Monday, August 30, 2021

ARE YOU A READER?

 In 2020, according to Statista data, adults in the United States spent more time reading on weekdays than in the past seven years. The average time spent reading in the U.S. amounted to 0.34 hours (approximately 20 minutes) on weekdays, while daily time spent reading on weekends and holidays reached 21 minutes or 0.35 hours.

And before we get too excited, in 2019, the time spent reading for personal interest varied greatly by age. Individuals 75 and older averaged 48 minutes of reading per day, whereas individuals 15-54 read on average 10 minute or less per day.                                                                   

Recently, Better Homes and Gardens (BH&G) magazine verified the above statistic, stating in their August 2021 edition that “the average 15-44 year old spends only 10 minutes or LESS reading daily.”

Disheartened, I dug into articles about reading. What did I find? The only logical conclusion I can make is that electronic devices, radio, and television have replaced reading—even though reading strengthens a person’s mind, and boosts memory and thinking skills. Again, according to BH&G, research shows that reading also reduces stress levels by 68 percent. Avid readers know that even a few minutes before bed time with a good book helps a person to wind down and find sleep easier and faster.

I personally believe children who learn to enjoy reading at an early age do much better in school. Reading is like a mental airplane that takes you on vacation and transports you from the world you’re currently experiencing to a different time and place. I was right there with Nancy Drew as she solved mystery after mystery. I was there with Laura Ingalls on the prairie and in the big woods. And oh my goodness, it was fun.

Do you have a favorite book or series you enjoyed as a child? Drop it in the comments box below. 


Again, I'm featuring UNDER STARRY SKIES and it's new cover. You can purchase it here on Amazon.

 

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Taking a Twenty Minute Break

It’s August. Summer is winding down. Nights are cooler and golden rod is starting to bloom along the roadsides. Autumn is creeping up on us.

In this very hectic world, man needs time for peace, quiet, and reflection.  He needs time for observing the world around him, utilizing his senses of sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. There is something calming in being able to zone out with a favorite activity such as listening to the birds, smelling the petunias and phlox in bloom, or staring at the cloud formations in a cobalt blue sky—perhaps even petting a fuzzy little kitten. Or how about just listening to children laughing and giggling as they play?

According to psychologists, we need at least twenty minutes every day to devote to ourselves. And we should use that time for whatever we deem important at the moment: meditation, daydreaming, reading, knitting, woodworking, fishing, sketching, tinkering, doing puzzles and mind games—whatever brings happiness. And, by the way, this does not include using an electronic device to access social media. Put your selfies and digital pictures away. Let’s not bore our friends any more than we currently do.

When my children were little and bedtime rolled around, I always took time to sit down, grab a cup of coffee, and read. I enjoyed being transported away from the humdrum of the here and now. I could step off into another world. I could leave my problems behind and get a smile, laugh, or some good vibes, especially from a story with a happily-ever-after ending.

Lately, I’ve been at a standstill with my writing. I can’t decide whether it’s the reality that summer is slowly slipping away, or I need a break. Maybe the news of the latest Covid outbreaks are playing a role. Whatever it is, I need to get back to the keyboard.

But until then, I’m taking my twenty minutes sitting on my patio on my wicker swing. It always does wonders for my attitude.

Come on over. Rest awhile. Together, we’ll renew our energy and mindset. Or if you prefer, grab those twenty minutes in your favorite spot and leave your troubles at bay.

NEW COVER for Under Starry Skies!


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Thursday, July 1, 2021

HAYING SEASON ON THE FARM

July has arrived this year after a blistering June which ended with temperatures in the 90s. Growing up on a farm, the muggy nights and heat waves during the day were part of farm life.

The scorching summer weather meant it was haying season. It meant that farm kids had the hot, sticky job of handling and storing those prickly rectangles of bound hay, tied with twine and full of itchy hayseeds, called bales. There is a particular smell to a haying operation. It’s the inviting sweet scent of dried clover and other grasses, tinged with the scent of gasoline from farm equipment. The work is hard and tiresome. We handled hundreds of bales kicked out from a baler, pulled by our Farmall C tractor.

