Sweet September

School,
Effort, and
Play.
Trying your best
Each hour of the day,
Making new friends,
Being good as you can
Exciting discoveries,
Reading books with a friend."
- Boni Fulgham

This is most likely more appropriate at the beginning of the month, rather than the end, but as I was searching for inspiration, it struck me.

I always look forward to September. For me, rather than January, it has always seemed to be the true start of the year. Possibly because of my birthday (today in case you didn't catch that earlier). Probably from associations with school. The death of summer, the start of a new school year. Tom Hanks said it well in “You’ve Got Mail” when he spoke of newly sharpened pencils. I also like to buy a candle in the scent of MacIntosh Apple for September. Where spring and summer are about color, and winter is about frosty cold, autumn is about scent.

For us here in the Far North, September brings leaves of red and gold and the smell of decay. You can smell the mustiness of leaves and mushrooms and the crispness of snow in the air. It’s a month of change. Flip flops are replaced by racks of snow suits in the stores. Boots and slippers go on sale. Sweaters take over the clothing sections and snow shovels push aside the grills and patio umbrellas. Halloween will be on the shelves if not this week, next for sure.

This week I’ll dig up my summer garden of weeds and scatter Arctic Lupine and Shasta Daisy seeds hoping come spring I’ll have an instant garden. Well, almost instant garden. The lemon thyme and johnny jump-ups should come back next year and I’ll start my sweetpeas come March. I’ll also buy my pansy and petunia starts much, much sooner.

So until my garden can grow outside once more (I brought my tomatoes inside where they are ripening one by one!) I’ll look to the last line of the poem above – Reading Books With a Friend – or three. And writing. Yeah, it’s a good time of year to hunker down and spend my time reading and writing. You can pick up a copy of Frozen to get you in the mood for winter, or Chinook Wine and Sink Her touches on the change into fall in Alaska. Then there's the modern Western, Cowboys Dream Too to help you snuggle in. Or if you don't want to let go of summer, check out Halo in Her Pocket. Of course, those are only a few suggestions to get you started.

Then there's Banned Book Week. What banned books have you read or plan to read? What do you like about Fall?

I’d love to see recipes, hear about rituals, and even see what you’ve got on your TBR pile. What makes Fall great for you?

Morgan Q. O'Reilly
Get Some Tonight
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What's your favorite time of year?

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love it more than anything. In fact, I think there's something magical about it.

I'm happiest when the mornings turn a little crisp and the fall colors start showing. One of my favorite things to do this time of year is visit the apple orchards. My mother lives down in central Wisconsin and I go visit her, and we spend the day driving through gorgeous countryside, while we stop at each little family orchard.

They are all situated close together, so it's a nice easy tour, and each one has something different to offer. All of them sell apples by the barrel, of course, and most of them press their own cider. If you've never had freshly pressed apple cider, you don't know what you're missing.

We will usually get a carameled apple or two, and some apple cookies or bars. One year, someone was doing apple doughnuts. You can get jams, jellies and preserves of all kinds, plus cheeses, sometimes meats or other interesting things. We nearly always get our Halloween pumpkins, and the day always includes a trip to the farmer's market as well.

After you get your treats, you can go for a hayride through the orchards, try your luck at pumpkin bowling or have fun getting lost in the corn maze. The maze is one of my favorites, and I always go if they have one.

We always come home happy, tired and loaded up with goodies.

New from Lyrical Press - 09.21.2009

Enjoy these exciting new releases from Lyrical Press, Inc.
http://www.lyricalpress.com/

Shop for Lyrical titles at Once Upon A Bookstore.
http://www.onceuponabookstore.com/




Dreams of the Past by Stephanie Barmann
http://www.lyricalpress.com/dreams_of_the_pastGenre: Romance/Historical

Length: Short Novel

Price: $4.50

Some Dreams are Meant to Come True.

Men don’t rate highly on busy Janelle’s list of priorities, especially not when they have a habit of cheating on her. The last thing she expects is to fall in love with Jake, a man she’s met online.

Jake, a military man, can't get Janelle out of his head. She haunts his dreams at night, and now she’s agreed to meet him in real life.

rom the moment they set eyes on each other, they knew it was meant to be. Will history repeat itself or will Janelle and Jake find their happy ending?




Jesse's Brother by Wendy Ely
http://www.lyricalpress.com/jesses_brotherGenre: Romance/Contemporary

Length: Short Novel

Price: 45.50

One woman, two men: a single summer to choose between them.

