A Kiss from SEA OF HOPE

SEA OF HOPE was my first published book and an 2002 EPIC Award Winner for Best Inspirational Novel! Originally published by AweStruck Publishing, I reissued it along with a new cover by the incomparable Taria Reed. 

The story is about Doria Hanrahan who returns to her hometown, jobless, paranoid, and expecting to cash in on her father's fishing trawler. When she discovers the trawler has been willed to Murray Santoro, who cared for her father during his final illness, she is filled with anger and guilt. Desperate for cash she joins the crew of the Merrichase. On the ocean, far from land, she learns Murray is not only a doctor, but suspected of murder and awaiting trial. She cannot comprehend how her father trusted Murray. She suspects Murray coerced her father to change his will. 

BUT it is also a romance. So, grab a cup of tea, and read one of the sweet parts of the book. 

💗 💗 💗 💗 💗

He had grown so fond of her that it hurt him now to think of them each going their separate ways. Yet, it had to be that way. He had no future.

A hollow emptiness spread inside him. Doria had come into his life like a hurricane, but at her center he found strength, loyalty, and true courage.

She stirred. Her eyes opened slowly, vague from slumber.

“Hey,” she said and lowered her eyelids again, fanning the dark brown lashes on her cheeks. She sighed and smiled.

“Hey,” he echoed softly.

Two creases formed between her brows, marring her smooth complexion. Then her eyes flew open.

“What?” She ran her hand through her wild ringlets and moved to sit up.

“Everything’s fine,” Murray assured her. “We’re docked in New York, waiting to unload the porgies. The storm decided to move up to New England.”

Doria flopped back down on the bunk. “You look good.”

“So do you,” Murray said. “How do you feel?”

“Like I could sleep for another decade,” she replied.

Murray lifted up his digital thermometer. “Do you mind?”

Doria looked at him suspiciously. “I’m not sick.”

“You were cold,” he said.

“So were you.” She pulled the covers up higher, under her chin. “And you nearly drowned.”

“I already checked my own temperature.” He grinned. “After a half dozen cups of hot coffee, I am almost normal.”

“Too much coffee is bad for you.” Her eyes narrowed.

“If you have hypothermia, it can work wonders,” he countered. He turned on the thermometer. “This is not an invasive procedure. I put this in your ear and it gives a readout in seconds.”

“I know how it works,” she huffed.

“Your fingers are still blue,” he mentioned.

When she looked down at her fingers, he placed the thermometer in her ear. She tensed.

“Can I talk?” she whispered.

“Yes,” he whispered back.

“I-I’m glad you didn’t drown,” she said softly.

Regret weighed down on him. He had misjudged her at first, and hurt her.

“I’m glad you didn’t let me drown.” He found himself straining to keep his voice level. He took the thermometer out of her ear and glanced at the readout.

“We have got to get some hot drinks in you,” he stated as he frowned at the numbers.

“What’s with this ‘we’ stuff?” she asked.

“Nurses talk like that all the time.” He shrugged. “I’m pretending I’m a nurse.”

Doria laughed. “You look so much more like a pirate.”

He bent his head and stared at the floor, letting her merriment warm him with waves of happiness. It felt good. Healing. He had wanted to see her smile, to make her laugh, and he finally had succeeded. But why did it leave him with a lump in his throat? With an effort, he lifted his head.

“You will always look like an angel to me, Doria Hanrahan.” He could barely hide the emotion in his voice. “Thanks for saving my life.”

She placed her hand on his. He tightened his fingers around hers.

“I would have saved anybody.” Sincerity rang through every word. “Even George.”

This time Murray had to laugh. “Should I let George know that?”

She gave him a puzzled expression and then pouted. “You know what I mean.”

The delicate moue formed by her lips drew him. He dropped the thermometer on the blanket and reached out to cup her chin in his hand. Her eyes, the color of bittersweet chocolate, widened in surprise.

His lips came down on hers, slow and gentle. The tender fullness of her mouth had him drowning again, but this time from the forgiveness he found in her response.

He pulled away. Though brief, the kiss left his heart ramming against his rib cage.

“Why-why did you do that?” she asked, her lips still moist and rosy.

He shrugged and traced the generous curve of her mouth. “It’s part of the prescription.”

Her cheeks flushed even as she glared at him. “You made that up.”

“I bet your temperature rose a few degrees.” He lifted up the thermometer again. “Shall I check?”

“No!” She threw the blankets over her head.

 💗 💗 💗 💗 💗

You can read the entire first chapter at AMAZON! Check it out. 

Some Old Technology Still Works

I decided to attempt to get rid of a box in the garage and at the bottom of the box, I found this. Our old CB set. I went out to the car to plug it in and see if it works. It does. I heard some garbled speaking on a couple channels, but nothing clear. 

