A Memorable Thanksgiving

For many years Thanksgiving vacation meant family reunion with about forty relatives and a dozen close friends gathering for lunch and dinner at my parents' house, or my aunt and uncle's, exchanging news and jokes, and making plans for the next year. As the children grew and the parents' health failed, the reunion took place at my house.
But the dear old people left us one after the other. So this year we decided to break the tradition that held sweet and painful memories.

My son suggested a cruise and we welcomed the idea. With nine adults and two small children, we boarded the Ruby Princess ship, sailed the Caribbean and enjoyed a week of relaxation and togetherness. After a day at sea, we docked at Princess Cay, an island owned by the Princess company, and lunched on the beach. Here are some pictures taken on Princess Cay Island. For the next three days I will post pictures of St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. John islands and Grand Turk.
Older people lay on comfortable lounge chairs.

Pretty girls dipped their legs in the ocean.

The children played in an enclosed kidd-camp under the close supervision of several monitors chosen from the ship staff.

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN
Rx FOR TRUST
http://www.monarisk.com/

Thanksgiving

Have a happy THANKSGIVING.

Don't eat too much.

Relax and read.

See you in a week.
I will back with many stories and beautiful pictures.

Here is a list of of award-winning books you will enjoy reading.

TO LOVE A HERO
FRENCH PERIL
BABIES IN THE BARGAIN
Rx FOR TRUST

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

Fort Lauderdale

Today I am blogging at:

http://www.voicesftheart.blogspot.com/

About psychic, dreams, and incredible things. Please come and visit.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in Fort Lauderdale with a perfect 78 degree temperature.

I spent an hour swimming in the ocean.

If you are looking for a nice vacation in warmer climate, come and visit South Florida.

We don't have the beautiful foliage colors of the north states or the snow-covered slopes, but we offer the amazing blue variation of our ocean and the most beautiful sandy beaches, the Intercoastal and its many canals.

Yes I am partial to my Florida, its speldid sunrises on the ocean and colorful sunsets.

I'll be back tomorrow with a lovely video to show you.

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN
Rx FOR TRUST
http://www.monarisk.com/

Back to writing, blogging, and more

Today I attended a workshop on how to update my blog and website. You’ll notice I already applied what I learned and gave a facelift to my blog. I even added a followers’ box and I hope to see you joining my list of followers.

I have good news to share with you. Rx FOR TRUST, my latest contemporary romance that won Best Book of the Year 2010 at Readers Favorite, is now a finalist at EPICON 2011.




I was thrilled when I received the email with that good news. The winners will be announced at the EPICON conference in Williamsburg VA, in March 2011. I hope I’ll be able to attend. It’s a little bit like the Golden Heart or RITA award for ebooks.

Following that good news, I managed to kick myself —hard—and sit on my computer to write. My muse rushed back with a story set in Greece. So we are going to travel together to the beautiful island of Mykonos.


If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat~

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN

Rx FOR TRUST

http://www.monarisk.com/

So much has happened

My last blog was dated September 23, 2010. I posted to announce good news: Rx FOR TRUST won Best Contemporary Romance of the Year 2010 at Readers Favorite. I was smiling to my ears.

The day after I stopped smiling. My heart clutched by anxiety. My Mom started coughing. The doctor ordered her to bedrest. She never came out of that bed alive. My sister, my aunt and I stayed with her day and night. Five days later, on September 28, Mom died surrounded by her loved ones.

Family and friends gathered around us and offered support and prayers.

My mother is remembered for her lovely smile, her positive attitude, her incredible endurance.

A month had passed but I still can't look at her pictures without crying, although I am sure she is in a better place and praying for us.

I received a very nice poem from my friend, Mimi. It applies so well to my Mom.

Fill not your hearts with pain and sorrow,

But remember me in every tomorrow.
Remember the joy, the laughter, the smiles,

I've only gone to rest a little while.
Although my leaving causes pain and grief,

My going has eased my hurt and given me relief.

So dry your eyes and remember me,

Not as I am now, but as I used to be.

Because, I will remember you all and look on with a smile.
Understand, in your hearts, I've only gone to rest a little while.

As long as I have the love of each of you,

I can live my life in the hearts of all of you.

Rx FOR TRUST: A Winner!!!

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” Walter Scott.

Successful physician and loving mother, Olivia Crane fiercely believes youthful mistakes should be kept secret and skeletons are better left in the closet. Dr. Luc George, the French psychiatrist, she loved ten years ago, detests secrets. Can he help her conquer her inner fears or will he get burned by the past too? Will Olivia grab her second chance and finally find happiness with the love of her life?

Happy Ever After~5 Cups. Mona Risk writes a beautiful love story about second chances and being afraid to take a leap of faith. Prescription of Trust is a fast paced book that you just can’t put down until the end.

Readers Favorite~ 5 Hearts This is the first book of the Doctors Orders Series by Mona Risk. If the rest of the books in this string is of this caliber, Ms. Risk will find herself with a very successful series on her hands.

