Living the Dream

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our word prompt is GREEN and our scenes are limited to 400 words. I’m continuing with Selma’s story.

Anca stood and paced. “Roberta told me about Laticia and the stroke. Why did you rename the parrot? I mean if Hester is still here, isn’t it confusing having two with the same name?”

Her aunt chuckled. “Actually, it makes me look less eccentric to strangers. Hester learned to possess the bird, giving her the freedom to move around that she’d never had. After my mother died, Delphine gave Sapphire to Hester—yes, she knew the ghost lived with us. Like Roberta, she could see and communicate with the spirits … both the good and the evil ones, although she made sure the evil ones could no longer come onto the property. As much as people may think the bird is mine, she isn’t. When I traveled, Hester came with me. Her essence remained inside the bird’s body, but she got to see the outside world. We often cruised, giving her the opportunity to understand why Hezekiah loved the sea and the green palm trees on the islands in the south. She felt closer to him there, as if he were just a breath away. Having her there prevented me from being alone in my exile.”

No wonder the bird could open and close her own cage.

“You said there was darkness in your mother. Did her spirit remain in the cottage?” An angry soul could account for that strange, unsettled feeling she’d had of being watched.

“No, dear. Gabriella, Delphine, and I contained her essence inside an urn with her ashes—we put her in stasis you might say. At Delphine’s urging, we packed up all of Mother’s personal items, not that there were many, burned the furnishings in her room, and then Delphine took her and her things to Black Swan where she released her spirit, hoping she would be happy there. Within a day, the hotel was consumed by flames. Delphine sent a message that Mother was at peace and should experience a timely rebirth. I never heard from her again. While Hester’s spirit was inside the bird, we cleansed the house of negative energy. Gabriella offered to help Hester cross, but she wasn’t ready to go. When she leaves, I’ll miss her, but I have Colby now and you.”

That’s it. Stay safe, and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.

One can be smitten by a person but Unforgettable Devotion leaves us truly satisfied, complete… and breathless.

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When we add love into the mix, then we’ve hit the jackpot.

Finding love is not easy as we’ll see with these NINE tales of intrigue, suspense, and adventure our wonderful New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors have created. Whether the Pain and discomfort are caused by terrorists, criminals, the deranged, or inhospitable environments, these heroes and heroines discover that what is most important is having people nearby to trust. When Passion develops, too, the Devotion is Unforgettable

~*~*~*~

Rachelle Ayala: Save Her Heart

A preacher marries a prostitute to save her from human traffickers – or so he tells himself. USA Today Bestselling Author

Taylor Lee – Tara

She’s a brash newspaper editor and declared environmental activist. He’s an arrogant land developer. A broken elevator forces them to confront each other not as diehard adversaries but as a man and a woman. USA Today Bestselling Author

Rebecca York–Title: Found Missing

Jenny Seaver has escaped from her worst nightmare, yet she knows her sordid past will eventually catch up with her. Grant Bradley wants to keep her safe, yet she knows she must flee from him to keep him out of danger. Can they forge the trust they need to claim a future together? New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Patrice Wilton: A Hero Lies Within

A returning war hero and the woman who once loved him are brought together again – but will they be able to heal the wounds of their past? New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Mona Risk: Prince Philip’s Cinderella

Running away from her miserable past and trying to protect her nephew, Lydia is whisked away by an appealing jogger who is almost too generous and gorgeous to be real. Attraction sizzles between them, until she discovers he’s the Prince of Rensy Island. If Cinderella stories are just fairy tales, how can someone ordinary like her ever hope to win the heart of a prince? USA Today Bestselling Author

Susanne Matthews: Desert Deception

Seeing is believing, or is it? When someone starts using the murders in his books to stage a killing spree of their own, the novelist may have to reveal his secret identity. Was there another way to prevent another murder?

Dani Haviland: Dances Naked

Fed up with her domineering brother, Rachel and her infant son leave to find happiness with the Cherokee. Two more white folks unexpectedly join her new family group, causing confusion but also providing a novel solution to the one of tribe’s biggest problems: no food. USA Today Bestselling Author

J.L. Campbell – Hardware

Trying to put the nightmare of a violent attack behind her, Camille doesn’t need an oversexed Jamaican male taking interest in her. Life gets complicated when the man dogging her steps is arrested for murder. Suddenly, life in the tropics falls to pieces. International Bestselling Author

Mimi Barbour: High Stakes Gamble

When babies disappear in Vegas, Aurora never imagines that her Lily would be a kidnap victim. New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

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Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales. Our prompts this week are pictures, and our posts are limited to 300 words. Here’s the picture I chose.

“Wow! I can’t imagine going through all that,” Anca said. “Your mother was better after Marianne left?”