If we were lucky, the baler was hitched to the tractor and the hay wagon hooked behind it. We only had to pull the bales up onto the wagon bed as they popped out and stack them four layers high before hauling the load to the barn for storage. Two-string bales can weigh anywhere from 40 to 75 pounds, depending upon the type of hay, how seasoned or dry it is, and how the baler is set to compact them.

Before we owned a hay baler that fed the bales onto the wagon, they were dropped onto the ground. Then, we’d have to toss them up onto the hay wagon first before stacking and carting them away.

In the barnyard, an elevator with a chain mechanism and paddles took the bales up to the very stifling mow where they were…(wait for it)…restacked once again. If I was lucky, I had the job of feeding the elevator below in the hot sun and would get a break from working the even hotter mow. Needless to say, we all vied for that open-air spot.

My father was particular about how he wanted his hay stored. The bales had to be stacked cut-side down in the mow. I always felt we were giving more attention to this hot sticky—and somewhat finicky—stacking routine than I cared to give.

Why cut-side down? Because the strings/twine will always be on the side of the bale when you look at the stack. It is said to also deter mice from gnawing on the twine, but it also allows moisture to run down through the stack to the bottom layer. Much
later, baler twine was treated with a chemical that discouraged barn mice. I do admit, come winter, when you have to throw bales down the shoot to feed the herd below, it was easier to walk on a layer of hay uniformly stacked.

Someone once asked me if I miss summer and haying season on the farm. A friend, who’s a farm kid as well, put it more eloquently than I ever could: “Be careful of the past, it always looks better than it was.”

Here's hoping July and your summer is a good one!

 

  

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Tuesday, June 8, 2021

HERE COMES SUMMER..with its sights, scents, and sounds!

In June, I patiently search for the first signs of summer.

Listen closely, and you can hear the birdsong at sunrise. It’s the doves at our house who start the calliope of song if we leave our bedroom windows open. The nosy robins are back, nesting under our deck and in the rhododendron. Their first fledglings have already been booted out of the nest and intermittently (and annoyingly) squawk, calling for a parent. The brazen sparrows have also returned and have kicked the bluebirds out of their nesting box. Only one lone hummingbird visits our feeder.

Rain in June is a silver spoon as the old adage goes. It’s the month when vegetation emerges and gardens in the North are planted which will yield bountiful crops throughout the next four months and into fall. This year, my bucket garden has been watered quite often by the gray clouds hovering in the sky. I decided to change it up a bit. I’m growing some herbs: lemon thyme, rosemary, oregano, and parsley. Every year I grow a plant of basil on the patio.

The flower of June is the rose which is my favorite because of its soft, layered petals and delicate scent.

I was lucky to be born on a scorching, 90+ degree, June day—the last one of the month—right in the middle of haying season, as my Dad used to point out with a slight grumble in his voice.

When June arrives, farmers push hard during the sweltering sunny days to get a hay field cut, dried, and baled. The sweet and intoxicating scent of newly mowed grass fills the air and forces everyone near to pause and enjoy it, even if the work of cutting, baling, and storing it is hot, intense, and tiresome.

Do you have favorite sights, scents, and sounds of summer?

As poet James Russell Lowell so aptly writes about the month:

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays: 
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten…

                                    ~ James Russell Lowell – 1819-1891

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Sunday, May 16, 2021

Riding a Stone Boat

If you’ve ever planted a garden or dug in a flower bed or walked on a plowed farm field, you know how those pesky stones poke up unexpectedly from the earth. 

May is the month when farmers plow, harrow, and sow their crops here in the Northeast. Winter, and the snows it brings, has finally disappeared. Now that rainy April has shut off the water spigot in the sky, the drier fields await attention, and their only gift to the farmer is stones. 

When the last glacier came down from the Arctic region, it kneaded stones into the soil at varying depths. And when the mile-high ice sheet eventually melted away, it deposited rocks which had been embedded in the ice. When the fields are plowed for planting, the frost action often lifts these rocks to the surface. 

For many farmers, this meant the back-breaking work of picking these stones before planting could begin. How did they do it? With stone boats, also called a drag or skid boat. 

A stone boat is a long, low, flat sled-like contraption, often homemade and consisting of wooden planks mounted across a pair of wide runners similar to a sleigh. Some are built with a turned up nose to make dragging it across the field easier. It’s surmised that this upturned prow reminded early farmers of a boat gliding through water. The stone boat in theory glides over the soil.  

