USA Today Bestselling Author
Stephanie Queen, indie author here.
Time for me to invest in a new microphone. Check out the video and you’ll understand why as I tell all about my indie author experience.
By the way, the answer to the question: How much does it cost to self-publish a book? is: $600-$1,000.
I love the Christmas season and wanted to write a special note to spread my cheer and appreciation and especially to share my crazy merry traditions. Whatever your denomination or beliefs, this is truly a season for giving, generosity and good cheer.
If you were in the neighborhood, I’d invite you into my home because I have it all decked out for the season. I go all out with the “Deck the Halls” call to action. (I also don’t do too badly with being jolly and making merry either.)
In fact my halls are so decked that my house looks like a department store the day after Halloween. (Myren, my chauffeur, just rolled his eyes.) I’m also really into Christmas music, playing everything from Bing Crosby’s White Christmas to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. It’s constantly playing in the background. (Myren is making a distasteful face right now.) I think the music helps set a festive mood.
Another of my traditions is to go overboard do lots of cooking and baking. I have this special holiday 
party mix that’s to die for. You can get the recipe here. I bring it everywhere I go to share the calories tasty treat.
Who doesn’t watch corny old Christmas movies like It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart and the original cartoon version of How The Grinch Stole Christmas?
What’s your favorite Christmas or Holiday movie? My kids love Home Alone, but my favorite newer (non-black & white) Christmas classic is The Santa Clause. Tim Allen cracks me up when he suddenly gets a big belly (I can relate to this–see the part above where I cook too much a lot.)
And of course, no Christmas season would be complete without reading our favorite stories old and new. I read Twas the Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve. The kids used to listen raptly. Now I make Myren listen while he rolls his eyes. Seriously, I love the book and everyone listens.
Please share your Christmas or Holiday traditions with me in the comments!
Merry Christmas, peace & love,
I love football. (Myren loves it too, but he won’t admit it because it’s against his principles to agree with me on anything.) Every Sunday I look forward to sitting back and watching the games all day with my people. Of course, some of us have a different take on what’s interesting and enjoyable about the game. (Myren is a stickler for stats. I am not. Let’s not discuss this further.)
Whatever you enjoy about football, good for you! Go ahead and enjoy it.
1. I love Tony Romo as a TV game announcer. Bouncing back after his early retirement from QB of the Dallas Cowboys, he’s done very well. He’s smart, easy going and he has a very cute dimple when he smiles. Which is often.
2. Carlton Wentz. He’s having a smashing season in only his second year in the league, quarterbacking for the Philadelphia Eagles. They’re already talking MVP. It’s fun to watch an emerging star who’s easy on the eyes. Plenty of reasons for lots of great smiles on this young man’s confident face.
3. No one has a better smile than Tom Brady. He is the GOAT when it comes to adorable. The man loves his mother and has a dimple in his chin!
4. Jimmy Garropolo. After playing back up to the impossible-to-compete-with QB, Tom Brady, he was traded. Now he should get plenty of playing time in San Fransisco. More 
screen time to show off the smile on his classically handsome face.
5. Dak Prescott. He’s a very serious customer as QB for Dallas with a conservative smile. But he makes up for its scarcity by bringing countless smiles to the faces of his legions of fans.
Honorable Mention – to all those professional cheerleaders who smile endlessly on the sidelines (whether they have reason to or not)!
Go Football! Yay Team!
Beachcomber Investigations Series Box Set – the first four books in the series featuring ex-special ops legend Dane Blaise and ex-Scotland Yard detective gorgeous Shana George.
Dane never wanted a partner, especially not one like Shana George. She was trouble in a killer body with a killer attitude. And far too much like him.
Except he was broken, his soul irreparably damaged by his life of fighting causes against punishing odds.
Shana was fresh and full of piss and vinegar, but with too many soft curves for him to ignore.
Together they fight each other while they fight their assigned battles against underworld bad-asses. The governor sends them on occasional missions and in between they help keep mischief at bay on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
Shana doesn’t know why she stays with Dane and he knows he’s bad for her. But they can’t seem to let each other go.
