CJ's Living Dreams

Friday, September 25, 2015

A Granny Is Just An Antique Little Girl

Hey all,

September has been an awesome month for me. I birthed a new book series, had it picked up by a great new publisher and just the other day I got the bestest news ever!!!!

I'm gonna be a Granny!!!!!!

Yep! I am expecting my very first grandbaby. And I'm sooooo excited. My brother's kids and Jonathon's brother's kids have been having babies left and right, but this new life is the first that will bloom on our side of the family tree.

My oldest son Jeramiah and his beautiful lady, Autumn gave us the news on Monday. They called me up and after much hemming and hawing and making me wait--building suspense, he said. It will be fun, he said--they informed me I was to be a grandmother.

I about screamed. Then I froze. Were they talking about the dogs? Maybe I was going to be a fur granny. When I hesitantly asked, they busted up laughing and told me, no...this grandbaby would only have two feet! *VBG*

I was delighted. Past delighted and happy. It was a huge surprise and actually a miracle since Autumn had been told she couldn't have kids. So God stepped in and like they say in the movies, "Nature found a way."

They are due in May, which seems to be one of the breeding months in the England family. LOL A lot of the family is born in May, which makes it easier to remember birthdays, but it was hard on the pocketbook.

I'm already planning all the things I want to buy for this baby. I remember wandering through the markets of South America wishing I had a grandbaby to buy all the cool clothes for. I'll be able to rectify that when we head back next year. AWESOME!!!!!

But it also means we'll be coming home more. One of the things we promised ourselves was when the grandbabies started to come along, we'd think about traveling less. We'll toss it up to God and see what HE wants us to do, but I want to be actively involved in my grandkids lives, not have to skype them from three thousand miles away.

It will be different than when my kids were growing up. My brothers and I lived close by to our parents, so they saw the grandkids often. It wasn't until my babies were a bit older that we started traveling. But I've got so many great memories of all the cousins together. And even though my kids are spread through the country right now, I hope we can bring them together as often as possible.

It's an amazing feeling to know a new life has been created. I haven't even held this child yet and I already adore it. I'm going to spoil him or her rotten! In fact, I'm going to be the Granny everyone is warned about. The one that comes in riding a Harley and brings the kids not just a drum set, but the whole damn band!!!!

Whoot!

Can you tell I'm a bit excited? LOL

Anyway, keep Jeramiah, Autumn and little baby England/Peters in your thoughts and prayers. Because it was such a surprise, this miracle is taking a little getting used to. But these two will be the best parents. They know what a blessing this baby is and once they've gotten their heads wrapped around the concept of three--not two, their lives will be one exciting adventure.

Especially when this "rockin Granny" comes to visit! WooHoo!!!!

You all have a great week. Hug your family and know just how blessed you are!!!!!!

Until Next time...

CJ England

Follow Your Dreams

http://cjengland.com/wanderingstar/whathappensinmexico.htm

http://cjengland.com

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Announcing Another Re-Release...Cowboy Up!

Hey all,

No guest blogger today, but I do have something special for you all. This last Friday, I finally re-released my novella length summer romance, Cowboy Up.

This story is really special to me and I wanted to share it with all my readers.

I was one of those horse crazy girls that lived, ate and breathed everything horse. I had my horse, Danny and spent some of my happiest days of my life wandering around the countryside on his back. And when I was old enough I started showing him, and while we did okay in actual showmanship, our hearts were all about the rodeo.

Danny did great at barrel racing, poles and we even flirted with a little trick riding. But he really excelled in the keyhole race. He could stop on a dime, spin and take off so fast he often left my stomach behind him. *grin*

And the people who made that all possible were my neighbors, Homer and Vera Farra. Both were not only fantastic people and neighbors, but Homer was an old rodeo hand who'd even done a few movies and Vera...she was something special, too. Vera introduced pants to women rodeo riders and was inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame in 1979.

Can you imagine someone like them teaching you how to ride? Trust me, I was in horsey-heaven!

So, take a quick look at Cowboy Up and while you're reading it, know that this one isn't just a story. A great deal of it was taken straight outta the chute. Which in rodeo parlance, means the truth. It all really happened. I took bits and pieces and fashioned the book out of what happened to me as well as some of my close friends.

After all, doesn't that sometimes make the best stories even better?

Check out this blurb!

In sun-drenched South Lake Tahoe, the excitement of a summer rodeo brings three years of secret passion into the light.

Sierra Rawlings loves to work, ride, and play hard, but it’s her hidden desire for neighbor, Dalton Grant, that really keeps her on her toes. But she needs her independence more, and his habit of bossing her around is too much to bear.

Three years ago, Dalton thought he’d roped and gentled Sierra. One night of passion under the stars had him thinking of forever, but even as he made his plans, she ran from him, and he’d never been able to comprehend why.

The annual summer rodeo brings them together, and their hidden desires flare hot. But just as they are beginning to understand each other, a danger from the past intrudes on the present, forcing Sierra and Dalton to learn a painful lesson about trust. It’s time for these two stubborn people to cowboy up and admit their feelings, before anger and a bull named Body Bag steal their last chance away.

Learn more about this great story and read an excerpt at... My Cowboy Up Page.
Buy this book at many fine retailers. Amazon, KOBO, NOOK and All Romance.

And please, let me know what you think!!!!

Until next time!

Hugs,

CJ England

Follow Your Dreams

http://cjengland.com/wanderingstar/whathappensinmexico.htm

http://cjengland.com

Friday, September 18, 2015

Here...There Be Dragons!!!!

Hey all,

Remember on Tuesday I said I'd have some news for y'all? Well...I do!!! And it's REALLY wonderful news.

