THE Kiss by Kaye Spencer

I've written couple dozen romance short stories, books, and novellas. Some have been published or will be re-released in second edition, some are yet to be published, but many, for a variety of reasons, will remain unpublished and tucked away in the File Dungeon deep inside my computer. Regardless of their published status, they all have one attribute in common.

Kissing

Not just any kiss, but THE kiss—the first kiss.



I've written stories with simple plots to plots that take an Excel spreadsheet to keep all the details straight. I have a gunfight that includes a herd of phantom cowboys chasing a phantom herd across the sky. I can write a scorching love scene that will make your toes curl or a romance so sweet you'll sigh and murmur, ahhh. I've written a tragic love triangle that will have you grabbing for the tissues at the end. There's a 150k family saga languishing on my computer, because I love revisiting and rewriting the story so much, I can't bear to part with it (I know, it's one of those idiosyncratic author hang-ups.) Then let's throw in a steamy contemporary vampire/cowboy story for good measure.




But the kissing scene—the kiss that clinches the romance between the Hero and Heroine—holds me up every. single. time.

Writing The kiss can't be too detailed in the physical mechanics or it loses the romance of the moment, but neither can it just be "...and they kissed", at least, not for the first kiss. In whose point of view should it be? What is that character thinking, feeling, wishing or yearning for? Which one instigates the kiss? What's going on around them? What do they hear, smell, see? Where are their hands? Are they standing body-pressed-to-body or is there distance between them? Are they completely embracing or just 'holding' onto each other? Are the characters close to the same height or is one significantly taller than the other? It makes a huge difference where they put their arms and how they have to bend their necks to make that kiss happen. Are they standing? Lying on a bed? Leaning across a fence or side-by-side on horseback? And of course, the debate of tongue or no tongue, which can easily become an ewww factor, and yank the reader from the moment.

Here is the Hero and Heroine's first kiss from my forthcoming Prairie Rose Publications release, The Comanchero's Bride.

Ultimately, my goal in crafting THE kiss is to get as close to perfection as I can, because we all know since the invention of the kiss, there have only been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind.





Until next month,

Kaye

www.kayespencer.com
Twitter - @kayespencer

Note: The Princess Bride gifs from giphy.com

Martha Summerhayes

By Kristy McCaffrey

Martha Dunham Summerhayes

Martha “Mattie” Summerhayes is best known for her memoir, Vanished Arizona, which recounts her life as an army wife in the 1870’s. Today, it’s considered a literary masterpiece and one of the finest accounts of 19th century Arizona.

Born Martha Dunham in 1846 in Nantucket, she was raised by a prosperous New England family. She lived in Germany for two years as a young woman, studying the language and living with the family of a high ranking German officer. She mixed socially with many Prussian officers, gaining a romantic view of military life. Not long after, she returned to the United States and fell in love and married John “Jack” Summerhayes, an officer in the U.S. Army.

In August 1874, Mattie traveled with the 8th Infantry Regiment to Arizona. Since the railroad hadn’t yet arrived, they journeyed to San Francisco and boarded a steamship for a 13-day voyage around Baja California to Port Isabel at the mouth of the Colorado River. They then embarked on a flat-bottomed paddle-wheeler upriver to Fort Yuma. By the time they reached the fort, three men had died from the heat. Mattie was five months pregnant.

Fort Apache 1877

Eighteen days later, they arrived at Fort Mohave, then traveled north to Fort Whipple, near Prescott. When they finally arrived at their destination—Fort Apache—Mattie was seven months pregnant. Over time, she developed a deep respect for the young men in the military. “I was getting to learn,” she wrote, “about the indomitable pluck of our soldiers. They did not seem to be afraid of anything. At Camp Apache my opinion of the American soldier was formed and it has never changed.”

Mattie and Jack spent the next several months living in a primitive log cabin at Fort Apache. In January, she gave birth to the first white child born at the fort, a son named Harry. The blue-eyed, blond-haired baby drew ranchers, settlers, and even friendly Apache to pay their respects. By April, Jack was assigned to Fort McDowell, in the desert foothills north of the Salt River Valley (near present-day Phoenix), but at the last minute the orders were changed to Ehrenberg, an uninspired settlement along the Colorado River. Mattie wasn’t happy.

She spent one year in Ehrenberg, but returned to New England with the baby to avoid a second summer in the blistering heat. She returned to the Arizona Territory in December 1876. Jack was now stationed at Fort McDowell. She brought many furnishings along to make her life more comfortable, but unfortunately the steamer caught fire and all her goods were lost. Thanks to charitable women at Yuma, her wardrobe was stocked with ill-fitting dresses.

Fort McDowell in the 1870's.

Mattie was one of five women at Fort McDowell. She set up housekeeping in a flat-roofed adobe house on officers’ row. Soldiers built her a couch and covered it with cotton cloth purchased at the trading post. During the long summers, everyone slept outdoors. To deter the ants, empty tomato cans filled with water were placed under the legs of each cot.

After two years at Fort McDowell, Jack’s regiment was transferred out of Arizona. In 1886, during the last days of the Geronimo campaign, Mattie returned with Jack to Fort Lowell, near Tucson. This time, just eight years later, Mattie was able to make the journey via a Pullman since the railroad had arrived.

Mattie’s ambivalence toward Arizona is apparent in her writing, and yet, she admired and longed for it years later. She writes, “...I did not see much to admire in the desolate wastelands through which we were traveling. I did not dream of the power of the desert, nor that I should ever long to see it again. But as I write, the longing possesses me, and the pictures then indelibly printed upon my mind, long forgotten, amidst the scenes and events of half a lifetime, unfold themselves like a panorama before my vision and call me to come back, to look upon them once more.”

After the Spanish-American War in 1898, Jack retired and he and Mattie returned to Nantucket. At the urging of family and friends, Mattie wrote Vanished Arizona, which was published in 1908. She wrote it primarily for her children, believing there would be little public interest. But she was wrong. The book was popular among women and, most especially, ex-soldiers. The first edition sold out within a year, so a second was released in 1911.

A few weeks after the release of the second edition, Jack and Mattie died within two months of each other. Both were buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. “I had cast my lot with a soldier,” she wrote, “and where he was, was home to me.”

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QUEEN ANN: The Amazing Almost Maybe True Story

Post copyright 2015 by Doris McCraw

The 'cowgirl' of the late west?

Yes, I do love history. I am also guilty of becoming passionate about women in history. Couple this with a love affair with THE WEST, and you are in the company of a card carrying Old West loving Feminist. But enough about me. This post is a combination of all of the above. Queen Ann, Ann Bassett for those who don't know, is a figure from the later years of the Old West. So many stories abound about her, her sister Josie and her mother Elizabeth. All are fascinating, but I fell in love with Ann and have been digging trying to find the truth.

We know she was born in May of 1878, the second daughter of Herb and Elizabeth Bassett. The family had a ranch on the Colorado, Utah and Wyoming border. She was married twice. First to Henry Bernard, that marriage ending in divorce, then later in life to Frank Willis. She died in 1956 just shy of her 78^th birthday. Her mother Elizabeth was twenty four years younger than her father, and much has been made about how Elizabeth 'ruled' her husband.

The Bassett ranch was located in Brown's Hole or Brown's Park, Moffett County, Colorado. Ann insisted that it be Brown's Park. I can hear the wheels turning in your heads. Yes, near the area made famous by Butch, Sundance and other outlaws.

 View from the rim of Johnson Draw (foreground) west-northwest along the escarpment of the Yampa fault, Moffat County, Colorado. In the distance the fault ...

That Ann was intelligent seems to be a given, but the extent and where of her education is still under scrutiny. Her father did send her back East sometime after her mother's death, and upon her return she presented herself that way. But she still had that rebellious streak. In an article for the "Colorado Magazine", she talks about giving her riding instructor scare. That she felt he was a fool seems clear. The students had been riding side-saddle and Ann took it into her head to break the mold so to say. When the instructor reach for the bridle and ordered her to dismount, after she had swung her leg over, riding astride and giving the other show, she was "completely 'r'iled up' " and "Leaning from my saddle, I exclaimed vehemently, " Go to hell, you repulsive, little, monkeyfaced skunk!"

Ann was also tried for cattle rustling. The trial was held in Craig, Colorado, and story goes that they rented a large hall to accommodate all the people who wanted to attend. The circumstances surrounding the charges were circumstantial at best. The time of the big ranchers eating up the little ones was over, although this trial appeared to be a case of little ranch taking on big ranch. Ann was acquitted.

Craig, Colorado today.

Those are some of the established facts. Ann and the Bassett family was also said to associate and work with the various 'criminal' element in the area. She was supposed to have 'lured' her first husband, who was foreman at the rival ranch, away and married him to spite his former employer. All three women are mentioned, in separate chapters of the book, "Wild Bunch Women" by Michael Rutter. Even the Denver Post had something to say. http://dpo.st/1RU4Clc

Ann is also been declared as the real "Etta Place". For more on that, along with refutation of the claim can be found here:http://bit.ly/1JzE8Tf

One of the most complete books on the Bassett family, Herb, Elizabeth and their children is "The Bassett Women" by Grace McClure. Yet even this book doesn't give Ann her full due, in my opinion. That she was rebellious, gracious, intelligent and so much more seems to be a given. Her full story, well the whole true story, that is another matter completely. Here's to more research and trying to find the 'Almost, maybe, true story of Ann Bassett, known by many as Queen Ann.

Doris McCraw/Angela Raines: Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in Colorado and Women's History.

NEVER HAD A CHANCE- upcoming in the COWBOY CELEBRATION anthology

Home for His Heart: http://amzn.to/1KUpF6n

Author Page:http://amzn.to/1I0YoeL

Photo and Poem:http://bit.ly/1dVnNwO

Blog: http://bit.ly/1BS3yF8

Meet Me In Deadwood! #bookevent @JacquieRogers

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Meet Me In Deadwood!

by Jacquie Rogers

Deadwood Saloon #10.  It happened August 2, 1876.  Wild Bill Hickok held Aces and Eights when Jack McCall shot him in the back of the head.

Leap forward to June 13, 2015.  I'll be signing books at that very same saloon, while Ann Charles flits around like the social butterfly she is.  That's fine with me as long as she keeps the margaritas coming.

I'll be signing my Hearts of Owyhee series, including my new release, Much Ado About Mustangs.  If you like trick riding with a Cossack flair, Shakespeare, and various assorted animals mixed in with action and romance, you might give it a try.  Here's the back cover copy:

Secret lives, hidden dreams, and forbidden sex in the Old West—what’s a woman of nobility to do when a handsome rancher tears through her world like an Owyhee dust devil?

A British Aristocrat
Or is she? Lady Pearl Montford has performed in theatres all over the West for crowds of all sizes, but what would the world say if her secret was found out—that she's really plain old Pearl Jane Evans from Kentucky. To make matters worse, Pearl's past life as a professional trick rider is floating to the surface thanks to an unsavory suitor from her past who wants either her—or $10,000.

A Frustrated Rancher
Rugged Josh McKinnon has a ranch to build and blooded horses due in any day, but there's one problem standing between him and his dream—Lady Montford, a high-falutin' diva actress. Wrangled into playing opposite the snooty Brit in Shakespeare's ‘Much Ado about Nothing,’ Josh has to put his ranch on hold and put up with her nonsense for two weeks. Only thing is—how can he focus on his ranch when all he can think about is the way Pearl sits a horse?

Much Ado About ... Love?
With a slew of critters causing stirs left and right, meddling family members and townsfolk playing cupid, and horse rustlers causing a ruckus, Pearl and Josh have a heck of a time keeping their minds on the play and their hands off each other. When the dust settles and the curtain falls, will Pearl and Josh be able to overcome the odds working against them and find love in the wild Idaho countryside?

 ♥ ♥ ♥

I hope that if you're near Deadwood next week, you stop by and kick up your heels a bit.  We plan on having a heckuva good time!  

If that's too far, you might try Homedale, Idaho.  I'll be at Moxie Java June 25 in the afternoon.  That's a rowdy crowd, too!

Other Hearts of Owyhee books

Hearts of Owyhee

Much Ado About Madams

Much Ado About Marshals

Much Ado About Miners

Much Ado About Mavericks

Much Ado About Mustangs

Amazon Author Page

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Los Diablos Tejanos: the Texas Rangers — #Giveaway

As a Texan, I’ve always been fond of the Texas Rangers, an elite law-enforcement agency that functions as the state’s own FBI. Like their predecessors who patrolled Texas’s wide-open spaces during the 19th Century, the 150 men and women who compose the force today are a tough, savvy bunch no one wants to find on their trail. Texans revere the organization not only for the outfit’s history, but also because today’s Rangers serve as an outstanding example of upstanding devotion to an ideal.

Texas Rangers, c. 1890

Unofficially formed in 1823 and made official in 1835 by an act of the newly formed Republic of Texas government, the Rangers are the oldest statewide law-enforcement body in the U.S. At first the tough, hard-bitten men were a paramilitary force tasked with protecting the frontier from Indians and desperados. Mexicans called them los diablos Tejanos — Texas devils. They were poorly paid and expected to furnish their own horses, weapons, and ammunition, but their never-say-die attitude quickly became legendary. Admittedly, sometimes they abandoned the letter of the law in pursuit of their objectives, but they always got the job done.

Fearful of the organization’s reputation, the federal government disbanded the Rangers in 1865, during the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era. Texas re-commissioned the outfit in 1874, after the state emerged from martial law under Union occupation forces. Shortly before the turn of the 20th Century, the Rangers acquired the motto that still follows them today: “One riot; one Ranger.”

Except for one brief-but-notorious period of corruption in the 1920s, the organization has performed its function with stellar character. The Rangers always get their man.

The Ghost of
Peacemaker Awards Past

Little did I realize they sometimes capture awards, as well. On June 1, when the western authors professional organization Western Fictioneers announced the winners of the annual Peacemaker Awards, no one was more surprised (or pleased, I must say) than I to discover “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” had received one of the honors, for Best Short Fiction. Last year’s Best Short Fiction Peacemaker went to Livia J. Washburn’s “Charlie’s Pie,” so I feel my story is in good company.

I also feel Prairie Rose Publications, which published both western historical romances, is acquitting itself admirably on the western fiction front. Another PRP release, Prodigal Gun, was named a finalist for the Best First Novel award. Prodigal Gun is the first novel-length western historical romance ever nominated for a Peacemaker.

Over the past eighteen months, a number of books and short stories published by Prairie Rose Publications have been nominated for or received awards of all kinds. If that’s any indication, PRP is off to a great start. Founded in August 2013 by Livia Washburn Reasoner and Cheryl Pierson, the company is and always will be dedicated to publishing traditional westerns and western romance written by women. Nevertheless, in less than two years PRP has expanded to include young adult, inspirational, paranormal, and medieval lines. The “little publishing company” releases some darn fine fiction. I’m proud it publishes mine.

The hero in “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” is a Texas Ranger booted from the force when his partner’s death turns him into a loose cannon bent on revenge...as soon as he does his brother-in-arms one last favor. When he discovers the woman his partner asked him to protect is a nun, all hell breaks loose.

Excerpt

If Dulce had ever been in San Miguel, like as not she disappeared with everyone else when the hole in the border burned to the ground. Somehow, the saloon escaped the flames, thank God. A man got mighty thirsty crossing half of Texas.

Quinn tied Bull’s-Eye to the scorched rail beside a chestnut and buckskin carrying Mexican saddles and no brands. The long-gun scabbards on both horses sat empty. Chewing his lip, he slid the Winchester from Bull’s-Eye’s boot, pulled the brim of his hat lower, and sauntered inside.

Two trail-worn hardcases held up the bar at the back of the dingy room. They glanced over their shoulders, and then returned to their beers. The tight-lipped cuss guarding the liquor claimed to know nothing.

Quinn grabbed a bottle and retreated to a table in the front corner. He was three-quarters of the way to the bottom of the bad whiskey when hope arrived on painted wings.

A small flock of bright birds fluttered in through a door behind the bar. They paused to chirp and preen for the disinterested hombres with the saddle guns and beers, and then headed for Quinn.

He grinned.

Without so much as a howdy, one of them plopped herself into his lap, jiggling everything she owned. The half-light did her a favor. “You look like a man who could use some company.”

“Maybe.” He tossed a healthy shot of rotgut down his throat and slammed the glass onto the tabletop. “Looking for a girl goes by Dulce.”

A dove squeezed between Quinn and the wall and snaked bare arms across his shoulders. Long nails toyed with the buttons on his vest while a honeyed whisper dropped into his ear. “All of us can be sweet, guapo, if that is what you want.”

The whore in his lap ran a fingertip along his unshaven jaw. “We can also be very, very naughty.”

That’s when the nun walked in.

Sharp nails raked Quinn’s cheek when he dumped the dove on her ass and sat forward, blinking.

Yep. A nun, wearing a habit so white it almost glowed, except for the black apron and the dust on the hem.

He glanced at the near-empty bottle, then trained his gaze on the apparition’s ramrod-straight back as she marched across the room. The sister confronted the Tejano barkeep as though she did so every day.

When she spoke, Quinn could’ve sworn he heard Spanish mission bells. “Señor, I beg your assistance.”

Captain Jeffries was right. He needed to swear off the firewater.


To celebrate the Best Short Fiction Peacemaker, I’ll gift an e-book of “The Second-Best Ranger in Texas” to two folks who answer this question in the comments:

What makes a Texas Ranger hero sexy?

I’ll pick one commenter at random from Thursday’s comments, and another from Friday’s.

Villains By Sarah J. McNeal

Villains

By Sarah J. McNeal

Moriarty and Sherlock Holmes fighting to the death in the book by Sir Author Canon Doyle.

I have always loved villains. They drive the hero/heroine to do more than they thought they could. Without a really good villain, the story would just fall flat. Although I’ve written many stories without villains, the ones where I inserted a proper villain, have been the most fun to write. I’ll admit, a really good villain is difficult to develop. Villains believe they are right or entitled in some way to go up against the protagonist. But the reader must see how wrong the villain is at some point.

There are several types of villains: The pure evil villain, the forced to be evil villain, the villain who is right, the hero gone bad villain, the villain gone good guy, and the dumb villain (I personally cannot imagine a dumb villain being the only opposition to a convincing hero.)

Villains have different motives and different personality types. Well, that makes it even more interesting because readers have to figure out why the villain in a particular story has it out for the protagonist, how the villain is going to carry out the plan to thwart the hero, and how the culmination of all the villains efforts will present itself.  There has to come a point in the story where it looks like the antagonist is going to win and there better be a death-gripping something going on to lead the reader to believe the protagonist might not win. Protagonists cannot come out of this climax without some kind of collateral damage, either physically or emotionally or we’ll all know they didn’t fight hard enough to deserve winning.

Darth Vader, a good guy gone bad in the movies, STAR WARS

Now I’ll be the first to admit, I spend an extraordinary amount of time on Pinterest. It’s my way of brainstorming. Okay, maybe sometimes I just like to have some fun. I like to see what famous writers have to say about their process, protagonists and, of course, villains. I found some invaluable gems from famous authors and script writers.

What goes on in the mind of a villain? Here is a list of the inner workings of a villainous mind:

Does your villain love? Has the villain ever been loved?

Does your villain have low self-esteem? Where did it originate? What happened?

Is your villain lucky? Or is the villain a victim of bad luck?

Is your villain a leader? Who are his followers? Why do they follow him?

Is your villain blinded by his enterprise? Is he unable to see reason?

Is your villain evil, without morals, or mentally ill?

Who are your villain’s parents? Does your villain have parents?

Is your villain a hero? Who is the villain saving, and from what?

Is your villain seeking revenge? What happened? What was the catalyst?

Is your villain a loner? Why are they alone? Are they isolated?

Is your villain just following orders?

Loki, the villain in the THOR movies. A villain you love to hate and hate to love.

Another world nominator, Khan, in STAR TREK, a self-righteous villain.

Villains are so much fun to write, an author has to be careful not to give them more page time than the hero, unless of course, the villain turns out to be the real hero. I did not heed this message in my first published novel THE DARK ISLE. My evil queen, Mahara, almost ran away with the story. She enjoys doing evil things—a psychopath, if ever there was one. By the time I wrote the third novel in that trilogy, I managed to get Mahara under control. Of course, I still made my hero, Falcon, suffer.

Sometimes a villain makes us wonder if we would fare any better in their circumstances. Such was the case with Sid Effird in my novella, FLY AWAY HEART, in the Wildings series. His father, Edgar Effird, was the real villain of this story. Sid’s motives were very different from his father’s. I almost felt sorry for him.

In my novel, HARMONICA JOE’S RELUCTANT BRIDE, the first novel in the Wildings series, the crafty villain, Callie McGraw, is a villain on a mission. She is somewhat a victim from her cohort in crime, but Callie is quite capable of taking care of herself. It’s unfortunate that the heroine, Lola Barton, is mistaken for Callie, but necessary for the story line. Callie has no redeeming qualities. She is the perfect sociopath, completely without empathy. Manipulation and control are her tools to make people do what she wants them to do. She can be charming though, if it serves a purpose.

Villains take as much time, energy, and thought to write as the protagonist…maybe even more. But, oh boy, when there’s a villain in a story, I get geared up. I love to read about them, and I love to write them.

My favorite villain, Spike, in the BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL the spin-off. He was complex, smart, funny, sarcastic, evil, and yet good. Josh Whedon creates the most interesting antagonists. You want to hate them, but you love them, too.

Angel in the Buffy and Angel series. Another good guy-bad guy-good guy villain.

What is your favorite type of villain? What makes you enjoy reading about that particular type? Have you written a story with a great villain? What kind of villain was your antagonist?

Just me, not a villain, but I could turn bad I suppose.

  

Sarah McNeal is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She is a retired ER nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Publishing by Rebecca Vickery, Victory Tales Press, Prairie Rose Publications and Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press, imprints of Prairie Rose Publications. She welcomes you to her website and social media:

Website

My Amazon Author’s Page

Prairie Rose Author Page

The Wildings

Facebook

Twitter

LIVING AND LOVING LIFE....... By Gail L. Jenner

This has been a hard week.

My sisters and I had to rush south to visit our aging "second mom," whom we call aunt, and to whom we are "her girls!" She fell and broke her hip and femur and is in rehab now, trying to get back on her feet. It was a terrifying event but she has always been strong and independent. She has inspired many over the years and has been a faithful friend.

In some ways it wasn't a "convenient" time, but it was imperative we go, and we are so glad it worked out. We raised her spirits immeasurably and her smiles were electric. Hopefully she will continue to heal. She has been very important to us and to see her energized by our visit was deeply touching.

On the way home I reflected a lot about what lessons we can all learn about living and giving when life hands us the tough times. These are some of those thoughts....

I think, no matter who we are or what we do--one thing is certain: As writers we are always looking DEEPER into life.

So here are some of my THOUGHTS ON LIFE.....


1. Try everything twice.....if you can! On a tombstone was this epitaph: "Tried everything twice...loved it both times!

2. Surround yourself with cheerful and encouraging people: The grouches pull you down (keep this in mind if you are one of those grouches).

3. Keep learning: Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Or take up a foreign language and get your mind working on new pathways and vocabulary.....Never let the brain get idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop."

4. Enjoy the simple things. Especially sunsets, sunrises, books or music, children, a walk in the sand or in the woods or a park, or even down the street. Look for people to smile at and bring a smile to......And, think on things that make you smile!

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath. And if you have a friend who makes you laugh, spend lots and lots of time with HIM/HER. Or listen to children laugh....it's contagious and absolutely PURE.

6. The tears happen:  Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with you your entire life, is yourself. LIVE while you are alive. Know that God gave us rainbows as a way to look back on the rain and realize that life is a promise and a gift.

7. Surround yourself with what you love: Whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge, and if it's not, find a place of refuge -- or make it a place of refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help. As we age, it's even more important.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, even to a foreign country, or to a friend's house, OR to some place where YOU can help someone ELSE get through something...but do not NOT go to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. Tell them when they least expect it and when they least deserve it. If you think they won't appreciate it -- think again. Perhaps it's good to remember that even God loves us -- no matter how many mistakes we make!

11. Forgive now those who made you cry. You might not get a second chance. It's terrible to live with regrets......For me, I had to remind myself that God chooses to forgive me when I don't deserve it.


A simple list, and certainly not complete, but a list that might give us all pause to reflect on those who are important, those who have inspired us, those to whom we might even OWE a little -- or a lot of -- gratitude!

*********************************************************************************

Author of the WILLA Award-winning ACROSS THE SWEET GRASS HILLS

For more on Gail, check out her website: www.gailjenner.com
Or read about her on prairierosepublishing.com 
Or http://www.amazon.com/Gail-Fiorini-Jenner/e/B005GHR47O