Bear with me for Free Books at the end of the newsletter.
Well I was going to give you all an excuse as to why I haven’t been writing my draft, but I ended up writing this silly poem instead.
Finding time.
I lost it somewhere.
It’s nowhere to be found.
Perhaps I stuck it somewhere safe.
Or buried it in the ground?
I looked on the clock, I haven’t a clue.
I know one thing is certain.
The longer I look, the more time I lose.
With that aside, here’s my excuse. We babysit my five year old grandson and he’s a sweetheart but it’s a full time job between my husband and I. I did get him some toys which he loved, but the most fun we had was when I was cutting some cardboard in an attempt to make some book envelops out of boxes I had purchased that were too small for the books. I gave him the extra cardboard and he ran to grandpa and got some tape. He ended up making a robot.
The next morning we dressed him up with pictures from an old seed catalog. Such fun. I love that he has an imagination. It gives us good times together. I think he’s going to be a writer.
FREE for Christmas
Free for a little while...enjoy a Christmas read. Thank you Wendy for your lovely review.
What a memorable Christmas novella. It's a tale you'll treasure long after relishing your read of the last page. These touching characters exhibit tremendous courage against trying times. It's so easy to get embroiled in your own troubles and miss seeing the lives of others. These characters learn that finding ways to help other people, their own lives are touched in a positive way. Although life's hurdles and difficulties differ for each of us, in the end we are all in this life together. There's mystery in the ways we can connect, and kindness is the clue. When the long, deep darkness of the winter surrounds us, it's hope that pushes us to switch on the beautiful Christmas tree lights.
Charlene survived a deadly fire that swept through her small mountain town, but her ranch home was destroyed. Her parents made the heart wrenching decision to move away after the devastation. Charlene continues on as best she can on her own, fighting to regain her spirit after a bitter divorce, running the family gift shop, living above it, and struggling to pay bills and survive. The town's small population are not much of a customer base, and there is little tourist traffic, especially right now as a treacherous winter storm blows in and closes the roads. Desperation is bubbling within Charlene. If only she can rekindle a feeling of hope.
Caught in the midst of the road closure, an entrepreneur named Dallas, and his partner are stuck in a place that appears in the snowy swirl to be the middle of nowhere. Stranded for now in this small town of Meritville, they're looking for coffee and shelter. It wasn't his intention to aggravate the owner of the gift shop. She seemed quite charming, until he got on her wrong side. As Dallas learns more about Charlene and others in this town, he's drawn to their stories, and finds himself thrown into the whirlwind.
Cuddle up with a tender, Christmas love story of town neighbors, and of a very special couple of people who were total strangers and found the life and spirit of hope in each other. This author creates a vivid setting, and characters who are carved from its rugged landscape. You'll be hanging onto every word, searching for hope. It's a surprising twist in the end, for Charlene and Dallas, and the reader.
The interesting news is, I’ve put some of my books in Kindle Unlimited. Not something I normally do, but here they are with the links.
Live on Kindle Unlimited. Altered.
A dystopian novel written in 2015.
In a dystopian future, the new government known only as the Privatol invades American soil, and crops propel the engine. Uncontrollable tyranny has succeeded in dictating where people live, what they do, and what they eat. When Abree, a spunky twelve-year-old is taken away to learn the process of modifying seed to Newly Constructed Food she discovers an evil plan that could alter the fate of the human race, and a way out if only she can escape to tell the others.
A fast paced tale of conspiracy and escape through the southwestern desert and northern Mexico as Abree, her older brother and his girlfriend defy an abusive government.
A magical realism literary novel. The adaption written by the author won 8 screenplay awards including the European Cinematography Awards in 2019 and came in as a finalist New York Cinematography Awards
The family calls Dylan “slow" and his abusive mother claims he’s wicked. He might not think fast. He takes awhile to form the words he wants, but Dylan has magic. He can spin marbles from oyster shells, and whip up Chicken Alfredo by tapping his thumbs together. Dylan hopes to be a famous chef someday and put his magic to good use. Unfortunately the only one to appreciate his supernatural abilities is his loving uncle and caretaker, a disabled Vietnam veteran. When Uncle Jim dies, Dylan is thrust into a world he's not ready for.
This collection includes two full-length novels and four short stories all in the realm of magical and urban fantasy from award-winning author D.L. Gardner.
From the depths of the sea (Sasha and Pouraka) to a ride on a Ferris wheel at the turn of the century, to modern-day magical realism along the coast with Dylan, enjoy the literary experience of Fables and Fantasy.
Books and stories included are:
The Ferris Wheel
Sasha
Pouraka
Dylan
The Magic Plum
and The Cobbler's Daughter. The paperback with the new cover is coming soon.
Winner of Imjadinn Award for Best Urban Fantasy 2016 at the Imaginarium Convention in Louisville KY.
Pouraka is a magical sea cavern tucked under the rocky cliffs near a rural seaside town called Barnacle Bay, and is home to a tribe of mermaids. Sparkling clear waters in the cavern allow the mers to shift their form to human. Cora enjoys visiting her friends on shore, but when a foreign clan of merpeople from the south invade Pouraka and beg for refuge, Cora's world changes. The foreign clan are fleeing from men who have invaded their waters, threatening their existence. With them comes a merman named Tas, He and Cora fall in love. Trouble has followed the refugees. An unscrupulous oil rigger's son discovers the rich aquatic life Barnacle Bay harbors. Mermaids, instead of dolphins, become his prey. The man's quest to capture and sell a mermaid or two to a marine amusement park proves perilous for both Cora and Tas, and their families. Both clans become entwined in a battle for their lives, their aquatic neighbors, and the sanctity of Pouraka.
Love your poem. I'm intrigued by time - missing- where it takes - how it takes us and all other aspects of time.
Thank you, Pat. Love that people actually read my newsletter and that some of you respond! You're a true friend. See you Monday!