In the early days, stone boats were pulled by horses. Later, they were dragged over the fields by tractors. Our stone boat was hooked to our Farmall tractor with chains, probably the same hitch that was used when my father farmed as a boy. 

I remember picking stone with Dad on a field where we usually planted corn. The back-breaking technique of the job has not changed over the years. You pick up the larger stones and place them around the outside of the boat and throw the smaller ones inside. 

Once the stone boat is filled, it’s taken to the back or low end of the field where the hard work of touching each stone is once again needed to unload the boat. I should mention that some thought does go into this simple tiresome process. You must decide where you’ll deposit the stones before you begin. Stone boats can’t be backed up. 

If you take a drive into the country, you’ll often see these “stone piles” alongside farmer’s fields where a piece of land has been cleared. However, stone piles have now dwindled as construction companies request the crude stone to use in building houses and replicating stone walls.

Is there any joy in picking rocks? Only one. Once the boat is loaded, you get to hop on and ride the boat to the stone pile where you unload it. 

                                                        Judy Ann's AUTHOR PAGE

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

THE ROBIN - Singing and Ringing in Spring

Everyone has their favorite sign of spring. Some judge its arrival by various plants like the pussy willows or emerging tulips, or the return of wild geese, honking as they fly northward.

But for me, when I hear the first carols of the robins as they go bob, bob, bobbing on the greening backyard lawn, I get a feeling of optimism and glee that spring has sprung. Known to prefer an environment around homes and farmsteads, the robins will hurry and scurry to construct their nests in our high, dense rhododendrons at the side of our house. They are not opposed to building on flat surfaces under our deck, or on a man-made nesting platform either.

The true robin redbreast is a native of the Old World. Our robin in the United States is a thrush, but the pioneers named it the robin in remembrance of the bird that was common on the English countryside.

Nesting Platform
The nests of the robin is made of mud and lined with grass. The eggs are a pale, bluish green which we refer to as “robin’s egg blue.” They prefer to eat worms and fruit. Many times in July, I find them scouting my blueberry bushes for the first ripened fruit. If I put a net over the bushes, they often find a way in—by sneaking underneath the covering.

During spring, summer, and fall, I keep a bird bath near our patio. You can see them lined up, waiting to take a bath as soon as I replenish the bowl with fresh water. Then, I have to clean it again, since my little feathered friends have mud on their feet.

Folklore tells us that many people believe a visit from a robin is a sign that a lost relative is visiting them. Or in the spiritual world, the robin is viewed as a symbol of visits from deceased loved ones. I prefer the more modern symbol associated with the robin—a new beginning, new life, fortune and good luck. And of course, they’re my harbinger of spring. 

 

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Thursday, April 1, 2021

HELLO, APRIL!

 I’m the first to admit that I enjoy April.

April is when all the flowers from bulbs beneath the sleepy earth emerge. Daffodils, crocus, wind flowers, and small grape hyacinths bring color, scent, and life back to the flowerbeds.

I think back to my childhood and how my mother loved plants and bushes of all types. We were a  farm family, and  it was not unusual to visit a neighbor’s house and go home with a piece of a bush, or some shoots wrapped in a wet rag, or a bundle of roots tied up in a burlap feed bag. Mother always found a place to plant her treasures and nurse them to maturity. And the favor was returned when friends, relatives, and neighbors came to call and left with a clump of rhubarb or day lilies.

At the front corner of my house, I still have trumpet vines from cuttings my mother gave me decades ago. Every fall we chop them back to stubby trunks, and in the spring they explode in a flourish of leaves and blossoms that entice the hummingbirds.

In the back yard, I have a bed of rag roses from around an old stone foundation of a house built in the early 1800s and situated along a well-used route westward. Everyone always referred to the cleared, often muddy pathway as “The Old Road.”

And, my favorite from our farm is at the side of my house—a large clump of Jack in the Pulpits my mother coddled in one of her flowerbeds.

April brings back lots of good memories. It’s a time of warm days, a time to get ready for spring planting and, for those of us who like to play in the dirt, it’s a month of sheer joy.

I’ll end with a colloquialism that the farmers often used in northeastern Pennsylvania: “So long, March. Hello, April!”