Sacrificing a summer to fix her relationship with her mother and find out what’s troubling her father isn’t so bad...right? Wrong. Or so Samantha learns upon her return to Portland.

As if family drama wasn’t bad enough, first comes Noah. Then comes Jesse. Samantha is torn between the way her heart skips a beat each time Noah looks at her, and the way Jesse’s touch make her yearn for more.

Content Warning: This title contains sex, family drama and a tough choice.




Lone Star Trouble by Autumn Piper
http://www.lyricalpress.com/lone_star_troubleGenre: RomanceContemporary

Length: Novel

Price: $5.50

One hot cowboy plus one tough rancher-girl adds up to trouble!

Kiersten Day holds a grudge against all things Texan, especially cattle baron CJ Howell, with his hubcap-sized belt buckle and tacky white hat. He’s set his sights on her tiny Colorado ranch, and he’s a master of dirty tactics, slinging threats to make her sell out.

Caught in the fight of her life, Kiersten meets Cleve, a tall, handsome good guy. Too late, she finds out he’s Howell’s son. She might be pregnant, she doesn’t know who to trust, and danger is closing in. She’s head over heels -- and kicking herself!

Content warning, a hot cowboy, dirty tactics and lots of lone star trouble.




The Summoner by Alisha Steele
http://www.lyricalpress.com/the_summonerGenre: Erotica/Paranormal

Length:Novel

Price: $5.50

The enemy may be his only hope...

Fallen angel Kasdeya hates all mortals. They’re little more than playthings, as far as he’s concerned. But when he finds himself facing a thousand-year prison sentence, he has no choice but to call on the one woman who might set him free: the Summoner.

His plan is simple...seduce her for his own purposes, then throw her away. If only she weren’t so argumentative, so intelligent. If only she weren’t so damned sexy!

***

Want more? Visit: Lyrical Press, Inc.! http://www.lyricalpress.com/
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Call for submissions - BDSM

Lyrical Press is actively acquiring all sub-genres of erotica, with a focus on BDSM.

Let your imagination run wild. Explore the darker side of sexuality. Shed all inhabitations and give free reign to your secret fantasies. Entangle us in a world where sexual boundaries are pushed and readers can dance on a razor’s edge of sex and danger.
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Please note - Lyrical will not consider stories containing rape.

Sensuality level: Red hot
Length: 30,000 – 80,000 words
Key Characteristics: Strong sexual relationship between main characters. Elements of bondage and S&M that explore the dominant/submissive roles of a BDSM relationship. Multiple partners acceptable.
Deadline: None
Submission Guidelines: http://www.lyricalpress.com/submissions
Submissions eMail: submissions@lyricalpress.com


If you dare to write it, we dare to consider it.

Winner Announcement

Here's the photo... Sonia, if you'd like, I can add a bird or two... a hut... some natives, :-D you just let me know, I promise, though the photo's nice, it's prettier in person.

--------

Hello, friends!

I'm posting this to announce the winner of a painting from moi from the commenters on my post during our End of Summer Blog Party.

The winner, after me printing the comments, cutting them in little bits and pulling them out of a jewelry bag, is SW Vaughn. Wooooooo!!!!! WTG Sonia! You now have your very own Grayson Reyes-Cole original!!!

On that note... All... you... have... to do... is pick a color. Blue....... Green........ Red......... I did three paintings. They are all very different but these colors play a significant role in each. Then once you pick a color... pick a season: Summer or Winter..... When you do that, I will post a picture of the painting you have chosen. By the way, I'll need your snail mail address at grayson @ graysonreyescole. com

YAY! Everybody say congratulations to Sonia!!!

Grayson Reyes-Cole
http://www.graysonreyescole.com/

The value of experiences...

I've rewritten this blog post three times. My cousin died this week and although I've mentioned it, I'm not going to blog about that but about a realisation I made this week.

Writing is a solitary occupation. We inhabit quiet offices and make stuff up basically (and BOY did I get into trouble as a kid for that one!) so the hermit tendency is there.

Every experience is precious. Even the hard ones that make you want to crawl under the duvet and not emerge for months. I used to read books on writing that said that everything a writer sees and hears goes in and becomes grist for the mill.

Writing is hard. Yeah, I find it hard to get the words down on the page but there's a level beyond that. To tell a story and write the conflicts, the raw emotions, that's harder. To do that you need to live, you need to watch and you need to be true to your characters. You need to care about them, what happens to them. Don't wimp out on them with a half-baked plot or end the conflict early because you got uncomfortable. Make them sweat and make them cry...experience the story you're writing as only it's creator can.

