The thing about unexpected technology changes...

*sits here brooding*

Yes, I know.  Shouldn’t I be shouting to the rooftops that Mimi’s Reign is now available for purchase.  Well, it isn’t.  I’m still working out the Amazon bugs with my cover.  *sighs*  It bummed me out and took a lot of the wind out of my sails.  Then I caught a summer cold.  And I still have a day job that likes to remind me that I owe them some attention.  On top of that, I’m missing family get-togethers, too.

But I shall prevail and you shall have Mimi’s Reign for your reading pleasure SOON!  I’m determined.  Here's hoping Shawntiqua can add a little of her fairy dust to my black girl magic so I can make it do what it do.

Hang in there folks and thank you for hanging in there with me.  You shall be rewarded!

Because when Mimi's Reign is available, there will be a contest for something you can't buy anywhere!  Stay tuned!

And as always, no matter what you're reading: HAPPY READING!!!!

*goes back to fiddling with the cover*

It's been how long????

Ohmigosh!

Happy New Year!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy St. Paddy’s Day!

Happy Easter!

Happy Mother’s Day!

And that is where I’ll stop!  I don’t normally wish people happy Memorial Day.  It is not a happy day but a solemn one to me.  It is the day when we remember those who have fought and died for our freedom in wars past and, unfortunately, present.  It is a day of remembrance for real life heroes to me.  It is bittersweet to think of the bright spirits who fought, were maimed and died so that I could have all the wonderful freedoms that I have.  Thank you seems so inadequate for their precious sacrifices.

So, long time no blog on my end and for that I am sorry.  I really didn’t mean to be gone so long but look at these new additions to my family.

My new niece.

My new nephew.

They needed spoiling.  Who better than me to spoil them?  They arrived last year and I’ve been busy being a good aunty.  But never fear, I’m still writing.  Just spoiling more than writing.  One of the little darlings has crossed into his first year and the little niece is headed for her first birthday soon.  He’s a rough and tumble boy, look out Olympic Gymnastics team. *chuckling* And she is the sweetest thing.  All she wants to do is sit on your lap, play and giggle.

With sweeties like these is there any wonder that I’m writing slower?  So don’t blame me, blame their parents.  That’s my excuse and it is true.

Anyhoodles, I hope this missive finds you all in good spirits and chomping at the bit for Mimi’s Reign.  Don’t fall in love with that title.  *chuckling*  That is the thing about self-publishing.  I may keep myself to a schedule but titles are subject to change up until I push the publish button. *Lqtms*

I stopped by because I wanted to share how I spent my Mother’s Day.  My mother, may the Lord God rest her soul after dealing with me, has passed on.  But we get together to celebrate the moms in our family.

This Mother’s Day we went to one of our usual spots here in Baltimore, Martin’s East.  They have a buffet luncheon with goo-gobs of food and lots of music along with door prizes.  As usual it was a total blast.

There is a Martin’s West but I like going to Martin’s East because there is a senior couple that come every year.  They are in their 80s and just as in love as they can be.  The DJ will play a song from the 1940s or 50s just for them to dance to and it is so heartwarming to see love that has stood the test of time, war, and peace.  They are a beautiful reminder of the love we all seek.

This year, they got up and danced the Electric Slide with us younger folks.  We all cheered them as they did the steps with us.  We had some salsa music for our hispanic families and so much more.

There was a grandmother there in her 80s with a sparkly cane.  She made her way to the dance floor with what looked like 7 or 8 granddaughters in tow.  They danced a circle around her while she shook her shimmy.  You know I had to get out on the dance floor then.  I had been challenged! *chuckling*

Through it all I just enjoyed the comaraderie.  The celebration of us human beings.  People wishing every woman Happy Mother’s Day!  When I said I wasn’t a mom, I was corrected.  “You have mothered someone in some way.  You’re an aunt, a godmother, a friend, a nurturer, a stranger holding a lost child’s hand until they locate their frantic parent.  In some way you have mothered someone who needed it.  So Happy Mother’s Day!”

This is when I love being human and being a citizen of the USA.  When we just celebrate each other.  When we put forward the best of ourselves to reach out and touch the best in each other.

That’s how I spent Mother’s Day afternoon, connecting with the best in a banquet hall full of people of all ages and skin colors and creeds in their happiest and best moments.

I hope you were able to do the same.

Take great care of yourselves and as always, no matter what you’re reading: HAPPY READING!

Sunshine

I'm a bad book mommy but I promise to do so much better.

Guess what is live now?

Here is the LINK to purchase!  As much fun as I had writing this and as in a hurry as I was to share it, you'd think I would have sky wrote it when it was released. I'm going to do better with Mimi's Reign.  I still ain't sold on that title. *chuckle* We writers are a little insane.  I guess you have to be to think up some of the things we do.