A part of myself had been worried about getting back into my writing...wondering if I was doing the right thing. If my time as a professional author had already passed. I knew I'd never stop writing, but the whole publishing part of writing was so damn difficult sometimes. *sigh*

But, I decided to give it a year. To get those older books republished and toss a few more out there to see how things went. I hadn't any idea how it would go, but I knew I had to try. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I'd just let it go.

Well, I'm happy to say that less than four months into the year I'd given myself, I have my answer.

Yes...I'm still an professional author, and Yes...I've still got it!

As of yesterday, I just finished signing a contract for my dragon story, Snip! Snap! Dragon! with a brand new publisher for me -- Changeling Press. Not only that, I have an "option" for three others in the series!!!! WooHoo!!!!!!!!

This first book will be part of this year's Changeling's Christmas Collection: Reindeer Games, and I'm so excited about this series. If you like Dragons...then this hot, sexy read will be for you. The picture here was the inspiration for this great story (thank you, Pat). When I saw it, I knew I'd found my Drayce and Eadlin. And of course in his human form Drayce is tall, dark and handsome! *grin*

I'm putting an excerpt up on my website soon, but here's a blurb to tempt you.

~~***~~

With a fiery Snip! Snap!, a passionate modern day dragon lures his forever mate into the flames.

Weary of the tedium of three centuries of life, Drayce Drakehaven, leader of the London Dragon Clan does something inconceivable. On a dare from one of his brethren, he crashes a Christmas party. Since dragons won’t settle for anything but the best, he chooses the social event of the season—the Christmas celebration at the home of Eadlin Knight, the richest and most sought after woman in the city. But he doesn’t expect to look into Eadlin’s beautiful eyes and find his forever mate.

Eadlin is tired. Tired of the daily rounds of socializing. Tired of the men who are more interested in her father’s fortune than her. She longs to find someone special. The one man who can make her heart beat faster. Her soulmate. When she finds her ancestor’s diary and discovers her great-great-great grandmother was carried away by a mysterious stranger at a family Christmas party, she wonders if perhaps lightning can strike twice. Could she meet her special someone, too?

When Drayce and Eadlin’s eyes meet during the holiday festivities, there is an instant snap of connection…of passion. But Drayce’s arrogance sparks Eadlin’s temper, and she won’t fall easily into her dragon’s arms. A heated party game may be the only way he can push past her reserves and seduce his lady fair.

~~***~~

Well? Intrigued yet? *smile* I can't wait to see what you think about it. Already Drayce is one of my hottest heroes! And the secondary characters in Snip! Snap! Dragon! just cry out for their own stories, so keep your eyes open for blurbs about them, too!

Check out my WEBSITE tomorrow for the excerpt and learn just why...

There Be Dragons here!!!!

Until next time!

Hugs,

CJ England

Follow Your Dreams

http://cjengland.com/wanderingstar/whathappensinmexico.htm

http://cjengland.com

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Guest Blogger Time--Introducing MJ Compton

Hey all,

It's Tuesday, so it's time for another guest blogger. I've really been enjoying all of my guests so far, and we still have so many interesting guests yet to come. Today I have the amazing MJ Compton on the blog. Let's learn a little about her and see what she has to say...

MJ Compton grew up near Cardiff, New York, a place best known for its giant, which inspired her to create her own fiction.

Although her 30-year career in local television included such highlights as being bitten by a lion, preempting a US President for a college basketball game, giving a three-time world champion boxer a few black eyes, a mention in the Drudge Report, and meeting her husband, MJ never lost her dream of writing her own stories.

MJ still lives in upstate New York with her husband. She’s a member of Romance Writers of America and Central New York Romance Writers. Music and cooking are two of her passions, and she enjoys baseball and college basketball, but she’s primarily focused on wine . . . and writing.

~~~~~*~~~~~

PUTTING THE “H” IN WINE

By MJ Compton

One of the great joys of my life (it doesn’t take much) is to mock pretentious wine reviews—not all wine reviews, but those that go over the top, the top being defined by me.

It started when I was reading a review of a New York State Riesling and ran into the phrase “mineral clang.” I not only ran into it, I splatted against it. First of all, wine tasting notes are based on aroma and taste. “Clang,” the last time I checked, was an audible thing. The only sound wine should make is when the cork pops on a bottle of sparkling.

I started paying more attention to tasting notes and collecting the more absurd ones: freshly dug celeriac root; shoe polish; clean river stones. I reached out to a person in the wine business and asked him about some of these bizarre comparisons. He told me when he trained sales reps, he would use river stones to teach the aroma. I asked: “are they clean stones or stones from a clean river?” He laughed. He also didn’t know.

Respected wine writer Jancis Robinson recently wrote: “…particularly true of wine reviews generated in the US, where 10 different flavours, some of them questionable to say the least (grilled watermelon, anyone?), identified in a single liquid is commonplace nowadays.”

I started tweeting some of the sillier notes I’ve encountered (with editorial input from me).

· “Bright, fresh, clean flavors of. . .shoe polish.” This inquiring mind wants to know: black or cordovan?

· “Notes of . . . tarry smoke . . . push through midpalate and on the finish.” Road construction? Oh, yum!

· “peach and almond aromas. . . with a pleasant bitter-almond quality in the finish.” Cyanide poisoning anyone?

· “Earthy grip, dirt, rocks, sand, gravel, all good.” Pairs perfectly with a mud pie.

· “With the concentration of motor oil.” The Official Wine of #NASCAR?

· “Dark and brooding at first" #GOTHIC #ROMANCE# HERO in a bottle!

You can follow my #TastingNotesTuesday on my regular Twitter feed @comptonplations (https://twitter.com/Comptonplations)