Hubby and I never used the CB much at all, but my Mom and Dad had one and used it frequently on their trips out to Pennsylvania to see my grandparents. Mom told the truckers to clean up their language and they laughed at her. 

But I was very glad I had the CB with me one time when I drove down to Stockton to pick up my daughter and bring her home for the weekend. As we drove toward home on the Garden State Parkway, we wound up in a traffic jam where the traffic wasn’t moving at all. I set up the CB and found someone who knew exactly what was happening. There had been a horrific accident and the traffic was stopped so helicopters could land on the Parkway and take the injured to the hospital. 

We sat in the car, not going anywhere for a long, long time and listening to the CB. I didn’t have a cell phone at that time. I wish I did because I could have called hubby and told him why we would be very late getting home. 

I am going to keep the CB just in case I get stuck in another traffic jam.

 

I'm Achieving

     I received an Achievement Award for a painting I finished many, many years ago. The Art Society of Monmouth County held their Oldies But Goodies show last month. It's one of my favorite shows because I have a lot of old paintings. I worked on the painting using a photograph of my youngest daughter reaching up to play the piano. My youngest daughter is all grown up now. Many people at the reception thought I had painted a picture of my granddaughter. Still, the painting received quite a bit of attention, which was nice. Perhaps many folks have watched a little one reach up to try a make music. I think I struck a chord with the subject. 😅 

💗 💗 💗 💗 💗

 

Sea of Hope for #99cents!

My first published book was SEA OF HOPE. Awe-Struck Ebooks gave me the contract. The book won the EPIC's Award in 2002 for Best Inspirational Novel. Later, when Awe-Struck folded and the rights were returned to me, I reissued the book.  

Since I grew up along the bayshore in New Jersey, I saw plenty of fishing boats. Not far from my childhood home, there are commercial fishing boats and a co-op where fresh fish right off the boat is available.

I took a photo of what the docks look like just the other day. 

The boats are all lined up. 

    

This one looks like an old tugboat, but I like the color and the name. 

Being a fisherman isn't an easy life and it is dangerous. For a while, my oldest daughter worked as a scientist doing surveys on fishing boats. The hours are long and the seas are rough. 

But I like to eat fish. So, I'm glad there are brave fishermen who go out to catch the fish. 

Here's the blurb for SEA OF HOPE:

After being assaulted in the city, Doria Hanrahan returns to her hometown, jobless, paranoid, and expecting to cash in on her father's fishing trawler. When she discovers the trawler has been willed to Murray Santoro, who cared for her father during his final illness, she is filled with anger and guilt. Desperate for cash she joins the crew of the Merrichase. On the ocean, far from land, she learns Murray is not only a doctor, but suspected of murder and awaiting trial. She cannot comprehend how her father trusted Murray. She suspects Murray coerced her father to change his will. 

Murray finds Doria a true test of his new faith with her stubborn attitude and lack of trust. As challenges mount on their voyage, he struggles with his Christian principles. He can't assume he has a future and his hope falters. Yet, it is Doria's surprising strength and compassion which inspire him to be a better disciple. Then his past returns and threatens to destroy everything.

There are many good reviews for it, too. 

I hope you'll take a look at it. Remember you can ask for it at the library, too. It is available on the Libby  app for those of you who have it. Free books from the library are wonderful, but owning books is even better. 😊

You can find the book on sale at:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble 

Kobo 

Apple

And many other book distributors. 

💗 💗 💗 💗 💗

Where Did That Idea Come From?

When hubby's parents first retired they left Brooklyn and moved to a home in Greenville, NY--upstate as New Yorkers say. Compared to Brooklyn, it was rather quiet. However, there were things to do. Next to them was a small resort complete with a small lake where we would go boating. Not far away, was the Catskill Game Farm where our daughters enjoyed feeding and petting the animals. (The Catskill Game Farm closed in 2006.)

Most interesting to me was the town of East Durham, an Irish enclave. In the evenings, hubby and I would drive to East Durham and enjoy the entertainment at the Shamrock House. During the daytime, we browsed through the small Irish shops where I found books on Irish legends.

That's where the idea came to me for PRINCE OF THE MIST, which is set in the Catskills of upstate NY. In Ireland, the Sidhe are the human-sized fairies of legend, but there are other countries in the world with similar legends. Why couldn't human-sized fairies live in upstate NY?

The misty Catskill mountains made the perfect setting for my story and Wildon became THE PRINCE OF THE MIST.  I had a great time writing this story. It makes me long to go back to the Catskills! :-)

The World Is Your Oyster

 

Yesterday, when the world outside our door was filled with rain clouds, I cheerfully told hubby, "The world is your oyster."

Hubby had never heard that expression but he grew up in Greenpoint so maybe that's the problem. 😅

However, there are many, many expressions we still use today that came from Shakespeare as you can see in the image above. 

