Tis the season for a variety of posts, and today's is taking us back on tour with Rachel's Random Resources as we explore a two story holiday collection ready for you to partake in, AND get up close and personal with one of the author's (Kathy Wheeler), as she shares a special post entitled 'Dreams On Hold'. Are you ready? Good. Sit back, and let's let the bookish fun fly as we welcome today's blog tour guest...
Gaming Hell Christmas (Volume 2)
Mysteries abound at London's most fashionable Hell.
The Thief Who Stole Christmas - Amanda McCabe
A man who has never broken the rules, and a woman who just might break his heart! But Christmas is always a time for second chances...
As one of Miss Greensley's Girls, a member of the exclusive club la Sous Rose, and famous author Lady L, Victoria Lanford moves easily through Society ballrooms. Few people know how her unhappy childhood and anxiety led her to pickpocketing (yet, she did return the jewels)! When she comes face-to-face with old flame Rhys Neville, Earl of Hammond, she knows the kind-hearted, straight-laced, devilishly handsome lord is not for her—especially once the past comes back to haunt them. Why, then, can't she stop thinking about their kisses?
The Kerse Who Saved Christmas - Kathy L Wheeler
Kerse: He, of the no nonsense approach, is stymied by She, a woman considered long past prime marriageability who needs a keeper more than he requires a wife. Yet the dreamy-eyed, impractical, and much too optimistic Philomena still manages to steal his heart despite her unrealistic beliefs and trust in fortune tellers.
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About author Amanda McCabe...
Amanda wrote her first romance at the age of sixteen--a vast historical epic starring all her friends as the characters, written secretly during algebra class (and her parents wondered why math was not her strongest subject...)
She's never since used algebra, but her books have been nominated for many awards, including the RITA Award, the Romantic Times BOOKReviews Reviewers' Choice Award, the Booksellers Best, the National Readers Choice Award, and the Holt Medallion. She lives in Santa Fe with a Poodle, a cat, a wonderful husband, and a very and far too many books and royal memorabilia collections.
When not writing or reading, she loves taking dance classes, collecting cheesy travel souvenirs, and watching the Food Network--even though she doesn't cook.
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~~~ GUEST POST with Author Kathy L Wheeler ~~~
Dreams On Hold
Sometimes you never know where your inspiration might come from. As I began to put together this post, I ran across a blog that offered 105 ideas to blog. There were two that caught my attention. The first one, What 5 things would you buy if you won a million dollars; the second, leave a cliffhanger and answer on another post. Intriguing, but that seemed a little unfair.
So as I was contemplating the five things I would buy if I had a million dollars. The list is fairly routine:
Pay off my only daughter’s school loans and provide her with a plane ticket any time she wanted to come home to visit. (She is athe principal of a kitergarten/pre-school in San Francisco with two adorable boys of her own. I live in Western Washington State.)
I’d pay off my mother’s debt too. (I think by then 2/3 of my million my be obliterated)
Next I think I might build my dream house — and have an apartment in downtown Seattle for attending musicals.
Now I’m pretty sure I’m down to my last 200k. I’d better put half in savings.
The last 100k I would use for marketing, which is what inspired the title of my post. . .
People like me rarely become millionaires. In fact, there are so many people like me that we get lost in the shuffle. Let me explain.
When my daughter (who is now 42) was two, her father and I divorced. For the most part, it was an amiable split. I did not feel guilty. We were young when we married. He was a hothead. He loved his daughter but was more concerned with “the other woman” and his business. He remarried right away. That, too, was not an issue for me. Obviously, I was ready to strike out on my own. However, I had a young child. And he decided his $300 / month child support was too much.
He offered to sign over all rights to me, in order not to pay. I declined. I was not married, nor was I looking to remarry at the time. So he decided not to pay anyway.
There you have it. I was a single parent, no college degree (at the time). But I was a responsible mom. I always managed a job of some sort. I paid my rent, my day care, my car payment. I struggled to buy groceries. Trips to Blockbuster and the book store was our frequent entertainment. I lived in Dallas at the time. Not necessarily the least expensive place in the world, but, one managed. And I did. We did. You see, my daughter and I were a team. This theme is very prevalent in a book I wrote: Irresistible.
We did not have a million dollars. We had each other. There were times I worked two jobs to make ends meet. We did not get on Oprah. (I love Oprah). We didn’t make the news. Because, like so many others, we were the norm. Hardworking, bill-paying, but with our dreams on hold.
I am an artsy person. I love to sing, I’ve done some community theater acting, and . . . I write romance. My destiny. Nothing in my life has come easy, which I suspect, makes me very appreciative of my accomplishments. (Like getting my college degree at age 39. Working up the nerve to singing in front of people at age 34.) These may not seem like much, but they were huge milestones to me. Insurmountable. And while I pray you enjoy what I so desperately need to fill my soul, I love that I am finally grasping my dreams.
Dreams no longer on hold.
~~~ Kathy L Wheeler
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About the author...
Kathy L Wheeler loves the NFL, the NBA, musical theater (don't ask how her how many times she's seen Phantom of the Opera (12); or Wicked (7)), travel, (Europe, Grand Cayman, Mexico, All over the US), reading (practically a book a night), writing (35 books and counting) and karaoke (well....what can I say). She assists other authors in critiquing, formatting, and creating covers for their publishing dreams.
She writes contemporary and historical stories where the heroines save themselves and the heroes who honor their courage with suspense and humor.
She lives in the Pacific Northwest US with her musically talented, lawyer husband, and their
adorable dog Angel (who lives up to her name...mostly).
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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the author for the guest post. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this tour, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today! Be sure to check out the rest of the sites participating for more bookish fun...
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
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