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Monday, March 1, 2021

Can Spring Be Near?

 March has arrived. Is it too early to hope that spring is here in Pennsylvania?

This winter, we northern folks have struggled with snowfall after snowfall. Our roads are lined with gray, dismal snowbanks, and most of our yards have a stack planted within view, the result of clearing our walks and driveways.

Last night, our first thunderous spring rain arrived. It pounded down in waves, soaking the yards and washing away some of our snow.

With warmer daytime temperatures inching upward, we now hear the gurgle and drip of water from our gutters. A layer of snow slides off the house and garage roofs making a plopping sound heard indoors. At long last, small patches of grass and earth peek through the lawns. Pussy willow is struggling to emerge. Who would have thought that the smell of mud and wet dried leaves would cause such a joyful reaction when we take a jaunt to the mailbox?

   Coming Soon!
Birds have become more lively and vocal. If your timing is right, you can now catch a chorus of bird songs coming from the trees in the backyard. When I filled the bird feeder the other day, being careful to walk in small patches where the snow had melted, a lively chickadee in the cedar tree scolded me for not working fast enough. Four-legged wildlife is making its appearance, too. Gray squirrels and rabbits are exploring the yards.

Now is the time to listen for the first flock of Canada geese to wing their way northward, confident that spring is on its way. Let’s hope for their sake and ours—they are right. 

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Tuesday, February 16, 2021

WHERE DO WRITERS GET IDEAS?

Everyone wants to know where writers get their ideas. It’s a question every author who has a book signing or who gives a presentation is asked. Many times, you will hear writers (myself included) admit that they “truly don’t know” where they get them.

For a writer, ideas are like the ocean waves—sometimes they come crashing into our minds; sometimes they roll quietly in and then slip away, receding like a calm ripple; and sometimes they tumble around like a sneaky undertow before they pop up, surface and become a viable thought.

However, there are some truths about all writers:

Good writers are voracious readers, devouring anything they can get their hands on—from the back of a cereal box to a placemat at the restaurant to the directions for the new coffeemaker.

Writers are often asked how do you manage to read and write at the same time? Simple--just like a chef eats, but creates and cooks for his vocation, we read and write. It’s part of the job. Good writers exchange and read works of their fellow writers who create in a similar format. The short story writer will read short stories of masters like Jack London, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain, Louis L’Amour, Kurt Vonnegut,  Eudora Welty, or Alice Munroe. . .and the list goes on. 

But don’t be fooled, good writers also read the masters and modern day writers of other genres as well. Why? To discover what is good and what is bad writing. To get ideas. To listen to new voices, to understand new styles, and to discover how characters, descriptions, setting, dialogue, and storylines are created by others.

I personally have found that most writers I know are receptive to new things, are often curious, and do not like to be idle.  They are observant of their environment, situationally aware of everything and everyone around them, and often embrace change, sometimes just for the newness of it. They are able to remember details and, like the cartoonist  who can capture the essence of person with a few  features unique to only that person, writers are also able to sort through detail and write images readers can see and relate to.

Thursday, February 4, 2021

 SWEET KISS

NOW ON SALE FOR A LIMITED TIME - $0.99 

Part of the Stand Alone Candy Hearts Series!


 Can one sweet kiss revive an old love?

Hard-working Kate Clark opens a thriving coffee shop that quickly becomes the local hang-out for students and the community. Her one wish is to eventually buy out her sister’s share of the old Florida home they inherited. However, Violet is need desperate of cash and has other plans.

Tappe Vanderberg, Kate’s childhood friend and high school sweetheart, has sold his lucrative internet security business to return to Little Heron Shores and fulfill his dreams of owning a marina. Now the handsome Dutch-born businessman is making waves with single women all over town—including loony, post mistress Eva May Poole who’s in search of husband number three.

But it’s Kate Clark who’s wreaking havoc with Tappe’s heart, not Eva May. Can he find away to shake the dingbat post mistress and convince Kate to give him a second chance and the sweet kiss he remembers from an earlier time?

