Not Looking For Love In February
February 12, 2020 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby tagged as Disneyland, first meetFebruary is all about love and romance. But back in 1992, I had just gotten out of a relationship and I wanted space to find myself again. Time to myself, alone. Let’s just say I wasn’t looking for love in February that year.
My friends from work asked if I wanted to go to Disneyland for the evening. I was excited to be out with a large group of friends to ignore all my problems and forget about the guy who wasn’t right for me. I definitely wasn’t looking for love.
But I knew as soon as this cute guy walked up to our group that I wanted to get to know him more. I always carried my little camera with me (way before cell phones) and heartily suggested we should take a group picture before we went inside. He immediately came and sat down next to me on the bench. (and I do have a picture, but I don’t know where it is.)
The curiousness grew.
We sat next to each other on rides and talked a lot. Did I mention there were seventeen in our group that night? Yet we kept seeking each other out. Sat next to each other on all the rides. It was a fun night. Except at the end. With both our insecurities rising we each went are separate ways that night and didn’t see each other again for over a month.
Who knew I was going to meet my future husband that night. And that we would be celebrating this month, the date we met, 28 years later. The old adage ‘love will find you when you are least looking for it’ comes to mind. I definitely was not looking for love.
But I was sitting in the middle.
I fell in love with both him and his sense of humor that night.
We still go to Disneyland, sometimes with a group and sometimes by ourselves, and we still sit next to each other as we ride all the rides.
Maybe February is truly the month of love after all!
I try to write fun February posts. A few years ago I wrote Dating Lessons from Wall-E, which is still one of my favorites. Check out my other Disney related posts at my blog denisemcolby.com.
Titanic Trivia Quiz: How many can you get right? by Jina Bacarr and Special BookBub Promo
February 11, 2020 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as BookBub, giveaway, Titanic
Meet Ava O’Reilly, the Irish heroine in ‘The Runaway Girl’ who boards the Titanic at Queenstown
I’m excited to announce that my Titanic love story, THE RUNAWAY GIRL, will be published on March 17th. So this month I thought it would be fun to test our Titanic knowledge with:
A Titanic Trivia Quiz
We’ve seen the films, read the books, but what do you know about the Titanic, really?
Take the quiz and find out!
(answers at the bottom of the page)
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Titanic Trivia Questions:
- You’ve just spent your honeymoon in Paris with your handsome husband and it’s time to return to America. He surprises you with first class tickets on the Titanic. From what French port do you sail?
- Marseilles
- Cherbourg
- Calais
- The Titanic has just arrived in Queenstown and you see several bumboats with vendors hawking their wares. They come aboard ship with their Irish souvenirs. When John Jacob Astor buys his new bride a souvenir, your husband buys you one, too. What did Colonel Astor buy his bride?
- a set of china
- a Celtic brooch
- a lace shawl
- You’re thrilled to find fresh flowers in your cabin when you and your new hubby come on board the ship of dreams. You’re also excited to find out you’re one of several honeymoon couples sailing to New York. According to reliable sources, how many honeymoon couples were there on the Titanic?
- 8
- 11
- 13
- You hear heated whispers in the first class dining saloon when American millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim arrives with his latest mistress. Everyone’s curious, who is she? And where is she from?
- Mlle. Aubart, a Parisian entertainer
- Madame de Villiers, a Belgian cabaret singer
- Miss Annabelle Pearl, a British fashion designer
- You’re late for dinner in the first class dining saloon and lost in the maze of dead end corridors when you run into that handsome gentleman you met last night. He shows you the way to the dining room, then sneaks a kiss in the elevator. How many first class elevators are there on Titanic?
- one
- two
- three
- While you were waiting to board the ship at Queenstown, Ireland, you couldn’t resist flirting with the handsome lad who helped you carry your traveling bag. He whispered in your ear he’ll sneak into the single women’s 3rd class quarters to see you later. Where are the women’s steerage cabins on the ship?
- fore
- aft
- amidships
- You want to look alluring when you meet that handsome gentleman for dinner later in the first class dining saloon on D deck, so you pamper yourself in the Turkish baths. The bath stewardess insists you try out the latest beauty treatment:
- an electric bath which tans your skin with ultraviolet lights
- a face peel
- an exercise machine where you walk in one place
- Tonight you’re dining in the exclusive À La Carte Restaurant some first class passengers call the Ritz when you hear the ship’s musicians playing a lovely waltz. Later you hear them playing that same musical piece when you’re getting into a lifeboat. Some say it may have been the last song the musicians played as the Titanic foundered. What was the name of that waltz?