“In some ways, yes. In others, no. Before she left, Marianne introduced me to a friend of hers, a Wiccan priestess from Boston, Gabriella, who agreed to help with Mother if things got bad again. She saw my potential and taught me about the Goddess. I found comfort and peace with Mother Earth. With her help, I gathered those with similar powers to me and set up the first coven here in Salem. We met in Laticia’s home, another house that dated back to the time of the Witch Trials, and life was good. Colby and I were together once more.”

“But something happened.”

“Yes. By then, I’d learned to garner the Goddess’s energy and could keep Mother comfortable for extended periods of time. After we learned that my brother Russell had been killed in Vietnam, everything went horribly wrong. It took everything in me to settle her again. I knew I couldn’t risk sending her into another tailspin. So, while I still loved Colby, I refused his offer of marriage. Hurt and confused, he turned to Laticia, the one we’d chosen as high priestess. She was my best friend.”

“And he married her instead of you,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.

Aunt Selma nodded. “Hester did her best to console me, but there was nothing I could do. When my mother died a few months later, it was too late for us. He’d made a commitment, and we honored it. Knowing how hard it would be on both of us, I packed up and left, taking the parrot with me. I didn’t come back until the Goddess ordered me home.”

That’s it. Stay safe, and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales and our gorgeous new logo, created by the immensely talented Jean Joachim. I hope the new year is treating you well. I’ll had to admit that Mother Nature seems to be playing tricks on us, but like everything else these days, things could be worse, so let’s think positive. We have a lot to be grateful for.

This week, as promised, I’m continuing with Selma’s story about her past. We are all the product of those who’ve come before us. Enjoy.

“I can understand that. We’ve come a long way in treating mental illness, just not far enough.”

Aunt Selma nodded.

“True, but sometimes what we see or think we see isn’t the whole story. I was eighteen when Delphine, Mother’s nurse, had a friend in New Orleans, a Voodoo practitioner, come to visit her. Marianne claimed to be related to Marie Laveau, the voodoo queen. The moment Delphine introduced us, Marianne commented on the power in me. At the time, I had no idea what she meant, but I’ve come to understand that both my father and I possess strong magic, as do you—if you would only open yourself to it.”

“I don’t want to argue. I’ll admit I can be a good judge of character. If that’s magic, so be it.”

“It’s a first step. Just as Marianne had sensed power in me, she sensed a dark spirit in my mother, one that seemed anchored to something nearby. Although she and Delphine searched for it, they were unable to find it. She tried to expel the spirit from my mother and used almost a whole pot of sacred oil in the process. It isn’t easy to expel a demon if you don’t know his or her name. My mother and I shared a birthday, St John’s Eve, June twenty-third, a significant day in many religions including Voodoo. Marianne thought it was possible that a dark spirit had entered the child at the moment of her birth, which coincided with her mother’s death. The Summer Solstice is the time when the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. Anything is possible. Marianne believed that my birth somehow changed the balance between good and evil, almost as if I had robbed her of whatever good was in her, leaving only the angry spirit in place.”

“Aunt Selma, I’m no expert, but it sounds to me as if your mother might have had multiple personality disorder, something many people considered demonic possession until we learned more about the diseases of the mind. I’m sorry you had to suffer through all of that. I’m sorry your mother did, too.

“Whatever the cause of her distress, Mother was calmer after Marianne left, spent hours with Sapphire, the parrot, so while Marianne hadn’t been able to dispel the spirit, she’d contained it.”

That’s it. Stay safe, and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.

JUST RELEASED!!!!

Not to brag, but the awesome and amazing authors at the Authors’ Billboard have done it again. Unforgettable Devotion: Passion and Pain (The Unforgettables Book 29) is available on Kindle and in KU. Get your copy today!

One can be smitten by a person
but Unforgettable Devotion leaves us truly satisfied and complete… and breathless.

Dedication, support, and loyalty are qualities we all look for in our relationships.
When we add love into the mix, then we’ve hit the jackpot.

Finding love is not easy as we’ll see with these NINE tales of intrigue, suspense, and adventure our wonderful New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors have created.

Whether the Pain and discomfort are caused by terrorists, criminals, the deranged, or inhospitable environments, these heroes and heroines discover that what is most important is having people nearby to trust. When Passion develops, too, the Devotion is Unforgettable.