How long can this go on? Will they stay together or fall apart?
Here in New Hampshire, it’s the crispy cool air, the bright starry nights and most of all it’s all those colorful leaves before they fall from the trees.
The back-to-school/back-to-work vibe at the end of the summer gives a sense of purpose to the air. The falling and dead leaves add their hallmark scent. Combined with the cool crispiness of the bright clear skies and you have the recipe for the most perfect air I’ve ever breathed.
I feel a need to spend as much time outside. Time to breath and soak in this environment, absorbing the vivid sensual experience and feel it stimulate and calm me at the same time.
In the spirit of making the most of the glorious weather, I went on a hike with my husband to The 
Flumes in Franconia Notch, New Hampshire. This is a singularly remarkable place. I went first when I was a child and remembered its awesomeness until decades later when I took my children. It’s one of those places I will return again and again for replenishment.
Someone had the https://www.cialissansordonnancefr24.com/cialis-pharmacie/ brilliant idea to build these walkways along the granite walls of the gorge created by the rushing water from the mountains. Walking through the gorge, hearing and feeling the rushing water, feeling the cool granite walls, seeing the stark landscape, fires up the happy neurons in my brain like nothing else. It’s like a supremely refreshing meditation, keeping me in the moment and feeling as alive as I’ve ever felt.
The two mile trek was invigorating, but not too challenging in spite of the rocks and the climb upwards and downhill pounding. A suitable challenge for most people unless you’re a super athlete or over eighty, IMHO.
Now I’m ready to take on the winter. Let it snow!
It’s not Christmas yet, but let’s warm up to the holiday and get in the mood with this gorgeous set of memorable stories by seven accomplished bestselling authors.
The seven authors include Mimi Barbour, Patricia Rosemoor, Joan Reeves, Tamara Ferguson, Alicia Street, Ev Bishop and yours truly, Stephanie Queen.
The stories range from sweet to spicy with settings all over the map. The one thread they have in common is that each story is about a particularly memorable romantic Christmas.
To really help you get into the spirit of the holidays, how about a video with Christmas music?
This heartwarming Christmas story takes place in Waikiki, Honolulu; a magical city where anything is believable. Because Angels really do love romance, Leilani is about to find out just how they scheme to make fantasies happen for those in their care.
Passed out after the Westbrook Department Store Christmas party, window designer Shelby Corbin wakens only to trip over Santa, the store’s co-owner and Shelby’s boss. CEO Rand McNabb sees a dark-haired woman wearing a crimson party dress fleeing the scene. His romantic attentions both thrill Shelby and frighten her. Is the sexy CEO really helping her search for the truth about that fatal night, or does Rand have another reason for courting her?
Darcy Benton is the oldest cliché in the world: a woman in love with her boss. Too bad she’s not even a blip on his radar. That’s about to change thanks to her scheming BFF, a couple of little white lies, and a wish on a Christmas star. Uh oh! She should have remembered that old advice:“ Be careful what you wish for!”
When Josh Loughlin, a blind wounded warrior, returns to his hometown of Crystal Rock, Wisconsin at Christmastime for his rehab, nurse Nina Chandler helps him confront the demons from his abusive past. But does an attempt on his life mean that his tarnished past has finally caught up with him?
Star-crossed sweethearts get a second chance, but will the magic of Christmas be enough to rekindle their love despite the secrets of the past?
When chance throws Sophie and Jesse together at River’s Sigh B & B this New Year’s, they’ll each have to face their worst fears: their unacknowledged yearnings for love that lasts. Can love tempt them to commit? Maybe. If they’re brave enough . . .
Margo never expected to see George the third ever again. So when he showed up leaning against the doorjamb of her tiny apartment, surprise barely covered how she felt. Her life had changed in the three years since they’d parted ways, but had her heart stayed the same? More importantly, had George changed? Will a surprise at Christmas renew an old flame–Or extinguish it forever?
