As I write this, two of our very own TQ ladies are packing their bags, getting ready to head to Kansas City for the super fun Romantic Times Convention.

Ava Stone and Jane Charles will be partying the week away with readers and writers alike, celebrating romance novels and all the people who make them possible: authors, editors, agents, cover artists, cover models, etc...

If you want to get up close and personal with Ava and Jane, just look in the bar. I promise at least one of them will be holding down the fort at all times ;) They have giveaways, too! So don't be shy!

And if you want to spend even more time with them, here are their itineraries...

AVA:

Thursday 2 May
Lady Lavinia's Regency Bridal Shower @ 11:15a - 12:15p

Friday 3 May
Name that Playlist @ 11:15a - 12:15p

Saturday 4 May
Regency Feud @ 2:30p - 3:30p

JANE:

Thursday 2 May
E-Book, Indie Publisher & Graphic Novel EXPO @ 4p-6p

Saturday 4 May
FAN-tastic Day Party @6:30p

If you're going to RT, have a wonderful time! And be sure to comment here so we can tell Ava and Jane to keep a look out for you!

Rufus King is a man that will forever be remembered as playing a significant part of our history.  He was not only one of the chief participants in creating the Constitutional Convention, he was also a statesmen, diplomat and man of great conviction with rare powers.  Rufus was born on March 24, 1755 in Scarborough, near now (Portland, Maine) to Sabilla Blagden and Richard King, a prosperous farmer-merchant.  King attended Dummer Academy which has since been renamed (The Governor's Academy) and later Harvard College, graduating in 1777. 

Immediately upon graduating he accepted an offer from the office of one of New England’s most gifted law professor’s, devoting much of his energy there.  In 1780, after being admitted to the bar he quickly established a large and lucrative practice outside Newburyport, Massachusetts that continued to flourish throughout his life.  King’s first dabble with politics was when he was elected to the Massachusetts General Court in 1783.  Massachusetts officials saw his exceptional value and decided to then send him to the Confederation Congress from 1784 through 1787.  In 1789 and again in 1795 Rufus was elected New York State Assembly.  This was made possible due to the great support and encouragement from his friend, Alexander Hamilton, and fellow supporter, Governor George Clinton.  King played a key diplomatic role as Minister to the Court of St. James from 1796 to 1803, and again from 1825 to 1826.  

King was a man of great integrity and believed in equality for all beings, which explained his long history of opposition to the expansion of slavery and the slave trade. Rufus’ stand was a combination of the product of his moral conviction, which coincided with the political realities of New England federalism.  He was so dedicated to the cause that in 1817 he supported Senate action to abolish domestic slave trade.  Furthermore, in 1819 he was a lead speaker for the antislavery amendment to the Missouri statehood bill. The admirable traits that earned King much recognition and assisted him in his life long political journey were a combination of the example led by each of his two brothers; William King whom was the first governor of Maine and  his other brother, Cyrus King, who was a U. S. Representative from Massachusetts.  In 1825, John Quincy Adams once again requested Rufus’ assistance to rule as Minister of Britain.  Unfortunately, due to his rapidly declining health a year later he regrettably had to resign and returned to New York.  Rufus King died shortly after his return home on April 29, 1827.  He was laid to rest at Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery in Jamaica, New York.

This last Wednesday evening, two of our very own TQ ladies, Ava Stone and Jerrica Knight-Catania, along with former member, Catherine Gayle, got together to dazzle the crowd at Lady Jane's Salon in Raleigh, NC with their readings from A Season to Remember. We missed having Jane Charles there to read from her own story, but she was there with us in spirit :)

So, without further ado, here we are, reading from A Season to Remember...

Ok, here I am. At the airport. Getting ready to board my flight to Raleigh, NC to read at Lady Jane's Salon RDU. I'm SO excited, but first I have to get through the flight. Did I mention I'm a bit of a nervous flier? I mean, I'm not the worst - I do a pretty good job of keeping my cool, though I keep my eyes on the flight attendants most of the time. If they don't look worried, it puts me at ease.

