Intention is out the window - and a free book! - by @MagdalenaScott

I adopted the word "intention" for 2018. As I did so, I could hear distant trumpets announcing my impending super-awesomeness. This, I knew, would be the year I finally checked off all those writing goals I set aside last year and the year before. 

I should have known better.

I filled my big markerboard with chronological, color-coded details of Stuff I Will Do, and When.

Now, when I think about how serious I was, feverishly making all those plans, I nearly break out in hysterical laughter. (It's that or tears, and I'll choose laughter.)

I won't even give you the short list of things that have happened to me in less than three calendar months. Let's just say "intention" isn't working. I erased the "I" word off my markerboard, and then erased everything else too. It felt good.

I'm switching gears. For way too long I've put my real life on hold, chasing that elusive thing called success. 

My new word for 2018? Love.

I've tucked the markerboard away, and instead of making another fancy, self-important list of Stuff I Will Do, and When (cue hysterical laughter) my guideline is much simpler. I'll try to take care of my health, spend time with family and friends, and find ways to make a positive difference. I don't know when I'll get to write another book, but I'm determined to be happy with the squiggly route. (See the road sign above. Although I'm sure it's not the case, that road sign could have been intentionally designed to depict my life.)

  

Now that you've suffered through all that, here's the free book.

Midnight Shelby moved to Legend, Tennessee to start over after life handed her a bushel of lemons. What she found in the close-knit small town was love--from new friends, an adopted family, and a hard-headed local guy who doesn't trust outsiders. Midnight started a business that benefited her and the people in the struggling community. You can download Midnight in Legend, TN (book 1 of The McClains of Legend, Tennessee series) free at these vendors:

IBOOKS: http://apple.co/2gpmahu

KOBO: http://bit.ly/2ikQkTO

NOOK: http://bit.ly/2yu7hjX

KINDLE: http://amzn.to/1rXlekd

By the way, I'm posting this blog from a borrowed computer, because my laptop stopped working this morning. Are you laughing yet?

Happy reading,

Magdalena Scott

Please visit my website to find out more about me and my books, and subscribe to my monthly-ish newsletter. http://www.magdalenascott.com

 

February is the Month of Love by Rachelle Ayala

Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash

We all search for love in one form or another. To be loved is to be recognized. To matter to someone out there. To not be so alone.

When we're in love, we are no longer frail. We see beauty and leave the ordinary behind. We no longer feel mortal, at least in the eye of the lover, and the vast universe of possibilities opens up to us.

The Irish poet and philosopher, John O'Donohue describes the awakening of love as

“When love awakens in your life, in the night of your heart, it is like the dawn breaking within you. Where before there was anonymity, now there is intimacy; where before there was fear, now there is courage; where before in your life there was awkwardness, now there is a rhythm of grace and gracefulness; where before you used to be jagged, now you are elegant and in rhythm with your self. When love awakens in your life, it is like a rebirth, a new beginning.”  - John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

 But what happens if you can't find love?

Fortunately, you have the wellsprings of love within yourself, in the nature of your own soul.

“You can search far and in hungry places for love. It is a great consolation to know that there is a wellspring of love within yourself. ... Imagine that nourishing stream of belonging, ease, peace, and delight. Feel, with your visual imagination, the refreshing waters of that well gradually flowing up through the arid earth of the neglected side of your heart. It is helpful to imagine this particularly before you sleep. Then during the night you will be in a constant flow of enrichment and belonging. You will find that when you awake at dawn, there will be a lovely, quiet happiness in your spirit.”  - John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

He then goes on to say that the only way to preserve love is to maintain that separateness of your own self. That lovers are drawn to the differences between them, and that to preserve your own difference in love, you need plenty of room for your soul to grow and expand.

“Love should encourage and free you fully into your full potential.”  - John O'Donohue, Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom

So, in this month of love, it profits us to remember that love is not found in the Other, but from within, and that while it's exciting and giddy and romantic to be loved by another, the vast possibilities of the universe are yours for the taking, because love comes from within and grows to fill all potentials.

Wishing you lots of love and may your wellsprings never run dry!

Rachelle
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Since February is the month of love, my three sweet Valentine romances, along with the rest of the Have Family gang, are on sale for 99c. The Harts are a large, caring, and busybody family of San Francisco firefighters. Book One, Christmas Lovebirds, is FREE, and all the rest are 99c.

Love to Anticipate by Shaleen Kapil

Every night, I ask my children what their favorite or happy part of their day was. For my son, the answer is almost always the anticipation of something he is looking forward to. Yesterday, it was the idea that his grandfather was going to take him golfing when he comes to visit. Today, that his friends were going to come visit us. (When it is not something in the future, it is normally a favorite food item consumed!)

I think it is this same love of anticipation that makes us love romance stories. The concept of “falling in love with falling in love”. When will they notice each other or realize that they really don’t hate one another? What will happen at the first kiss? When and how will the couple come together.

We can read romances again and again, despite knowing how it is going to turn out, because we get to recreate that anticipation‑all that delicious excitement that gives us goosebumps and sweetly invades our dreams. The best thing about romance books is that we get to do all of that without have the scary uncertainty of real life.

 Shaleen Kapil's new Starfish Beach series is a spin off from The Winning Bid and is a fictional town based off of one of her favorite beaches. You will find My Christmas Cupcake in the SRR Christmas Box Set available September 2015!

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