Pfft, I'm waffling. We'll now return you to your regularly scheduled program...

It's a Bird...It's a Plane...It's, It's, It's SUPER CINDY!

Writing is hard work. It's a daily struggle with unruly characters, plot holes, and my own lack of self-discipline. No Wii until I've done my 1000 words for the day! That's my motto. However, I'll take twenty rounds of copy and line edits any day over my toughest job--keeping the household running!

Yep, it's September, back-to-school time. While we Domestic Warriors (enough with the 'homemaker' or 'stay-at-home-parent' euphemisms!) appreciate the quietude that comes from a house free of children and significant others, the fresh onslaught of classes, extracurricular activities and 'must-have' shopping trips challenge even the most organized among us....And yeah...you could probably guess, I'm not organizationally gifted. What writer is?

This year is particularly challenging for me because not only is the little one going to school, but so is the BF. He's attending firefighter certification classes. On top of all that, my ex- will be teaching night classes. I get overwhelmed just thinking about juggling all those schedules. Prepared with color-coded Post-Its, a dry erase calendar, MS Outlook, and various other methods to keep me on the straight and narrow, I feel prepared. Sort of. What worries me most is the feeling...nay, the certainty that I will forgo my own needs to keep up with the needs of others. I look at my already miniscule amount of writing time each day and worry, "Will I even have that much time this fall?" Indeed, I'm feeling like I will have to sprout a cape and the ability to timetravel just to keep up with it all.

I'm sure every writer reading this can sympathize. Whether you work at home or punch a time clock, we're all busy, busy bees. So, here's the challenge: How do you ensure time to you meet your personal and professional writing goals? Can't wait to read what sage advice y'all have to give!

New Releases from Lyrical Press - 09.07.2009

Enjoy these exciting new releases from Lyrical Press, Inc.
http://www.lyricalpress.com/

Shop for Lyrical titles at Once Upon A Bookstore.
http://www.onceuponabookstore.com/




Best Left Buried by Cindy Hutchins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Length: Novella

Price: $3.50

Some dark secrets are best left buried.

Dr. Arliss Pardot doesn't remember her childhood. All that remains is a fear of birds, and a birth mother locked away in a mental institution.

When the birth mother dies, Arliss must return to a small, Southern hometown where her mysterious childhood has become local legend. Birds seem to follow wherever she goes. Is it innocent curiosity, or is the legend about to repeat itself?




Janette's Tale by Mark Patrick

Genre: Paranormal/Adventure/Fantasy

Length: Novel

Price: $5.50

With great power comes great adventure.

Janette, a young huntress, is forced into an epic journey when she's saved by an Adepti knight from the Order of the White Tower. Instead of the usual shining armor, white horse and gleaming sword, Sir Conrad wields a mystical sapphire that imbues him with great power.

Chased across country by the High Inquisitor, the pair seek aid from a goddess. And when they get it, Janette finds herself gifted with beautiful but deadly powers of her own, attracting more danger than ever before.




Sacred Secrets by Roxy Harte

Genre: Erotica/Contemporary

Length: Novel

Price: $5.50

Cecelia sold herself in a bargain for rough play and a great story--not murder!

Cecelia Brentwood, fetish reporter for San Francisco's Inappropriate Voices, agrees to auction herself off as a BDSM slave for thirty days. She plans to write a first-person exposé, but after she's purchased by Garrett Lawrence, the most eligible gay bachelor in town, her story becomes an insider peek at the man once accused of killing his lover.

Garrett still mourns the loss of his beloved, but the past is hard to forget when it's stalking him. The real killer is obsessed with Garrett...until Cecelia's deception is discovered and the killer decides she's the perfect route to his prey.




Sisters In Arms by Jade Twilight

Genre: Erotica/Fantasy

Length: Short Novel

Price: $2.50

lex once again heeds Tiethla's call…and this time, she's not alone.

The Mastive has escaped and is scraping his way back into power. A prophecy says Alex must stop the Mastive once and for all, but how can she defeat such darkness alone?

Alex is given some temporary hope by the unexpected arrival of Riley, who agrees to help in exchange for passage back to their home world. But Tiethla has a surprise in store for Riley, and there may be no going home once her true identity is revealed.

Content Warning: Explicit sex, graphic language, ménage a trios, sex with cat men.

***

Want more? Visit: Lyrical Press, Inc.! http://www.lyricalpress.com/
Blog: http://lyricalpress.blogspot.com/
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