My Favorite Decade—Open Book Blog Hop

Welcome to yet another round of the Open Book Blog Hop, brought to you by some of my favorite writers. This weeks topic is— my favorite decade.

When I first saw the topic for this week, I groaned. Did i really want to give people a clue to my age based on my favorite decade? Then I realized nothing said I had to be alive in that decade. So now I can write this and leave you guessing. Was I alive back then or is this all my imagination?

And then I realized that if I could break one unspoken rule, I could break another. So, ladies and gentleman, no boring, run-of-the mill decade for me. May I present 1965-1975?

Why you ask? I'll tell you why. The music. We get to skip the awkward years of rock-n-roll's beginnings and move into the the era of make love, not war. The singer-songwriter movement was bursting into its peak and the creativity of musicians soared. The decade gave us the likes of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell and of course, John Denver. We have Woodstock, the anti-war movement and The Beatles' White Album.


1965-1975 gave us a new way to listen to the music too. You no longer had to be glued to a radio or a stereo, 8-track tapes gave us the ability to listen to our choice of music anywhere we went. Music became an essential part of people's lives.

Did I mention the musicians? The decade gave us Pink Floyd, The Eagles and The Carpenters. I haven't even touched on the country-western greats of the time. Remember when it was country-western and not country?

By 1975 we were heading into the disco era and music changed again. Yes, there was still great music being made, but somehow it didn't hold the same raw emotion. Popular music got glitzy, sparkly and over-produced. 

So what's your favorite decade for music? leave a comment and tell us.

Before you go check out what another author's favorite decade is, let me share with you one of my favorites. P.J. Fiala, the organizer of this hop,(Thank you Patti!) writes great romances with a motorcycle twist. You can check them out at PJ Fiala. 

You can find more blog hops at the links below.

An InLinkz Link-up

get the InLinkz code

My Secret Passion -Open Book Blog Hop

Welcome to another week of Meet The Author Open Book Blog Hop. This week's theme is: What your secret passion/guilty pleasure?

When I wrote my first book, I didn't tell anyone what I was doing, including my dearly beloved. I thought that I'd write one and get it out of my system. It didn't work out that way and I have more ideas for books than I have time to write.  I was nearly done with my second book before I shared what I was up to with him. He thought I was reading or playing games on the computer.

And I didn't share it with my coworkers until I worked up the courage to indie-release my fourth book. (Yes, there are three books I might go back to someday, see if I can whip them into shape and put them out there.) I took quite a bit of teasing about my writing because they couldn't quite wrap their heads around the fact that this old lady wrote a paranormal romance. Now that I've released three the teasing has mostly died down.

But writing books was not my first venture into writing. My true passion for many years was poetry. In fact, I've been published internationally. I don't claim to be great, but I think some of my poems are pretty darned good.

I'll share just one with you, my favorite. P.J. Fiala, you might recognize the inspiration.

                     Beartooth Mountain Pass

I stand at the edge of eternity

Where the mountains and sky mingle
In a curious cacophony of watercolors
Where granite boulders,
With a furious freedom, defy gravity,
Hang in precarious unbalalnce
And do not fall
Where winter snows linger
Alongside short lived summer flowers

Where the world falls away from my feet
I teach myself to breathe again
12000 feet high

And that's my not so secret passion. What's yours? Tell us in the comments. And as always, if there's anything you want to find out about us, let us know.

Before you leave, Have you checked out Lela Markham's books yet? You can find her author page on Amazon HERE  

An InLinkz Link-up

get the InLinkz code

Bucket List - Open Book Blog Hop

Welcome to this week's version of the Open Book Blog Hop, where you can find out more about our merry gang of authors. This week, we're talking about our bucket lists. If there's anything in particular you'd like us share, please let us know in the comments.

I'm a live-each-day-as-it-comes kind of person, so I've never had a bucket list.The way my life has played out, I've had the opportunity to do things that I'm guessing other people would envy.

I've played on Florida's beaches from Jacksonville and all the way  along the coast to Panama Beach.  Not all in one trip, but over the years too-many I lived in that state. Some were impressive, others not so much. I certainly didn't see all of them, but I walked on quite a few.

I've lived on both the East and West Coasts. I've traveled across the continental United States for work, and have been in almost every state. But I was working, so I didn't have the chance to do much exploring. Still, I can claim I was there.

I've changed careers several times. I say I didn't find what I wanted to do with my life until I was over 40 years old. And although I love what I do, I make no promises I won't change jobs again.

But there are still a few things I'd like to do.

I'd like to make a mini-tour in tribute to John Denver. There will be only a couple of stops on that trip—Red Rocks near Denver where the John Denver tribute statue is located, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, and of course Aspen, Colorado. 

I'd like to write a best seller. Maybe that's more of a pipe dream than a bucket list item, but hey, I can dream, can't I? I'm working in it, anyway. Maybe my next book. I can imagine walking into a book store and seeing a whole shelf of my books. And If I had Photoshop, I could make it happen!

Someday, I'd like to travel to Ireland, where my mother's ancestors originated. The land has always held a certain attraction for me. Probably because I believe in magic and Ireland holds a mystical charm.

So do you have a bucket list? Tell us about it in the comments.

Before you click on another link and head over to another blog, don't forget to check out Lela Markham's books. You can find them on Amazon HERE. I wonder if Ireland is on her bucket list too. 

Don't forget to check back in next week and find out what we're talking about then.

An InLinkz Link-up

Here’s the code for adding the button:

get the InLinkz code

Three Things About Me- Open Book Blog Hop

Welcome everyone, no matter where you came from! 

This week's topic: Tell us three things about you. What makes you unique? How would people describe you? Tell us something we don’t know about you.

You'd think for a writer answering these questions would be easy. After all, we spend hours building characters and trying to make them believable to for our readers.  But I'm an introvert (Aha! Number 1!) and I don't like to talk about myself. Plus I'm a private person and am very selective I've what I share about myself. So these questions are actually tough for me to answer.

I like to think of myself as a bundle of contradictions. You'll see what I mean.

Let's start with something easy. I didn't touch my first computer until I was over 30 years old. Now I earn my living sitting in front of a computer screen as a systems analyst. But I also did a stint as a computer tech, repairing computers and supporting users. (Yes, I was Help Desk. That's a double contradiction—an older woman doing a job normally held by young guys.) And when I'm home, I'm sitting in front of a computer, writing!

To make it it even more complicated, I'm an old hippie chick. No, I didn't make it to Woodstock or San Francisco. But I did make skirts out of my old blue jeans, I grew my own food and canned or froze the harvest. I've sewn shirts completely by hand, and decorated them with colorful embroidery. I've even been known to wear tie-die shirts and headbands.I tried to teach myself to play guitar, but I never learned more than a couple of songs.

Whew, that's three things,right? What, the introvert thing doesn't count? Sigh. All right, one more. This one related to my writing.

I never imagined myself writing a paranormal romance. Heck, I wrote poetry, not books. But when the stories started coming, there was no way to put a stop to them. So I wrote Wolves' Pawn, figured I got the paranormal thing out of my system and started writing mysteries. But no, Tasha, one of the minor characters in Wolves' Pawn, DEMANDED I write her story. So I am. My next book will be Wolves' Knight, Tasha's Tale. I'm hoping for an October release date. Then maybe I'll be able to get back to Harmony Duprie and her adventures. (Want to see my books? Check out the My Books link.)

If there's anything you'd like to our authors to answer, leave a comment. We're always looking for fresh topics.

And before you take off to read what another author has to say about this week's topic, don't forget to check out Christine Ardigo's books. You can find them HERE

Here’s the code for hosting:

An InLinkz Link-up