From a fan: I totally recommend Mona Risk!!!!!!!! Read and you wont be sorry. Worth every penny you pay for her books. Take it from the constant reader! ;)

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat~

Multipublished, Award Winning Author Terry Spear

Please welcome Award-Winning, multipublished author, Terry spear.

Thanks so much, Mona, for having me on your blog today.

Do We Ever Run Out of Things to Say???

When doing a month-long blog tour, our publicist tells us not to repeat ourselves too much so readers will have something new to read. Ah. We are writers after all. So that should be easy. Right? Hmm, well, after writing 11 guest blogs and interviews, with 13 left to go, while doing my regularly scheduled daily blogs (Terry Spear Blog—original title, I know, Myspace, and Redroom for Authors), and my monthly blogs (From the Heart), twice monthly blogs (Casablanca) and my weekly blogs (Fierce Romance & Wickedly Romance & Shapeshifter Romance), I’m stymied.

What is an author to do?
Call on his or her muse. What if you have a closet muse like mine? Who only appears when she wants to? Yet deadlines loom and there’s not much hope for her help, so what is an author to do? Like with writing the novel, just write. Sometimes an image will help. Sometimes a news story. Sometimes just the blog title for someone else’s blog will be so intriguing, you can write your own spin off it. I’ve talked about why werewolves, my research, how Heart of the Wolf has expanded into a series, what’s next—so what is left to say?

How about answering fan questions?
Will Silva and Sam from Destiny of the Wolf ever get together? Hmm, let’s take a quick trip to Silver Town, Colorado and see. They’re…hmmm, not sure. Looks like a game of tag in progress among the pack members in their human form, and Sam’s got Silva pinned down to the grass on her back, while the game’s still going on. Looks like their dating is still going strong. We’ll leave them to their game though in Wolf Fever and try to answer another fan question.

Do I ever write wolves have sex as wolves? Hmm, no. That’s for biology class.  It’s eluded to—they are part wolf after all, and it would be as natural to them to have sex in that form as the other.
Why can werewolves in the series shift at other times other than the full moon? If they only shifted during the full moon, their wolf halves wouldn’t be as dominate as they are. It would be more like a nuisance situation once a month during the week of the full moon. Now to add a little conflict, unless the werewolf has mostly werewolf roots and is considered a royal and can change at will any time during any phase of the moon, the others can’t shapeshift during the phase of the new moon where it appears there is no moon at all.

Will we see more of: Jake and Tom (brothers to Darien in Destiny of the Wolf, Book 2)? Yes, both are in Wolf Fever (Book 6), and Jake has his own story in Dreaming of the Wolf (Book 8).
Zoo man Thompson (Heart of the Wolf, Book 1)? Yes, in Seduced by the Wolf (Book 5).
Sarge from Legend of the White Wolf (Book 5)? Yes, as the omega wolf in Seduced by the Wolf.
Meara, Hunter’s sister in To Tempt the Wolf (Book 3)? Yes, her own story in The Wolf and the SEAL (Book 9). And the other characters in To Tempt the Wolf will also be expanded upon.
Carol Wood from Destiny of the Wolf? Yes, her own story in Wolf Fever.
Reviewers often also ask some fun questions after reviewing the stories, so I go back and reread them and try to incorporate the ideas in some of the newer stories.

Where did I get the idea of having another SEAL? My editor made the fun comment about To Tempt the Wolf and the fact Hunter was an ex-Navy SEAL and how fun it would be if he was a member of a whole team of Navy SEALS who were wolves. And that kernel of a plot idea has continued to intrigue me until I could add it to this story, The Wolf and the SEAL.  I hope they keep the title. Everyone loves it that’s commented to me on it so far.

Do I know my characters inside and out before I write them? No. As they have to deal with situations, they grow as characters. And I learn more and more about them. And believe me, this is the way it works for me. Others write well by plotting and planning their whole story. But I’ve never been able to do that. So if you’re a writer reading this, write the way that works best for you!

So my question to readers is this—if you’ve been following the series, who do you want to see a story about? And if you haven’t been following the series, my question is, why not??? The wolves don’t bite, too hard! And if they do, you’ll find a whole new world to enjoy!
One last thing—the series is open ended. Several have asked me that of late, worried this will be the end. But there are too many characters who haven’t had their say. And each book is a story in and of itself. So even though I do have references to other characters, you can read them out of order and not be totally lost. 

And wow, I did it! Came up with another blog!!! It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!
Thanks again for having me, Mona! I had fun!
And to readers, thanks so much for dropping by and commenting!!
Terry
http://www.terryspear.com/

http://www.wickedlyromantic.blogspot.com/
http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/
http://fierceromance.blogspot.com/

http://www.facebook.com/terry.spear
http://shapeshifterromance.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/legend-of-the-white-wolf-being-shipped/#comment-4502
http://terry-spear.blogspot.com/