Mimi's Reign will be live June 30, 2017. It will be just in time for the long July 4th weekend here in the USA.

So that is what I am up to for now. Stay tuned, be cool, and as always: No matter what you're reading HAPPY READING!


Sunshine

Elyrian Husbands 2: Kellat is available NOW!

Well HAPPY APRIL FOURTH! *chuckles*

Well, it is a week late but it has arrived!  Elyrian Husbands 2: Kellat is available on Amazon.com NOW!  BUY LINK

I hope you will enjoy reading it.  Kellat is such a complicated character.  So arrogant and yet he’s vulnerable, too.  I had to make him a wife that was more vulnerable than him.  I know what you’re thinking, Vanessa doesn’t seem the type.  Well, we’ve all got our secrets.  Vanessa is no different.  They share the same pain but they both handled it differently.  That’s one of the amazingly wonderful things I find about us human beings, we can experience the same thing but each of us will react differently to it.

So, before anyone even asks:  Next up is Elyrian Husbands 3!  Look for it, baring any technical glitches, on June 28^th! Please keep thinking positive and happy thoughts for me! Thank you!

That’s tricks for now!  Thank you so much for keeping up with me and my stories!  Thank you for your patience and continued wonderful support!  Thank you for all the wonderful reviews, they get me all misty eyed whenever I read them.  Thank you for enjoying my stories and spreading the word.

Wishing you a great day and great week!  Keep an eye out for my FOURTH anniversary contest this month.  And as always, no matter what you’re reading, HAPPY READING!

Sunshine

Happy February 29th!

I only get to say it once every four years and how awesome that I get to publish on this day, too!

In case you haven’t heard, Elyrian Brides: Minxy Choices has hit the virtual bookshelves for purchase!  *relieved sigh*  BUY LINK

I’ve had some publishing glitches in the past and am relieved that this one went on beautifully.

A few people knew it was available for publishing before I did. *chuckle*  Amazon sends an author an email stating that the book is ready to be purchased but many times it has been up for hours.  Such was the case with Elyrian Brides: Minxy Choices.  I mentioned that it would be available today and someone *looks pointedly at Trecia Jackson Blache* went over to Amazon and brought back the link. *chuckling*  That was around 8:30 pm last night.  See the screenshot below to see when Amazon told me.

All’s well that ends well.  I’m just glad it is available to purchase on time and now I can get back to writing, editing, world building, promoting, and more.  So much to do!

I’ve come up with some new stories meaning new worlds to explore.  I’m having a blast so far with these new stories and can’t wait to share them with you.  I hope you’ll stick around to read them.

Oh and don’t think I’ve forgotten about The Chronicles of Callandaria or The Ascension Earth Series.  You’ll have a new book for each series in your hands later this year.

Up next, is Elyrian Husbands 2 for release March 28^th!  Four short little weeks!  Can you wait?

Well that’s some of what’s going on in my world.  Thank you all so much for your continued support, patience, endorsements, reviews, encouragement, and outright prodding!  I enjoy and appreciate it all!

As always, no matter what you’re reading: HAPPY READING!

Sunshine

I. HATE. CHAMPAGNE.

Great day everyone!

So, if you were on Twitter or Facebook last night you may have seen a couple drunken posts by me.  I’ve deleted nothing as I am happily surprised that I kept it neat and cute.  Though others *looks pointedly at Mimi Tremont* were trying to trick me into being less neat and cute.  Believe me when I type that I can be messy when under the influence of alcohol.  I’m happy to see I kept it clean.

Anyhoodles, I said I’d reveal my reason for being tipsy as soon as I sobered up.  But my head had other ideas. *chuckle* So it took me a bit longer to get this post together.  At last, here it is.

I am working on Elyrian Husbands II, among other stories.  If you will remember, I left Vanessa about to become a billionaire.  Her story picks up from there.  How does a new young billionaire celebrate their new found wealth?  Why with champagne and caviar of course!

Therein lay my problem, I couldn’t honestly tell you what caviar tastes like.  I've had it in dish.  It was just one of the ingredients in the recipe.  I really couldn’t remember what it tasted like all by itself.  So that meant cracking open the piggy bank and going for the gusto.  

First though, I needed to do some research.  I wanted to know what was the finest and what was the least finest that should be consumed by itself.  I mean, my grocery store sells caviar.  I found three different brands and none of them cost more than $10 an ounce.  I’m imagining that that is the cooking caviar.  You know kind of like there are diamonds that become exquisite pieces of jewelry and then there are diamonds that are so flawed that they are ground up into dust to be used in costumes.