Rachelle Ayala: Save Her Heart
A preacher marries a prostitute to save her from human traffickers – or so he tells himself. USA Today Bestselling Author

Taylor Lee – Tara
She’s a brash newspaper editor and declared environmental activist. He’s an arrogant land developer. A broken elevator forces them to confront each other not as diehard adversaries but as a man and a woman. USA Today Bestselling Author

Rebecca York–Title: Found Missing
Jenny Seaver has escaped from her worst nightmare, yet she knows her sordid past will eventually catch up with her. Grant Bradley wants to keep her safe, yet she knows she must flee from him to keep him out of danger. Can they forge the trust they need to claim a future together? New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Patrice Wilton: A Hero Lies Within
A returning war hero and the woman who once loved him are brought together again – but will they be able to heal the wounds of their past? New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

Mona Risk: Prince Philip’s Cinderella
Running away from her miserable past and trying to protect her nephew, Lydia is whisked away by an appealing jogger who is almost too generous and gorgeous to be real. Attraction sizzles between them, until she discovers he’s the Prince of Rensy Island. If Cinderella stories are just fairy tales, how can someone ordinary like her ever hope to win the heart of a prince? USA Today Bestselling Author

Susanne Matthews: Desert Deception
Seeing is believing, or is it? When someone starts using the murders in his books to stage a killing spree of their own, the novelist may have to reveal his secret identity. Was there another way to prevent another murder?

Dani Haviland: Dances Naked
Fed up with her domineering brother, Rachel and her infant son leave to find happiness with the Cherokee. Two more white folks unexpectedly join her new family group, causing confusion but also providing a novel solution to the one of tribe’s biggest problems: no food. USA Today Bestselling Author

J.L. Campbell- Hardware
Trying to put the nightmare of a violent attack behind her, Camille doesn’t need an oversexed Jamaican male taking interest in her. Life gets complicated when the man dogging her steps is arrested for murder. Suddenly, life in the tropics falls to pieces. International Bestselling Author

Mimi Barbour: High Stakes Gamble
When babies disappear in Vegas, Aurora never imagines that her Lily would be a kidnap victim. New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author

You can preorder Unforgettable Devotion today for only 99 cents USD https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BRWSSYG3

Where did 2022 go? It flew by despite a rough beginning and now it’s 2023 and here we are once more.

January 4 question – Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year? For instance, in 2021 my word of the year was Finish. I was determined to finish my first draft by the end of the year. In 2022, my word of the year was Ease. I want to get my process, systems, finances, and routines where life flows with ease and less chaos. What is your word for 2023? 

My words for 2023 have to be hope and faith. This year, I hope to accomplish many things including traveling to Norway to see my son and his family. The pandemic has made that impossible these last few years, and I have faith that all the hard work and effort on behalf of doctors and researchers have finally paid off, and we’ve turned a corner on this.

On that same trip, I hope to take a cruise around the British Isles with stops in England, Ireland, and Scotland. I hope to see Stonehenge and finally publish the novel I started thirty years ago when I wanted to be a writer. Believe me, it needs a lot of editing, since I didn’t understand that head-hopping was a bad thing back then. LOL. I have faith in myself that I can do it and turn out one of my best books yet.

Finally, I hope for peace in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, and all of the other war-torn countries. There isn’t much I can do to make that happen, but I have to have faith that cooler heads will prevail and that the powers that be can focus their attentions on healing this planet rather than destroying it. Lofty goals, probably impossible, but you’ve got to have faith!

Check out other posts here. https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales and the first post of a brand-new year. Let’s hope it’s a good one for all of us. I was going to jump ahead in the story, but since everyone is so interested in Selma’s story, I thought I would give you a couple more posts. Today’s word is PILLOW.

“What happened then?” As much as she wanted to know, she didn’t, and while she could see reliving all this was hard on the elderly woman, she couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“The servants and the police contacted my father, and within an hour, men from the asylum arrived and took her away. I stayed in the house with the servants to look after me, and each night when I buried my face in my pillow and cried my heart out, Hester came to comfort me. Six months later, my mother returned to the house, quieter most of the time, but living here was like walking on eggshells. You never knew what might set her off. My father knew she couldn’t be left alone, so he arranged for a nurse to move in with us. Delphine, a Creole woman from New Orleans, had a calming effect on her. Maybe she reminded her of her old nanny, but it was Sapphire, the parrot she brought with her that made all the difference.”

“That bird must be even older than I imagined.”

“She’s almost ninety, but she’s become a good friend to both Hester and me. By the time I was nineteen, things had calmed down at Cole Cottage, so much so that Russell brought his wife and five-year-old son, David, to visit. Mother spent most of her time in a daze, no doubt drug-induced, but life was pleasant. As long as no one rocked the boat, Mother was fine. Sadly, that changed when Colby and I started courting. The fits and tantrums were back, worse than ever each time he came to the house, or I went out with him. Finally, for her sake and mine, I broke it off with him. I loved him, but in my own way I also loved my mother. Father had died, leaving everything in trust to the estate. We were alone, the three of us, Mother, Delphine, and me. Every now and then, Hester manifested when I was at my lowest moments, but stayed away from Mother unless she thought I was in danger again.”

“She was more of a mother to you than your own was.” At least the ghost had been concerned for her safety.