Some of you might be wondering how I, such a seasoned traveler, could be so nervous boarding a plane. My answer: no idea. It's not a phobia. It doesn't keep me from getting on the plane, but still...I'm not the girl who curls up before take off and falls asleep. I used to be. Years ago, I traveled all over the country and flew to Europe once a summer with no hesitation whatsoever. I have no idea what happened to make me lose that fearlessness.

Today, it's even a little worse though because I'm missing my posse!! My hubby and daughter and I usually go everywhere together. Or at the very least hubby and I. But today I'm solo. There's no one for me to dig my nails into when the plane makes a funny noise or starts to dip for its initial descent. I know. I'm such a wuss!

Anyhoo, I'm going to wrap up so I can seek out some booze. What about you? Nervous flier? Plane phobic? Or are you the one who curls up and sleeps from take-off to touchdown without a thought??

Jerrica :)

Byron was a man shaped by passion, texture, and depth. He was one fashioned by many facets in life; as like any man, he celebrated his great victories while learning and improving from his defeats.  For one, he was a leader of the Romantic poetry revolution.  Also, Byron was a big encourager of liberty through his works and deeds by pouring his time, money, and energy into the Greek War.  There are so many aspects of Lord Byron’s life to wrap up in one blog, so here are some of the most intriguing. 

George Gordon Noel Byron was born in London, England on January 22, 1788.   Unfortunately, George was born with the tremendous undertaking of having to deal with the difficulties that were associated with having a clubbed foot.  This didn’t discourage him for a second.  Byron was barely out of adolescence when in 1798 the death of his great uncle, the fifth “Wicked” Lord Byron, forever changed his life. Overnight he transformed into the sixth Byron of Rochdale, heir to Newstead Abby.  After being financially blessed, Byron began attending school immediately. His earlier years of formal education can be traced back to Aberdeen Grammar School.  Then, with his new title in hand, in August 1799 he entered the school of Dr. William Glennie, in Dulwich.  In 1801 he was sent to Harrow, where he remained until July 1805. 

In the summer of 1803, Byron fell head over heels with his distant cousin, Mary Chaworth.  Byron interrupted his education for a semester to follow his heart and be near her.  Unsuccessful and defeated he returned to Harrow where he finished out the year.  Devastation seemed to be instrumental for Byron; it launched his passion for poetry.  It has been said some of his first and best work was based on Mary including; "Hills of Annesley" (written 1805), "The Adieu" (written 1807), "Stanzas to a Lady on Leaving England" (written 1809), and "The Dream" (written 1816).  To help cope with the dissolution of his relationship with Mary, in 1804 he began an intimate connection with his half sister, Augusta.  He boldly requested that she consider him "not only as a Brother" but as her "warmest and most affectionate Friend." It appeared almost as a shift, as he grew apart from his coarse, often violent, mother, his feelings to Augusta began to blossom. Byron attended Trinity College, Cambridge, intermediately from October 1805 until July 1808 when he completed his M.A. degree.  During his educational pursuit, he met and formed a close bond with John Edleston, a choirboy at Trinity.  Their connection was so instantaneous that Byron deemed him his Protégé.  He later revealed, it was "the most romantic period of my life," and even though it was "violent, though pure, love and passion”.