So to the internet I went studying up on the various kinds of caviar.  Did you know that the USA produces its own caviar, too?  We get ours from salmon and some white fish.  The salmon caviar is a rather orangey pink as opposed the dark gray/black caviar that is most popular.  If you’ve seen my Pinterest account [link]then you know I have a board entitled Because Sunshine Loves Pink. *chuckles* However, I passed on the orangey pink caviar this time.  I decided to go with what is still considered the best of the best, Beluga.

Having decided on which type of caviar I wanted I remembered the scene in the movie Titanic where the doomed hero Jack is asked by a server how he took his caviar.  The camera does a quick flash at the tray the server is holding.  There’s a lot of stuff on the tray but it was a quick flash.  So back to the internet I went.

I scoured the internet for how to serve it.  It must be kept very cold as it is seafood and you don’t want to end up with tape worms.  What to serve it with, the best should be eaten with champagne only.  The further your caviar falls from the best the more condiments you might need.  Depends on your taste buds.  Popular condiments are chopped boiled egg whites, chopped boiled egg yolks, sour cream, and chopped red onions.

I decided since I was going with the top of the caviar line to skip the condiments.  Also, I didn’t feel like doing the prep work.  Hey!  Quit judging me.  I still have a day job.

I found a store online that wasn’t too many states away from me.  They have a restaurant as well as an online store.  They ship overnight.  Truly I placed my order between 6-7 pm and, after a confirming phone call from a pleasant gentleman with an accent I couldn’t quite place, I received my order the next day just before 10 am.  How’s that for service?

I ordered blinis and crème fraiche to go with this delicacy.  Never had crème fraiche and it was only $6.  A drop in the bucket compared to what I paid for the caviar.

Next, champagne!  Top shelf caviar calls for top shelf champagne.  So I chose Moet.  Why did I practically have to pry the bottle out of the store clerk’s hands?  Seriously.  He carries the bottle to the counter and then has a moment with it as he explains to me, “I really love Moet.”

I’m looking at him like he’s crazy as he sighs over the bottle cradling it.  smh This could only happen to me.

So now I have all my ingredients for my mini nosh.  I decide to wait until Friday night when I could sit back and enjoy it (or not) without having to worry about work in the morning.

I follow the directions on the blini packaging and toasted twelve of them lightly in the oven. I did half with butter and half without.

While they were toasting, I took some pictures of what an ounce of caviar looks like.

Okay, I'm a writer not a photographer. *chuckles* I did the best I could.  Next time I do this, I may get someone else to take the pictures of me getting it out of the container and into its special serving dish.  I had to laugh at myself scraping every last tiny fish egg out of that container. For this price, I want it ALL!!!!

I'll spare you the details about the serving dish and utensils for now.  Just that I purchased a special mother of pearl spoon ($7 including shipping and handling) and the caviar company sent me one for free. Bless their hearts, it is the one in the gold wrapping.

So that is an ounce of caviar.  Time to pop the cork on that champagne and get this tasting on the road.

Since I skipped the pink caviar I did go with the rose' champagne.  Oh it went down nice.  Real nice.

I swear I was sitting still when I took these pictures. I have no idea why one turned out blurry.  Must have been a portent of things to come.

From there it was eat and sip and repeat.  I was half way through the nosh before I remembered the crème fraiche.  But I did and it was a good addition.

It was a very rich experience. I cooked a meal never believing that an ounce of caviar would fill me up.  However, it did in the way that a meal with lots of butter or cream or both would.

I could have skipped the meal but it was shrimp scampi and I had already downed half the bottle of champagne.  My faculties were telling me that though I might not want to eat more, I indeed needed a little more food in my stomach.

Sooooooo...

Did I mention how rich the nosh was?  Well scampi made with butter and wine is pretty rich, too. *chuckles*

By the time I finished what I could of dinner, about half, I was almost done with the champagne.  My night ended with an impromptu concert of my favorite Rihanna songs using the bottle as my microphone. LOL

My neighbors have my apologies.  I think karma got even with me come the morning.  I...a seasoned veteran drinker... was awakened out of my sleep with a headache the likes of which I hadn't felt in years!  Hence, the title of this post.  Ugh!  There would be six painkiller capsules, ringing phones, ringing doorbells, and many jokes and tauntings before I would be right enough to write this missive.

My verdict on the caviar?  I think I'll let Vanessa tell you.  A hint though, now that I've had the best I will try the rest.  Hey!  They cost less and I'll go light on that champagne.  *shakes fist at the empty bottle*

That's tricks.  Remember, Courted II will be live on September 28th.  So bon appétit and have a great night.  And of course, no matter what you are reading: HAPPY READING!