for the school, her fellow students, and the community. After she graduates from high school in June, she’ll be going to college to be an electrician. Yeah, another girl embracing the trades!

Meet Georgia.

And of course, there’s only one song that suits this sweet girl.

See you tomorrow for the letter H. Check out other bloggers here. MASTER LIST https://tinyurl.com/tauke86z

Welcome to this week’s edition of Tuesday Tales. This week, out word is BEST. I’m continuing with And Justice for All, my latest romance/suspense. Enjoy.

The server set her food in front of her on the counter, and Maggie reached for the paper bag and the coffee cup. Mindful of what Harry had said, she chose a table away from the windows.

She removed the paper bowl, took off the plastic lid, and did the same with the one on her coffee cup. The contents would cool faster that way. She removed her tea biscuit from the wax paper sleeve, cut it in half with her bamboo knife, and slathered it with butter from the tiny container they’d provided. She took a bite and then dipped her spoon in the soup.

She ate half the tea biscuit and almost that much soup, when she pushed it away.

“Aren’t you going to eat any more of that?”

“No. I told you I wasn’t hungry.” She replaced the lid, rewrapped her biscuit, and put it back in the bag with the donut. “I’ll take it with me. I can nuke it at the office—we do have a microwave, don’t we? Can beat warm donuts.

He nodded. “We do, but we aren’t going to the office. I think you’ve had enough for today. You’ll probably have nightmares as it is.”

“I have them most nights,” she admitted. “Maybe tonight the program will be different.”

He looked as though he wanted to say something else but didn’t and focused on finishing his chili.

She nursed her coffee, watching the people exiting the coffee shop and others coming into the building, ordering their beverages and food, and then leaving. They looked like ordinary people, some young, some old, some in between. And yet, who knew what was festering in their hearts? Any of them could be her enemy. Scary thought in a world gone mad, a world where you could hire a killer online and have him take out whoever you decided that you hated this week. The coffee soured on her stomach, and she set it aside.

“Finished?”

She nodded. “That’s the best I can do.”

“Come on, then. Let’s get going. We’ll be home within the hour. I’ll drop you at your place. There’s no point in even trying to do anything else today. I have an appointment to see a condo at five. Liam, Jac, and I are staying with Jac’s aunt until we get a place of our own.”

He led the way out of the coffee shop. She fell in step beside him as they walked to the car.

“Who’s Jac?”

Don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.