Byron led a very nomadic life and enjoyed traveling to different countries lending a hand anyway he could.  For some time he was a nobleman in the Grand Tour.  Deciding to shift gears after the Napoleonic War, he traveled to Portugal, Athens, and even making his way to Smyrna.  Leaving traces of himself wherever he went. In 1816, Byron was forced to leave England permanently to escape allegations of incest and sodomy.  This freed Byron to be able to express his sexuality completely.  He finally decided to settle in Italy from 1812-1823.  Things took a sudden shift when 1823 he was approached by representatives to gain support from the movement for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire.  Without any hesitation, Byron immediately got the backing of his banker and Captain Roberts.  On July 16th Byron left the dock at Genoa after chartering the Brig Hercules to take him to Kefalonia in the Ionian Islands on August 4th.  Sadly, on February 15th 1824, Byron fell ill, and the usual remedy of bloodletting weakened him further.   He made a partial recovery, however in early April another round of a violent cold, which used therapeutic bleeding as treatment, was unsuccessful.  It is suspected this treatment, carried out with unsterilized medical instrumentation, may have caused him to develop sepsis.  He developed a violent fever, and died on April 19, 1824.

The Stage Bride, 3rd and final book in the Daring Debutantes series,  is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords! (Coming soon at other ebook outlets and in paperback!)

~*~*~*~

Thomas Barclay has had a rough year, to say the least. After being jilted by the only woman he ever loved, he’s sworn off love for good, along with any semblance of respectability, by attempting to drink away his sorrows. However, when his meddling sister sends him off to the country to pull himself together once and for all, he finds himself trapped with the most vexing and obstinate creature he’s ever been forced to encounter.

Amelia Harding has more than overstayed her welcome at Ms. Denby’s School for Girls. At the ripe age of eighteen, she’s finally being forced to enter the marriage mart, which also means returning to her father–a prospect she refuses to even entertain. So she decides to run away to London to pursue a life on the stage. Unfortunately, her plans go awry and she finds herself in a carriage bound for the country in the company of a drunkard. A handsome drunkard, but a drunkard nonetheless.

Now they both must decide if they will continue to let their pasts define them, or if they will start anew in each others arms.

I'm giving away a FREE copy of The Stage Bride to one lucky commenter today! Make sure to leave your email along with your comment!

I know, I know, Texas, really? After seeing all the wonderful pictures of London, France and the Bahamas from Amy and Jerrica, I (as in Rose) get on here and post about TEXAS!

Yes, I am.

While I've never been to Europe and my out-of-the-US experience is limited to Canada, Mexico, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, I've actually enjoyed traveling around and exploring the USA the most. You never know what you're going to find and where!

A few weeks ago, we went to Galveston, Texas for the second time the first time wasn't much for looking-around, but this time we did and we had a great time walking the streets, getting plagued by our kids to buy them a hermit crab (uh NO!) and even stopped in an old-family confectionary where we paid $7 for a milkshake.

One of the funnest things we did, however, was walk through a World War Two Submarine and Battleship.

The next two pictures were taken and posted just because we all need a laugh...even if I'm the only one who finds it funny.

While driving through Dallas, we saw this building, and my very frank husband makes a keen observation fit for any detective: "That building has a hole in it!" 

Indeed it DOES have a hole.

When we travel, we generally get a magnet for the fridge and this last one is of the magnet he thought was appropriate to remember out time in Galveston:

Happy Thursday, friends! Well, everyone is super busy right now -- I know I'm in editing Hell -- SO, in lieu of telling YOU about a drink of the day, we're inviting you to tell us what YOUR favorite drink is!

Just leave a comment, telling us your favorite drink (with a recipe, if you have one!), and you'll get a FREE digital copy of the Timeless Quills: Timeless Collection, Vol. 1.

PLUS, one lucky commenter will also get a $10 gift card to Barnes & Noble, the official sponsor of Edit Week :)

Make sure to leave your email address, too, so we know how to contact you!

Clara Harlowe Barton was an American pioneer who was capable of achieving whatever goals she set her mind to accomplish.  Clara was born on December 25, 1821 in New Oxford, Massachusetts to Captain Stephen and Sarah Barton.  Barton was the youngest of 5 children.  She spent brief periods of time in public schools, but most of her education came from her 4 older siblings.  Quite rare for times, by the age of 4, Clara was able to spell highly complicated words.  Life definitely didn’t come easy to Clara.  She unfortunately began to understand this when at the fragile age of 6; her older sister Dolly had a mental breakdown.   It is said that Dolly’s break down was due to the stress of taking care of their emotionally unbalanced mother.  Not only was she academically inclined, however, at the age of 11 an innate gift for nursing unveiled almost overnight.  Young Clara single handedly decided to take on the responsibility of completely caring for her brother David, who became completely incapacitated after a tragic work accident.

