Happy Halloween!

Thought I'd post some really awesome animal Halloween costumes! Enjoy!

Guest: Elane Cantrell

Today's guest is Elaine Cantrell and her latest release, Never Trust a Pretty Wolf.

Elaine was born and raised in South Carolina. She holds a Master’s Degree in Personnel Services from Clemson University and is a member of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary sorority for women educators. She is also a member of Romance Writer’s of America and EPIC authors. Her first novel, A New Leaf, was the 2003 winner of the Timeless Love Contest and was published in 2004 by Oak Tree Books. At present she teaches high school social studies.


Where to find her:
Website
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest

Elaine will be giving away  a $25 Amazon gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter, so be sure and mention you were here and follow her tour!

My Bucket List

Bucket lists are so interesting. I think they reveal a lot about a person’s life and values. That being said, I hope you think my list is worthy of completion.  I’d love to hear some things from your list. Do leave me a comment and tell me the number one thing on your own bucket list.  I’m truly interested in what you have to say.

 A great many of the items I’d like to put on my list are truly impossible, though.  For example, I have a grandson with autism.  If I could, I’d find out what causes it and how to cure it.  It’s too late for Simon, but I’d give almost anything to spare others from the pain of having a child with autism.  It’s one of the most dreadful things I’ve ever seen.   But I can’t do that.  At present no one can, so my list is going to focus on things that I can do. 

First, and this is really important to me, once I retire I hope to become active in animal rescue.  My own animals are all rescues or strays, which amounts to the same thing.  At present, I use my Facebook page to hopefully educate some thoughtless people about the correct way to treat animals.  I’d tell you what I saw on vacation, but it would break your heart.  No, come to think of it, I will tell you.  There was this woman who had a little dog with her on the beach.  The temperature that day was 103.  People were yelping and running as they crossed the beach to the water because their feet were burning.  My own feet felt like they were on fire from the heat trapped in the blazing sand.  The woman laid out a blanket and put up a tent, but she wouldn’t let the little dog on the blanket.  He whined and shifted from foot to foot and tried to get off the sand, but she made him stand there.  Once I saw what was happening I jumped up to go and probably start a fight, but it was too hot for her, and she left the beach.  What cruelty!  No doubt she didn’t see it that way, but how could she not?  If the heat was too much for her, didn’t she think how it would affect her pet?  See, I’m very passionate about this cause. 

Too cruel! I can't believe she wouldn't let the dog under the shade! As a dog owner myself, I can't understand that. My corgi doesn't like the heat but she does want to be with me wherever I am, so I've had to retrain myself to spend more time indoors with her. I also have a cooling bed for her and always make sure her water is very cold with ice cubes, which she loves!

Second, I want to master my photo editing software.  I’m told it’s a top notch system, but I can’t use it.  I can’t even understand the words in the instructions.  I know some people won’t understand this.  My sons were raised in the computer age, and they seem to instinctively know how to use almost any program.  Well, I was raised in an era where primitive computers took up a gigantic room and people fed them information using punch cards.  I’ve tried to figure the software out on my own, but it’s no use.  I’ve got to go and take a course somewhere.

Youtube. That's where I learned a lot about it! :)

Last, I’d like to see New England in the fall.  I’ve seen so many pictures, calendars, and cards with picturesque churches, Rockwell type villages, and lovely leaves that I want to experience it firsthand.  It seems as though something inside me instinctively yearns toward New England.  Maybe some of my ancestors came to the New World and lived in New England.  Maybe this yearning is some kind of racial memory.  And maybe I’ve just seen a lot of pretty pictures.   

Sounds lovely! 

I’m a fortunate person in that I’ve been able to achieve a lot of my dreams, not the least of which was becoming an author.  I wanted to write from the time I was a little girl, and I’m grateful that I gave it a try even though I had no idea if I could do it or not.  

Isabel, thank you so much for letting me come to your blog.  I’ve enjoyed talking to your readers tremendously, and it was fun to actually nail down my bucket list. I love reading others' lists, I think it helps me add to mine and it shares a bit about the author. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Okay, readers, it’s your turn.  Give me the number one item on your own list.

BLURB:

Liesel Wolf has a secret, a dangerous secret she’ll go to any lengths to conceal. When she’s paired in a charity game with sexy marshal Andy Bryce, a man with secrets of his own, her carefully constructed world comes crashing down, and Liesel’s on a collision course with her past.

Excerpt:
The minute the blue Mustang came to a halt, the valet hurried to open the car door for the newcomer. A pair of long, shapely legs unfolded from the car. Andy’s mouth went dry as his eyes traveled from her legs to her face. He had discovered a goddess. An overworked cliché perhaps, but he knew of no other words to describe her.

The goddess had Titian hair which begged him to run his fingers through it, freeing those glorious curls. Even from where he stood, her eyes glowed with an emerald fire. Her skin looked as if it would put satin to shame. As he stared at her mouth, a bolt of fire stabbed him right below his belt. He could only imagine how it might feel to kiss and taste those lush, red lips.

She sashayed up to the porch and held out her hand to Melton. “Good evening, Thomas.”

Melton was having a hard time getting his voice under control, but he finally stuttered, “Welcome, L… Li… Liesel. It’s great to finally meet you in person. This is your partner, Andy Bryce. Andy’s a United States Marshal.”

The light left her face. She shot Andy a look of what he swore was dislike, even though they’d never met. “Oh, but I thought you said the mayor was my partner.”

Melton nodded. “He was. But something came up, and his brother’s filling in for him.”

She didn’t want to be his partner. Andy knew it as surely as he knew his own name. He wondered if she had heard about… Yeah, she could have. The story made most of the big papers. The Marshals had trained him to read people, so he knew Ms. Wolf didn’t like him.

Where to buy:
All Romance
Amazon
Astraea Press
Barnes and Noble

Monday Musings: Pets and Kids 4

Last MOnday in January. Every one complete their goals? Buy those books they wanted? How're those TBR piles coming along?

Monday Musings: Pets and Kids 3

Another January week to get through, another set of pictures. Now that the Christmas lights are down it's even darker out than before!

Monday Musings: Pets and Kids 2

More cute animals and kids photos. I say animals because that's a pig. Yes. A pig. That kid is going to have issues when a teenager and sees this picture again!

Course I don't think this girl thought about her nose's precarious position when she sat down.

Monday Musings: Pets and Kids

Got this in a forward and need to share. It's been a while since I've shared cute pictures so on this 2nd week of the month, we'll start it out right!

Friday smiles

Here are some more pictures from the email forward. No idea where they came from but they're too cute not to share. Some captions only came in the email, so I pasted them here. My absolute favorite is the last one, but the second to last one is adorable as well. Which one is yours?

 "You want a piece of me?  Bring it on!...

 "Kid . . .. You're askin' the wrong guy".

It was only a little pee, why the 30 minute timeout?

Touch de duck... I keel you!

Friday smiles

These are also from a forward from a friend, but they're all stinking adorable. I'll only post a couple here and save some for another day. I hope you smile like I did!

I love this one, it's so classic!

And my favorite in this bunch...

More pictures to smile over

This came from a forward a friend sent me. No idea where it originated from, but the pictures are too good not to share. Adorable, I can't help it, I'm a sucker for cute animal pictures!

And if you haven't seen this adorable video, you really should.

Tuesday Comings and Goings

Never did post on Scandalous Victorians...have now remedied that.

And have my new puppy! Oh, she's adorable. Confused and scared, it was her first night here, but she's too cute for words.