Judy's Amazon Author Page Link

Sweet Kiss Link

Monday, January 18, 2021

WHAT NEW WRITERS SHOULD KNOW

§  You'll waste a lot of paper. Wasting paper and purchasing printer cartridges are part of the trade. When you print your work and find it's beyond help or you need to start over, throw it away and delete it from your computer. Physically throwing it into the trash signifies a new start mentally. Don’t worry about killing trees. Like crops, trees for paper mills are planted, held in rotation until mature, and harvested. However, if you think you do have a few paragraphs, sentences, or nifty phrases that are worthwhile, start a "miscellaneous scrap" file and squirrel them away on your computer. 

§  Writing is a lonely, solitary occupation. Writing takes time. You'll miss being out in the sunshine or watching your favorite television show. You may miss family gatherings with a deadline near. You'll miss sleep. Make friends with other writers. They understand your crazy burning need to create.

§  Find a place to write where you feel comfortable and secure. Arm the location with a good collegiate dictionary, The Chicago Manuel of Style, and an unabridged Roget’s Thesaurus. Roget’s has more than ten times the amount of synonyms than any online site. Then, find something that signals routine and the need to sit down and write—like making your bed, drinking that second cup of coffee or tea, or taking your dog for his morning walk—or choose an evening signal if you write at night.

 §  Never, never send out your first draft to anyone, anywhere. If possible, let your words sit for a while to cool like a hot custard pie. It’s easier to see missing data, mistakes, and grammar problems when you’ve distanced yourself from your work. Having trouble finding your mistakes? If you’re prone to using Times New Roman on your computer screen, print your work out in a different font like Courier, Arial, or Century Schoolbook. Have a friend help you. Intensive editing is part of the writing process. Also, printing a hard copy gives you a different perspective to look at it. You can also email the doc. file to your Kindle or digital tablet for another perspective when editing.

§  Don’t believe people who say that writing doesn’t have to be as perfect as possible—because that’s what editors are for. Everyday, editors reject dozens of manuscripts. Do you think they’ll accept one with grammar and punctuation mistakes or basic sentence structure problems? Your writing is a reflection of who you are. It’s your first shot at making an impression and getting a toehold into the publishing world. Just like a job interview, you need to make it a good one.  

Friday, January 1, 2021

Happy New Year!

Here's hoping your New Year ahead is filled with all good things like health, happiness, contentment and peace.

Too often we forget the important things while we hurry forward in life. Take time for family, and take time for yourself—be it a quiet corner to read and reflect or an activity that brings you joy whether it's a favorite sport or a creative endeavor. I plan to finish a multi-author, contemporary short piece involving cookies as a theme, and I’d like to create and write another novella.

This year, my resolutions are few: Besides reading, writing, and finishing projects that I start, I plan to eat healthy. And, I believe it’s my duty to do everything possible to try to keep myself and others safe by wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, washing my hands, and getting a vaccine when it’s available. I pray for an end to this Covid virus and an end to the deaths and suffering that have occurred.

Let's raise our glasses and give a toast to 2021—and hope it's a good year for our people and our nation!

For more information about my books, visit my Amazon Author Page: 
https://www.amazon.com/Judy-Ann-Davis/e/B006GXN502/  

Sunday, December 6, 2020

A Polish Christmas Eve - Wigilia



For people of Polish ancestry, Christmas Eve is a special night. It is a night of magic when animals are said to talk and people have the power to predict the future. It’s a time for families to gather and reconcile any differences, and to remember loved ones who have gone before them. It’s call Wigilia (vee-GELL-yah) which means, “vigil,” or waiting for the birth of Baby Jesus.

Pollish Santa
As dusk approaches, the mother of the family places a lighted candle in the window to welcome the Christ Child. Straw or hay, a reminder of Christ’s birth in a stable, is placed under a white linen tablecloth, which symbolizes Mary’s veil which became the Babe’s swaddling cloth. The eldest woman of the house places the blessed Communion-like wafers called oplatki (Oh-PWAHT-kee) on a fine china or silver plate. In modern times, straw and evergreens are assembled on a serving platter and covered with a white napkin. The oplatki is then placed on the napkin.

An extra place is set of any weary stranger who happens to pass by, in the same way Joseph wandered from home to home looking for a place for Mary to give birth, and in memory of those who are departed. (The extra place is also set in hopes that Christ will dine with the family.)

After sunset, the youngest child is sent to watch for the first star. This is why the wigilia dinner is also known as the Star Supper. Only then are the candles on the table lit and the dinner begun. But not a morsel is eaten before the “breaking of the oplatki.”