 At the impressionable age of 15, Clara’s life took a dramatic shift when L. N. Fowler, a noted phrenologist, demanded Barton's parents have her teach school.  In 1839, Clara passed her final examination and began her 10 year teaching career in school districts near Oxford, Massachusetts.  Her natural ability seemed to flow with whatever she did.  As the schools she taught at won prizes in discipline excellence, she was rewarded with new job offers including a premium salary.  In 1854, suffering from overload, Clara decided to go on a hiatus from teaching to pursue some refreshment courses of her own.  She voyaged to Clinton, New York to the Clinton Liberal Institute where she studied analytic geometry, calculus, astronomy, mathematics, and natural science, as well as French, German, ancient history, philosophy, and religion.  When the term was over she was invited to stay with a friend in Hightstown, New Jersey.   Delighted by the area, soon after she was teaching in nearby Cedarville school and later in Bordentown.  It was in New Jersey, where Clara started the state’s first free public school.  The attendance sky rocketed to 600 under Clara’s leadership; however, instead of hiring Clara as head of the school they hired a man.  In dismay, she moved to Washington D.C. to begin work as a clerk in the U.S. Patent Office.  

Barton resigned her position in the Patent Office once the Civil War started to devote herself to the care of wounded soldiers.  In April 1961 she established an agency to obtain and distribute her own medical supplies to wounded soldiers.  For close to a year, she passionately lobbied the U.S. Army and in July 1862 was granted permission to travel behind the lines.  In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln assigned Barton with the exceptionally challenging task of directing the search for more than 20,000 Union Army men.  As the war began to slow, Clara was sent to Andersonville, Georgia to identify and mark the graves of some 13,000 Union soldiers buried there.  In 1869, under doctor recommendation Clara took a restful trip to Europe.  During a stop in Switzerland, she met Dr. Louis Appia, and, for the first time, heard about the International Red Cross. Unfortunately, the United States had not been a participant in the Geneva Convention of 1864, which made the International Red Cross possible, so Barton didn't learn of its existence until traveling in Europe.  While in Europe, she developed a friendship with the Grand Dutchess.  With the support of the Grand Dutchess and International Red Cross, in 1870 Barton went to the battlefield and to aid the overwhelmed city of Strasbourg, France.  Sadly, in 1873 Clara began to suffer from nervous exhaustion, she returned to the United States and in 1876 she moved to Dansville, New York.  Promptly after arriving home, Clara’s work began rallying to have the US join in this treaty; vowing to not only establish an equally successful American Association of the Red Cross in the United States, but vouching to expand on original idea of the Red Cross and coming up with inventive ideas incorporating ways to assist people should any great national disasters occur.  This contribution awarded the United States the "Good Samaritan of Nations" label.  Barton held the title of President of the American National Red Cross for twenty-two years.  Under her leadership, she implemented the framework of the Red Cross to fit the needs of the United States not only during wartime but in peacetime.  

 Barton was an accomplished educator, hard-working woman, and devote activist who always saw through every project until the end.  She had an array of friends including Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone whom she enjoyed spending her later years with.  Barton herself was notably the most decorated American woman, receiving the Iron Cross, the Cross of Imperial Russia, and the International Red Cross Medal.  Her final contribution was founding the National First Aid Society in 1904, which later became part of the American Red Cross.  Clara retired from the American Red Cross as President of the organization in 1904 at the age of 83.  She quietly returned to Glen Echo, Maryland where she spent her remaining years.  Clara Barton passed away on April 12, 1912 in her home due to complications of a cold.

