Sherry Gloag's Gasquet Princes series

I'd like to welcome Sherry Gloag here today, who will be giving away the following prizes.

* One randomly drawn commenter at every stop will win a hand-crafted book thong.

* One randomly drawn commenter during the tour will win a hand-crafted selenite pendent (see photo at left)

* The host with the most comments (excluding Sherry's and the host's) will win a hand-crafted selenite pendent (see photo at left)

Thank you for inviting me to visit your blog today, and thank you, too, I think!, for your challenging question.

When I was asked to name the top three items on my bucket list, I had to ask a friend what a ‘bucket list’ was. *blush*.  Then I had to think very hard indeed.

Am I so lacking in ambition I have no ‘bucket list’ goals?  Not at all.  They were there, lurking in the back of my mind just waiting for me to tempt them out into the open.

And did I get a surprise when they finally made themselves known.  Below, not necessarily in any kind of order, are some of the things on my bucket list.

The first, I discovered, I have already achieved.  I had a certain birthday in mind when I set the goal to publish a book… no—let me re-phrase that—to have a book published by this date.  Not only have I achieved it but I’ve had five books published before the deadline.  So that is #1.  Does that mean I have to ditch this one and start again?  I don’t think so.  It was on my bucket list, and I achieved it.  Now I have it ‘out in the open’, I can create another goal to take its place.

Which takes me to my second bucket list wish; and because I cannot control this one, it is far more tenuous.  I’d love to have one of my books on a national best-seller list.  Did I say I cannot control this?  I did, and in part I am right again.  But unless I write something worthy of attaining that list it’s never going to get there.  So…

Let me skim over to my third bucket list wish.  Over the years I have met and made many wonderful ‘net friends.  Many have invited me to visit them, and circumstances have never allowed this to happen.  And—on the face of it, nothing’s likely to change anytime soon, so you might wonder why I even bother to keep it up there on my list.

Well, recently I met one of those ‘net friends, and we got to spend time together.  She came over to the UK from Australia with some friends and they all made time to fit in a visit with me.  We didn’t have much time together, but it is a wonderful experience I’ll never forget.  It proves to me that if you are open and let your wishes come to you, and don’t try to control them with expectations, anything can happen.  So… there are other ‘net friends I’d love to meet, and instead of assuming it’ll never happen; now I have given myself permission to hope and dream.

The first two wishes are book and writing related, the third is friendship related and in continuation so my next wish is about family. It is an odd wish because simultaneously to look forward I am also looking back.

There are times in life when you come up against identity.  Yours, that of the people around you, those you know, and think you know, and those you know about—like ancestors.

So my final bucket list wish is far more tenuous than anything else so far, and is for me and those I love to find that special place where everything melds together, and there is unconditional love.  I don’t need to have them around me 24/7 just to know they accept me for who, and what, I am, and that they also know I give that back.  Believe me this is the hardest wish of all, because I want something I sometimes struggle to give back.  *Unconditional* as a word is beyond powerful, and living up to it takes hard work, an open heart, and an ability to forgive.  None of which are easy.  Many of which are not wanted by the recipient of your endeavors.

To many these wishes may seem uninspiring, but you know, I am very fortunate, I have most of what I’ve ever strived for, and that leaves the *bigger* more nebulous ambitions ‘till last.  So I guess my wish list is going to keep me busy and fully occupied if I want to achieve everything on it before the bucket collapses :-)

BLURB “From Now Until Forever”:

For Prince Liam, families meant bad news, unwanted commitments, and the loss of his personal freedom.  Love spawned white picket fences, slippers at the hearth with a wife and kids making demands, so why did those images disappear when he met Melanie Babcot?

Melanie Babcot fought hard to escape the horrors of her youth and vowed to remain single and free, so when paid to protect Prince Liam from insurgents why did her personal pledge fly out the window?

Excerpt:

Liam Fitzwilliam Gasquet stared in amazement at the blooming patch of red milliseconds before the pain exploded in his arm. Some trigger-happy idiot had fired in his direction. Indignation didn’t have time to take root before another bullet kicked the dust at his feet.
Not ‘trigger-happy’.

Intentional.

The rebels had found the fourth and youngest son of Jean-Phillipe Gasquet, ruler of the tiny kingdom adjacent to the Swiss border. When had they discovered his whereabouts?

With a reluctant sigh, he faced the truth of it. They hadn’t ‘found’ him at all. They’d followed him.

BLURB “His Chosen Bride”:

Prince Henri Gasquet is happy to let his father, the king, choose his bride for him until he meets Monica Latimer.

 

Monica Latimer is not prepared to risk letting any man close enough to learn about her Gift. A gift that normally has men running for the hills when they find out about it.

Excerpt:

She lost track of time until the flames caught her attention once more. They flickered from orange to gold, to silver, to white.

A flurry of snowflakes masked the flames and for a second Monica watched the most beautiful, pristine snow-scene she’d ever seen. Her lips curved in longing. How she’d love to get a toboggan and slide down that slope. She knew where it was, and had done just that many times in her childhood, first with her parents and then, in clandestine manner, with her brother. Sneaking an old tin tray from the back of her mother’s walk-in pantry, she’d then grabbed Billy’s hand and they’d rushed out the back gate, heading for the lakeside track that led up into the hills.

Darkness, dense and thick with grief dropped over the scene.

Startled and disconcerted by the strength of emotion emanating from the vision Monica shifted to her knees, ready to stand, when a voice, a deep male voice, sharp with fear called out her name.

“Monica!”

She knew she’d never heard the voice before, and yet—it was as familiar to her as the image she saw in her mirror each morning.

“Help me, Monica.”

Author Bio:

Multi-published author, Sherry Gloag is a transplanted Scot now living in the beautiful coastal countryside of Norfolk, England.  She considers the surrounding countryside as extension of her own garden, to which she escapes when she needs "thinking time" and solitude to work out the plots for her next novel.  While out walking she enjoys talking to her characters, as long as there are no other walkers close by.

Apart from writing, Sherry enjoys gardening, walking, reading and cheerfully admits her books tend to take over most of the shelf and floor space in her workroom-cum-office.  She also finds crystal craft work therapeutic.

http://www.sherrygloag.com/

http://sherrygloagtheheartofromance.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=689789287

Buy Links for “From Now Until Forever”:

http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=7105194

http://www.amazon.com/From-Now-Until-Forever-ebook/dp/B006GYAV44/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322854797&sr=1-1-spell

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/sherry-gloag-from-now-until-forever?keyword=sherry+gloag+from+now+until+forever&store=book

Buy Links for “His Chosen Bride”:

http://www.astraeapress.com/#ecwid:category=662245&mode=product&product=9472803