As far as the oyster quote goes, you can find the entire explanation here: https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/famous/the-worlds-your-oyster/

Shakespeare was not only ahead of his time, much of his genius is still with us. 

💗💗💗💗💗

I’m a Winner!

 I made it! I typed out 30,000 words during the month of February for the JeRoWriMo Challenge. What I have now is the rough draft of a novella, which I have to edit—a lot. I had an idea of where I was going with this short book as far as naming characters, giving the story a setting, a timeline, and a loose plot. However, most of it was written pantster style, which is definitely a fun way to write for me. Some people have a very detailed outline when they write. I don’t. I have a flexible idea of what I want. So, things can change as I go along. 

While I was writing with such determination during the month, my house got very dusty. Sigh. But having written 30,000 words was so much better than dusting. Now off to editing!

💗 💗 💗 💗 💗

Writing and Writing and Writing

Design by penelopemarzec

 I've passed the 20,000 word mark for JeRoWriMo's 30,000 word challenge for this month. Only 10,000 more words to go. Having a group challenge like this really helps. There have been days when I do not feel like writing, but I push myself and I have managed to type out more words than I thought I could. 

Several of the NJ Romance Writers are cheerleaders for the challenge. They respond to every writer's count for the day--whether it's 0 or 4,000--and offer encouragement. There are also tabulators to keep track of everyone's word count. As the old saying goes, "Many hands make light work." 

The main thing is that my story is coming together. Of course, it is a rough draft and will need plenty of editing. But there are plenty of words to edit. It is always exciting to see the whole idea coming together. 

I love the JeRoWriMo Challenge! 

Win a $75 Amazon Gift Card

36 romance books, 28 authors, a huge giveaway, 

plus romantic tips from today’s leading romance authors!

 https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/love-and-romance-book-festival 

Don’t miss out! #romance #ValentinesDay #books #entertowin 

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

 

 

Writing Challenge

Once again I am participating in JeRoWriMo, the New Jersey Romance Writers answer to NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo is held every year in November. I've never attempted it because Thanksgiving is in November, which always includes a big family dinner. In addition, with Christmas looming ahead and all the hoopla that holiday involves I know I would be doomed to fail if I set a plan in motion to focus on writing. There are too many distractions in November!

But February's big holiday is Valentine's Day, which need not involve much preparation. February is usually cold and sometimes snowy, the type of weather I consider perfect for writing. I’ve finished several books with the help of JeRoWriMo.. The goal is 30,000 words. I never know if I will make it that far. One year I didn’t. Still, I managed to write more words than I would have without the other members of NJRW cheering me on.

Nancy Herkness started NJRW's writing challenge years ago. It has helped so many writers to accomplish more than they every thought they could. The challenge is open to those who are members of NJRW.

I am looking forward to finishing my current WIP!

❤❤❤❤❤

I Remember When the "Good Old Days" Weren't So Good

    My Dad, my sisters, my brother and I by my Grandpa's tractor in Pennsylvania during our usual summer visit to see my Pennsylvania relatives. We only saw my Mom's parents, her siblings, and our cousins when my father had a vacation from work. He drove us out to see all the relatives once a year. That was our vacation. Sometimes we went to the local amusement park in Keansburg. But that was the extent of our get aways. 

    Other than that, my mom wrote letters to her family. Once in a while, during a crisis, she would actually use the telephone to talk to them. But that was rare because back in the "good old days" a long distance phone call was very expensive. The price of a phone call is much, much lower nowadays. 

    We were fortunate since we lived within walking distance of the bay. We spent many days at the local beach. But then came the day when signs were posted at the beach and we were not allowed to swim there anymore due to the fear of getting hepatitis. Big corporations had been dumping chemicals in the water and sewage was spewed out into the water, too. That was before the EPA was created in 1970 by President Richard Nixon. It was designed to protect human health and the environment. And it has. The water is cleaner now. Lots of fish, whales, and seals have returned. (I love the seals.)

    Corporations need to be regulated. Otherwise, we'll go back to the "good old days" when you couldn't get in the water. 

    My father is on the right, working on the news. He worked for the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, NJ. He was an honest reporter and very concerned about the truth as were most newspapers in those days due to the Fairness Doctrine which was enforced by the Federal Communications Council. The Fairness Doctrine mandated broadcast networks devote time to contrasting views on issues of public importance. However, in 1987 President Ronald Reagan vetoed the act. In truth, the Fairness Doctrine didn't apply to cable news. There is NO regulation on cable networks. 

So there was something good about "the good old day." Back then reporters tried to be honest. 