My calendar tells me it's once again Thirsty Thursday...

I have a confession, though. I'm not feeling so thirsty this Thursday (but shhh, don't tell Jerrica or she might have my head on a platter, then I won't be able to announce when my new book comes out later today).

However, fear of certain death at the hands of Ms. Knight-Catania does not make it any less true.

For the last three days I've been doing a Dr. Oz Detox Cleanse.

For anyone who hasn't heard of this, you basically blend/puree/liquify fruits and vegetables together and drink them for three meals a day for three days straight. It's delicious!

Here's breakfast:

Lunch:

Dinner:

I decided to do this cleanse because, well, I'm nuts. No, actually, I've always struggled with my weight. As a teen, I struggled to keep it on and there were times as a junior or senior in high school when I only weighed 88 pounds. Not because I didn't eat, trust me, I ate everything. Then at 18 I got married and a few months later I got pregnant and in that nine months I gained seventy pounds! I went from 90 to 160 and thus began my struggle to keep weight off!




As it is, I watch calories and take note of pure trash that I might eat. I also ride my bike a lot, stand during the day when I can, Zumba when I must, and jump on a trampoline as often as I can. Unfortunately, nothing I do has shown me any results so when I heard this cleanse wasn't necessarily a quick way to lose weight, but rather to kick-start my metabolism, I was off to the grocery store—iPhone in hand. As it would happen there were several things on the list of ingredients that were like UFOs: I'd heard of them before, but never seen it.

Anyway, here are my results:

Monday:

• I was ravenous as a bear in the morning and thought, “Oh, no, what have I gotten myself into?” However, I didn't want to let myself down without giving it a chance, so I holed myself up in my office away from any food temptation and wrote 6,500 words.
  
  
• I had to literally choke down the shakes. I won't lie, they were really, really gross.
  
  
• Because of my human weakness and wanting to eat, I didn't watch any TV so I wouldn't see food on a commercial, I made my husband make lunch and dinner for my kids and I even made my own kids pour their cereal while I cowered in a corner as they ate it.
  

Tuesday:

• Best day by far as far as not being tempted to eat. Not only was I not tempted when I went into the kitchen to get water or just passing by, but from shake to shake, I didn't even feel hungry.
  
  
• I learned that if you keep blending the shake for an extra 30-seconds, it makes it more liquid-y and not as thick and chunky, allowing it to go down easier.
  
  
• I don't know if it was mind over matter or just realizing how far I'd come, but as I went to bed that night, I was more determined than before I started to finish the cleanse.
  
  

Wednesday:

• Confession time: due to not eating anything else, I actually thought two of the three shakes tasted good by Wednesday (the dinner one was still pretty hard to handle).
  
  
• I was totally tempted on Wednesday because I made all meals for everyone else. While it hadn't been a problem to sit at the table while they ate their food and I drank my liquid veggies, actually touching, sniffing, and preparing their food made it hard. But I did prevail.
  
  

Thursday:

• As I write this, it's not yet breakfast time and in a way I'm really looking forward to eating solid food again—just being more careful about my selections. I've been a vegetarian who doesn't eat vegetables for six years now and I've spoken to so many people who are like, “Oh, when I became a vegetarian, I had so much more energy and lost all this weight.” I always stare at them as if they're nuts. I didn't notice a bit of difference in either area, but that might be because I don't eat a lot of vegetables... Something that, now after doing the cleanse will change. The amount of energy I had was amazing as was the fullness I felt between each meal. So is this an effective way to lose weight, I don't think so and I haven't even weighed myself to know. I don't think it's meant to be, but it has certainly opened my eyes about how important it is to eat better!
  
  

*Stepping off my sopabox*


Post in the comments section what the hardest, most unpleasant thing you've ever had to choke down is and you'll be entered to win a $10 gift card to Jamba Juice (or whatever is the equivalent in your area).