“In some ways, yes, just as she’s tried to be to you. But don’t be too hard on your grandmother. She was sick. Today, with modern treatment and medication, her life would be far different.”

That’s it. Stay safe, and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.

What a year it has been! I started it with my first case of COVID, a mild one thankfully. Things were shut down for weeks, the kids out of school, and my mother’s long term care facility was on lock down. I edited, I wrote, but that was about it. Then, spring came, and we were almost back to normal. By the end of June, I was able to travel again and went on a bus tour of the Gaspe region of Quebec. I did a whole lot of research. Watch for a new romance suspense novel in 2023 called Asleep with the Empress.

Just when things should have gotten better, I hurt my knee and ended up having to walk with a cane for almost four months. While it made things more difficult, i still managed to get away again to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Sea Breeze is set in St Andrews by the Sea.

What do you do when your family disappoints you? Run away, of course.

Eva Malone wants two things in life: her freedom and answers about her past. After she inherits a resort from an uncle she didn’t even know existed, she heads to the seaside town where she was born, eager to uncover old secrets.
When she arrives, the timeworn resort is a disaster, the sky’s about to open, and there isn’t a room to be had anywhere in town.
Mysterious and handsome Callum Doyle emerges from the darkness and offers her a bed for the night. But the oh-so-hot tour boat captain, carpenter, and chef may have an agenda of his own. He’s determined to keep his promise to Eva’s uncle, no matter the cost.
Fighting her attraction to the man is impossible, but when she learns the truth, will it drive Eva into his arms or make her run away again?

Come October, my husband had to have surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm. I spent a week in a hotel going back and forth to the hospital, bad knee, and all. When he came home, he had a tough eight-week recovery. While he’s back to normal, and my knee is working again, it made us both appreciate that as you grow older, nothing is easy, not even recovery.

We finished the year by hosting Christmas and then spending a couple of night in Kingston before taking a trip up to see the lights at Upper Canada Village. The lights get more and more beautiful each year.

So, to wrap up the year, tonight we’ll be having dinner with friends, spending the night at the hotel, and enjoying brunch together tomorrow, followed by parades and football on TV.

Covid is still around, the flu is bad this year as ids the respiratory virus going around. There’s still war in Ukraine, and Mother Nature is on a tear with crazy weather everywhere. Last week, we had the snowstorm of the century, this week, it might as well be spring. Still, we humans are resilient. We do what we do to protect ourselves and then bravely face the future. So, I say, welcome 2023. I have great plans for you!

To all my readers and friends, I wish you all a Happy and healthy 2023.

Welcome to the last Tuesday Tales post of 2022. It’s so hard to believe another year has passed. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

Today’s word prompt is STORM. Since I know you’re all on the edge of your seats, anticipating what else Selma will reveal, here you go. Enjoy!

Anca’s heart went out to the grandmother she’d never known who must’ve suffered so horrendously. Had Hester’s presence in the house made things worse? Before she could ask, Aunt Selma continued.

“While Father did his best to make her happy and somehow coax her back to being the girl he married, eventually, her volatile nature, as destructive as any tropical storm, was too much for him. I was ten when he divorced her, moving himself and Cole Enterprises’ head offices to New York City, giving her Cole Cottage and Black Swan, and providing her with a healthy allowance, as well as a staff to look after us and the house. Despite the fact that it was hers, we never returned to New Orleans, almost as if by throwing his gift in his face, she could show how much she’d come to hate him, herself, and us. Love and hate are both sides of the same coin. When Russell turned twenty, he enlisted in the army, unable to deal with the oppressive nature of living here, with Mother’s fits, accusations, and tantrums. She went ballistic, accusing him of abandoning her just as her mother, her father, and Rafe, my father, had done. She terrified me, running through the house, breaking, and destroying everything she could, setting fire to the photographs, Russell’s clothing. Nothing could stop her, not the staff, not even Hester.”

Anca swallowed. “I know you don’t mean the parrot. I heard it belonged to your mother.”

Aunt Selma shook her head. “Actually, the bird didn’t belong to either of us.”

“Then was it the ghost’s fault—and yes, I do believe there is one.” She bit her lips. “I haven’t seen her, but I’ve heard her. Did she fuel your mother’s delusions?”

Aunt Selma nodded. “Good. It’s about time you opened yourself up to the truth. Hester has been here for over 300 years, sharing this house with countless generations of Coles. She’s managed to live peacefully with them, usually by not letting anyone know she was there. To my knowledge, she’d never manifested to anyone until the day my mother attacked me. Before she could hurt me, Hester appeared. Mother fainted. The servants who hadn’t seen the ghosts found me cowering under the table and took me to the neighbors.”

Anca gasped. So much violence, so much misery. No wonder Aunt Selma had never shared this with her.

That’s it. Stay safe, have a Happy New Year’s Eve, and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales.