December 1, 2017
The holiday season has officially started! With
24 days left until Christmas morning have you started your gift shopping? Or
have you been done for months? According to Yesmail Interactive,
38.1% of people start their Christmas shopping before November which jumps up
to 69.8% of people starting their Christmas shopping before the 1st December. Merry Christmas from our house to yours!
In
this Issue:
© Quote of the Month
© Check This Out
© Featured Author
© New Release
© Christmas Entertainment
© Recipe of the Month
© Upcoming Events
© Coming Next Month
Quote of the Month: “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of
mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the
real spirit of Christmas.” ~~ Calvin Coolidge (US President, 1872-1933)
Check This Out: New changes are coming to Affairs of the Heart in 2018! A new logo. New
dates. New information. Watch for the first issue in 2018 this February…the
month of hearts and love.
I have also started on a new trilogy for 2018—Men of the Double K
continues with the stories of the Kennedys you met in The Cattleman’s Bride starting with Beau Kennedy in Red River Crossing in April 2018.
Both Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre
Rhapsody and Four by Moonlight
are anthologies of stories I’ve written over the years. Morgan is the inspiration for all his books.
He is a singular individual – English aristocracy, a renowned classical
pianist, and….a vampire. He needed no fleshing out, but came to me fully
realized—as if indeed he were real. I wonder if he was someone I knew in a
former life. J
The 4 stories in Four by
Moonlight each had a different inspiration. The ghost story was inspired by
The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes,
absolutely my favorite epic poem. Loreena McKennitt recorded the poem in a
beautiful rendition of these immortal words.
The alien story came to me late one night. I was in the throes of a
divorce, feeling low, and wondered what it would be like to have your dream man
materialize in front of your eyes when you were stuck in debilitating boredom
and hopelessness. Star Angel was born, originally titled Home.
The vampire story I began as for an erotic romance anthology, but it
just didn’t want to be ER, so I tamed it (just a bit) and The Gatekeeper’s Cottage became a very spicy offering to this
anthology. BTW, it should be The Game Keeper’s Cottage. My bad!
The angel story was born on a flight from Dallas to Houston. I read
the Book of Enoch, which is not in
the modern Bible but a part of the Apocrypha. Enoch tells the story of the
Grigori, angels who took human wives. In
Genesis 6.2, one reference remains to the Grigori, “that the sons of God saw
the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all that
they chose.” I made Azazel the hero rather than the demon he’s most often
portrayed.
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The greatest enemy of a vampire is boredom. Four centuries of
existence have taught Lord Morgan Gabriel D'Arcy to fear nothing and no one.
Humans and their weapons have little chance against his preternatural speed
and arcane powers. Vampires are viral mutations of human DNA. Still, the
Vampyre code requires secrecy, and he has learned to hide his nature from the
world. The lure of mortality, of a life in the sun, puts Morgan again and
again at the mercy of calculating human women though they fail to consider
his charm and determination into the equation. However, even grooming a
future bride from infancy proves to be fraught with heartbreak. And second
chances are not always what they seem unless... you are Morgan. Immortality
and beauty, aren’t they grand?
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An anthology of love in the moonlight…in the paranormal realms…
Gypsy Ribbons – A moonlight ride on
the moors and meeting a notorious highwayman will forever change Lady
Virginia Darby’s life.
Star Angel – Lucy was stuck in a
rut and in an Idaho potato patch. She’d seen him in the corner of her eye—a
fleeting glimpse of beauty—now he stood before her in the flesh.
The Night Before
Doomsday – All his brothers had succumbed to lust, but Azazel resisted
temptation until the wrong woman came along.
The Gate Keeper’s
Cottage – Newlywed Meggie Richelieu’s mysterious, phantom lover may be more
than anyone, except the plantation housekeeper, suspects.
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Something of a wanderer, I suppose, I was born in South Carolina and
have lived in England, Canada, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta and in the
Houston area. I’ve seen a lot of this country from the windshield of a
truck pulling a horse trailer, having bred, trained and showed the
magnificent Andalusian horses for many years.
I’ve won several writing awards, including the Georgia Romance
Writers Magnolia Award and the SARA Merritt. I’m proud of my two
wonderful sons. I am a retired legal assistant, and member of the Houston BMW
Club. In a former life, I must have had to walk everywhere because today I am
very into transportation: loving horses and hot cars! Also, I love music,
particularly the piano.
My fav fun thing? Dressing up and hosting formal dinner
parties. I don’t even object to hand washing the crystal and china the
next day.
If you would like to contact me, my email address is Nitethyme2003
at yahoo dot com. I’d love to hear from you!
Available at These Online Retailers:
Contact Links:
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New
Releases This Month:
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D E C E M B E R 1
Dance
In Shadows
Book 9: Incognito Series
Head of Network
Operations, Angelo Pluzetti, has never been captured...until he’s targeted by
R.E.D. The last thing he expects is the deceptively-frail Network doctor and
mother of his unborn child, Celine Savage, to be the one to save his life and
unbury his heart.
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Christmas
Entertainment:
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READING
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MOVIES
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Figgy Pudding
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1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup molasses
2 cups dried figs (about 1
pound), stems removed, chopped fine
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Garnish: Whipped cream
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In an electric
mixer, cream the butter until it is fluffy. Add the eggs and molasses and
beat again. Add the figs, lemon peel, buttermilk, and walnuts. Blend for one
minute. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and
nutmeg. Blend until everything is incorporated completely.
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Grease and flour
an 8- by 4-inch souffle dish and pour in the batter. Bake it in a 325 F oven
for one hour. You will know it is done when a toothpick inserted in the
center comes out clean.
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Spoon the
pudding out onto plates or cut it into wedges. Garnish with whipped cream.
You can also pour some brandy over it. In some cases, the alcohol is set on
fire briefly to char the outside of the cake.
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Upcoming Events:
Coming in 2018: Affairs of the Heart 2018 Newsletter Themes:
I’m trying something a bit different for 2018. I’ll be sending out newsletters
with holiday themes. I will still strive to keep my featured author and recipe
sections.
With much
gratitude, until next time…keep reading.
Maxine
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Spark your imagination and entice your mind.
Be adventurous and take a journey
into a new world to be inspired.
Enjoy the pleasures of reading ~~
It does the mind and body good.
Photo on left from Pinterest
Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Meet Me In
St. Louis, 1944) video from YouTube
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Your newsletter is always so beautiful and full of great info.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and God's blessings
PamT
Thank you Pamela! I hope you join me with the new features for 2018.
DeleteHugs,
Maxine