- Autumn
- Emperor
- Vienna
- It’s 10 p.m. on Sunday night, April 14th, and you can’t resist a stroll up on deck with your husband. It’s misty and getting colder. Even with his strong arms wrapped around you, you can’t stop shivering. How cold is it?
- 45 degrees F
- 29 degrees F
- 32 degrees F
- It’s 11:40 p.m. and you’re in bed with your husband enjoying a night of wedded bliss when the ship hits an iceberg. You want to cuddle up next to him in your warm bed, but he insists you get dressed and get into a lifeboat. How long do you have before the ship sinks?
- 1 hour and 45 minutes
- 2 hours and 40 minutes
- 2 hours and 10 minutes
Answers:
- (Answer: B Cherbourg)
- (Answer: C a lace shawl)
- (Answer: C 13)
- (Answer: A Mlle Aubart)
- (Answer: C three)
- (Answer: B aft)
- (Answer: A an electric bath)
- (Answer: A Autumn)
- (Answer: C 32 degrees F)
- (Answer: B 2 hours and 40 minutes)
SPECIAL BookBub PROMO this week only!
I love BookBub and all the fab books featured there every day – you never know what great authors and books you’ll find!
I’ve been fortunate enough to be a BookBub Featured Deal with Christmas Once Again and I’m excited to tell you about this new BookBub Promotion from Feb 10-14 2020.
Check out this AMAZING giveaway for a $230 AMAZON GIFT CARD
To enter follow ALL of the authors in the giveaway
What are you waiting for?
Go to: http://bit.ly/BBMixedRomance
Happy BookBub-ing!
You’re Invited
February 10, 2020 by Tari Jewett in category Writing tagged as Hermosa Beach, party, release, Tari Lynn Jewett, Valentine's DayI love romance novels, Hallmark movies, candlelight dinners and flowers from my husband, and this is of course the week to pull out all of the stops, so that’s exactly what I’m doing.
My 2nd book #SilverBracelets, a romantic comedy that starts the day after Valentine’s and ends on St. Patrick’s Day, releases on Valentine’s Day. I’m so excited for the release that I’ll be having a two day party in my facebook reader group, Tari Lynn & Friends.
The story is set in my version of Hermosa Beach, and is about a school teacher who finds herself in a social media nightmare when a picture of her crashing a bicycle into a trash can goes viral. Benny Lopez, a cute police officer, seems to be behind the posts that are making her life miserable, and she wants nothing to do with him.
All Benny wants is a date with the cute school teacher, but she won’t talk to him. Until, he gets some great advice from his grandmother, and snaps on the handcuffs.
Between the bicycle accident and the handcuffs are a series of mishaps, false starts and incidents that bring friends… and maybe a guy and a girl together.
I’m having so much fun writing this series, I hope you’ll check it out. And stop by the party in Tari Lynn & Friends , Thursday, February 13th and Friday February 14th. I’ll have games, prizes and books. Did I mention chocolate?
The Amazon preorder price for #SilverBracelets is 99 cents. Get it at this special price for a limited time. Hope to see you at the party!
Then for the after party, Hunky Hubby and I are planning an evening just for two. We may even end up in Hermosa Beach. I’ll tell you all about it later…well, maybe not ALL about it…
Happy Valentine’s Day!
From Blog to Book by Kitty Bucholtz
February 9, 2020 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as blogging, Kitty Bucholtz, writing nonfictionOver the years, I’ve helped several authors take short nonfiction they’d already written and see if it could be shaped into a book. It’s been fun for me because I love seeing people get excited about new ways to share information with the world.
Since I’ve just finished helping another nonfiction writer created a book out of his existing material, I thought it would be useful to create a podcast episode out of my thoughts on the matter. It’s a bit long – I can’t seem to turn off my teaching brain! 😀 – but it’s good material for anyone who’s been thinking about turning their blog into a book. I hope it helps! Good luck!
OCC Proudly Presents Two Contests for 2020
February 8, 2020 by A Slice of Orange in category Writing Contest
Book Buyers Best Contest
Open to works of romantic fiction published in 2019.
Contest opens January 15, 2020
Deadline for receiving manuscripts is April 15, 2020
Hello published writers!
We wanted to let you know that OCC/RWA is running our annual Book Buyers Best Contest for any author who has published a work of fiction any time during 2019 (traditional or self-published). The contest is open now and closes on April 15th. We welcome you to submit to our contest.
Here is the link describing the contest rules.
Please email us if you have any further questions.
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Cathleen Armstrong and Nancy Brashear
BBB Coordinators
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The 37th Orange Rose Contest for Emerging Authors
Open to unpublished fiction in all genres.
Contest opens January 15, 2020
Deadline April 15, 2020
For more information or to enter the contest follow this LINK