Back in the "good old days" we didn't have vaccinations for most of the childhood illnesses--except for smallpox. Before we went to school, we all had to get the smallpox vaccination and we did. However, we didn't have vaccinations for anything else. Everyone got measles, chicken pox, German measles, and so on. We spent a lot of time out of the classroom due to illness. Some kids got really sick. My youngest sister got pneumonia when she had the measles. I spent time in the hospital at the age of three because the doctors thought I had polio since I suddenly couldn't walk. Fortunately for me, antibiotics had been invented at that point and whatever infection I had was cured. 

    But when the polio vaccine was handed out to children at school, everyone stood in line for it. 

    Covid killed way more than three million people in the world. Everyone in my family was more than willing to try the vaccine. Back in the "good old days" there was no way to combat diseases. I remember when I got the flu while on semester break in college. I spent a week in bed while my mother made me drink hot toddies--a combination of whatever liquor was available, tea, honey, and lemon. 

    I regularly get my flu shot nowadays. 

    I could go on and on about the difficulties of life when I was young. There was no Medicare. We didn't have healthcare except for hospital insurance. 

    I have no idea why people think things were terrific when they were young. There were big problems. There are STILL big problems. But if we work together, I'm sure we can fix them. 

💗💗💗💗💗

    

    

 

Wildlife

    Every winter, from November to April, harbor seals spend time lounging around in New Jersey. They migrate from colder areas in the north and enjoy the somewhat warmer winter in New Jersey. A large colony usually hauls out of the water near Sandy Hook, which is part of the National Park Service. 

     I enjoy Sandy Hook in all seasons of the year, but I go there in the winter specifically to see the seals. Sometimes, I get lucky—like last year. But this year I haven’t seen them though I’ve been there three times so far.

     The park now has specific parking spaces for those who hope to view the seals. You can usually tell where the seals are expected to be seen by the horde of people grouped together with large cameras. 

      Typically the seals haul out at low tide. But lately the weather has not been conducive to seal sighting due to some nasty storms. I tried to see the seals yesterday but the wind was so strong, I thought it might

knock me over. Lately, the seals are reported to haul out in an area visible from Officer’s Row, the former housing for officers from the time when Sandy Hook was the Fort Hancock Army base. Some of those houses are being repaired but some are in a state of severe decay. 

     Yesterday, any smart seal would have found a small cove somewhere where there wasn’t any wind. Disappointed, I headed for home. On the road out of the park, I saw a fox who apparently wanted to cross from one side of the road to the other. I stopped the car and grabbed my camera. I took off the lens cap. The fox crossed the road. I pushed the power button. The fox turned to look at me and I tried to focus on him. But he turned around and went on his way. I got a picture of his back end.

     

     I thought I might be lucky and get a few photos of the deer in the park, but they weren’t in their usual areas. They, too, probably found some nice cozy spot away from the wind.

     I’ll be back though. 

💗💗💗💗💗

Be Patient, Dear Readers

I have enjoyed many classics over the years and I continue to read them. Many years ago, after our trip to Great Camp Sagamore, I realized I never read The Last of the Mohicans. I read many of James Fenimore Cooper's books, but not that one. I immediately downloaded a free copy. Yes, his style is--at times--slow. However, I've found with every one of his books it takes a while to settle in, but once there, you've got a good story.

The first line of the book is:

"It was a feature peculiar to the colonial wars of North America, that the toils and dangers of the wilderness were to be encountered before the adverse hosts could meet."

A bit plodding, perhaps. In today's world, writers are told to make sure their first line is intriguing enough to draw the reader into the story. In reading the reviews listed at Goodreads, I found a lot of readers who hated the book. There where many who never finished it and some who didn't think it had been written in English. 😳

It seems there are a lot of impatient people in today's world. They may have been raised on too many crazy action films. Opening a book is not like walking into a theater. Slow beginnings are found in many of the classics.

Here's the beginning of Wuthering Heights:

"I have just returned from a visit to my landlord--the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with."

Go to Goodreads and read some of the negative reviews on that one. There are readers who thought it was horribly dark. Well, yes it is. That's the point.

Admittedly, there are many good reviews, too. There are still some patient readers in this world and I applaud them.

I enjoy light and breezy novels, too, at times. But I find it enriching to immerse myself in the past as well. Sometimes I may even have to use the dictionary and look up a word--and I love that! It's great to find some wonderful antique word that nobody uses anymore.

Here's the first line from The House of the Seven Gables:

"Half-way down a by-street of one of our New England towns stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables, facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge clustered chimney in the midst."

Obviously, the reader can guess he or she will be reading about the house and its inhabitants. Again, if you look up negative reviews on Goodreads you will find plenty of dissatisfied readers, those who did not finish it or those who claim it took them an inordinate amount of time to finish it.

I find it terribly sad that some of our great classics are being disparaged by those who simply want something they can read in a few hours using very little cerebral action. Be patient, dear readers. Those old classics are time machines. Sink into the past.