Oplatki
The eldest family member takes the wafer, breaks it and shares it with the next eldest with wishes for good health and prosperity, and a kiss on each cheek. Each person then exchanges oplatki with everyone else at the table. It can be a very emotional time as grudges are forgotten and deceased family members are remembered.

Instead of sending Christmas cards to friends and family not present, Poles send oplatki, first tearing off a small corner to show that the donor has broken it with them as a token of affection. (In America, Polish families often enclose oplatki in their Christmas cards.)

In some regions of Poland, at the end of the supper, Father Christmas, known as The Starman (very often the parish priest in disguise), accompanied by singing Starboys, pays a visit. He brings rewards to good children from Starland, and scolds the naughty ones, who eventually get their reward, too.

Typical food dishes on Christmas Eve include borscht, mushroom dishes, herring, white fish, meatless cabbage rolls, gingerbread cookies, pierogis, poppy seed rolls, spice cake, fruit, chocolates, tangerines, and cognac, liqueurs, and vodka made into a variety of drinks.


A fun video to watch with great music:     

[Information taken from “About Food – Polish Christmas Recipes and Traditions” - by Barbara Rolek, Eastern European Food Expert.]

For more information about my books, visit my Amazon Author Page: 
https://www.amazon.com/Judy-Ann-Davis/e/B006GXN502/

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thursday, November 19, 2020

LET'S GIVE THANKS THIS YEAR

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. It's a special day when we don't have to go into a meltdown mode chasing down the perfect gifts for everyone on our Christmas list. The real gift, in other years but our current one, is simply being able to gather family and friends together to eat, talk, share stories, and enjoy all those tempting dishes—like to-die-for corn bread stuffing, Aunt Jane’s pecan and pumpkin pies with mounds of whipped cream, and the ever-famous turkey, baked to a golden brown in the oven or a deep fryer. Even though we can't gather in large numbers because of safety reasons, Thanksgiving is still the time to reflect about things we are thankful for.

1. I'm thankful for warm, toasty home and a cupboard full of food. In this ongoing pandemic, it's nice to know I have a safe place to live with a peaceful place to lay my head each night.

2. I thankful for my family, friends, fellow writers, and many others who are part of my life. Luckily, during these devastating times, we have the ability to communicate using the telephone, Skype, Zoom, and other on-line media venues. Can you imagine what it was like to quarantine during the Spanish Flu in 1918 to the spring of 1920?

3. I'm thankful for the beautiful earth that we have, and especially, our rural community with its lush, scenic mountains, clean streams and lakes, and our exquisite sunsets and striking sunrises. The four seasons of Pennsylvania gives us a variety of flora and fauna to enjoy year 'round. 

4. Lastly, I'm thankful for far too many people to list: our medical professionals, our first responders, our police, our military, and all those who help keep us well and safe. 

Of course, there are other people and things I haven't mentioned, but now it's your turn. What are you most thankful for this year?

NOTE: If you leave a comment, I'll gift the winner, through Amazon, a digital copy of his/her choice of one of the three books below. Please leave an email so I can contact you.   

      I'm happy to announce that ADELENE ~ THE VIOLINIST, which is Book 2 of my Musical Christmas series, has won first place in the Contemporary Short Category of the International Digital Awards, sponsored by the Oklahoma Romance Writers of America. For some fun holiday reading, check out all three romantic mysteries below!

                                                             Happy Thanksgiving!

          BUY LINKS for JUNE ~ The Pianist                  Amazon       Barnes and Noble

          BUY LINKS for ADELENE ~ The Violinist        Amazon       Barnes and Noble

          BUY LINKS for LUCY ~ The Clarinetist            Amazon       Barnes and Noble


Tuesday, November 3, 2020

SNUGGLE UP WITH BOOKS ~and~ A Chance to Win $50, $25, $15, and $10 Gift Cards


Give thanks for books and authors all month long at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Snuggle Up With These Books. 43 books, 31 bestselling and award-winning authors, 5 Amazon/Barnes and Noble gift cards plus authors share what they’re thankful for this year. I even share my grateful thoughts on November 6th and showcase "Willie, My Love".  Join in the fun! 

Rafflecopter Link for a Chance to Win