Tag Archives: joy

Reading and Writing Romance Has Made Me, Well, More Romantic

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I was not a person who read romance books but two years ago a character, Lexi Maxwell, presented herself to me while I was on holiday in Ireland. It was chilly, windy, wet day as we rode through the rolling hills of the country. It is true that Ireland has more shades of green than anywhere and the dots of white sheep sprinkled in the fields made everything feel quaint and cozy. After the rain, rainbows appeared everywhere I looked.

That was when Lexi started talking to me. It’s how all my characters present themselves to me. They just show up in my “mind’s eye” and start telling me their story. You will hear some creatives refer to it as a download. “The music is in the ethers and I just capture it,” to paraphrase Bob Dylan when asked how he write his songs. Elizabeth Gilbert and Rick Rubin have discussed this experience as well. In fact Gilbert talks about how she sits at her desk every morning at the same time to “receive” her stories. Paul McCartney admits that is how “Yesterday” came to him. It was a complete song in a fast download. Such a complete song that, at first, he thought it surely must have been someone else’s song that he’d just heard on the radio.

Lexi kept talking to me all day in Ireland and, by the time I arrived at my hotel, I told her I’d write it. Four months later I completed her story and Under The Autumn Moon was published the next year.

Under The Autumn Moon has been described as “Finally, an adult romance. This isn’t puppy love. It’s a deep fulfilling love story.”

Another romance story immediately started “talking” to me and so, this fall, another romance novel is on its way to you.

What I’ve noticed about myself now that I’m writing romance, is that I have more scented candles in the house, I now have flowery bed sheets, I wear lacey tops (NEVER would I have done that before), my playlists I listen to while writing are love songs from all ages and cultures, and I seek quieter spots to sit alone or with a small group of family and friends.

The other delight is how many men, of all ages, have said things to me like, “I’ve never read romance and didn’t know I needed it!”

Maybe we all need a little more romance in our lives.

Let Me Crawl If I Can’t Walk

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It finally happened, my friend, and ninety-four year old neighbor, fell… and hasn’t walked again.

It didn’t have to be that way. His loving family was startled by how much he complained about his leg hurting. He never complains. It was a deep bruise and would need time to heal.

The family and the doctor, however, immediately flipped him from being someone in his home who had a housekeeper, physical therapist twice and week and a nurse check-in once a week ,to being a man told “not to try and get up because you’ll fall again.” He has literally been pushed down in his chair.

Overnight his bed was switched to a hospital, his walker was switched to a wheelchair and 24/7 caretakers added to the day.

He looked at me early in this process and said, “I guess they just want me to sit here, get old, rot and die.”

His 24/7 caretakers and I know he could have walked again. Not now. It’s been too many weeks and now morphine has been added “so he’s never in pain.”

My family has had the conversations about medical power of attorney, end of life procedures, wills, etc. Now we have had the conversation about the “just before” stage when my husband and I can and want to push ourselves as much as we can to keep moving and functioning.

I told them, let me crawl if I can’t walk.

Whoa-man!

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I never imagined that reading, writing and watching romance would have such a powerful affect on my appreciation of WOMAN in the world.

We need this balance of the female more than ever. In fact, I believe the world is in the mess it is because we have not honored the Female the way way we honor the Male.

We need both. Balance.

Separate AND equal energies for creating a world wwhere we treat everyone and everything with kindness and respect.

So be it.

My Unexpected Adventure at a Small Book Fair

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I thought I was signing up for a different book fair held on the same day in my community so I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I realized I was heading to a small town I’d never heard of to participate in my first ever book fair at a new bookstore I’d never heard of.

The place was overflowing with vendors so Leather and Bound Bookbar had to set us up in the adjacent cross fit gym. It was unheated and the side garage doors were open showcasing the vibrant sunset.

I relaxed into my new adventure and had a GREAT TIME!

The people were warm, kind, fun and genuine.

Venders supported one another with conversation, professional advice and manning one another’s table if needed.

And I sold several books.

What was so fulfilling about the sales was that my future readers wanted to talk with me about the book. Several have already started following me on socials, giving sweet shoutouts.

What started as an uncertain journey ended up a meaningful adventure.

@leatherandboundbookbar Fate, Texas

A Land of My Own for Thanksgiving

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This is my favorite week of the year. Thanksgiving. It always has been and I think it’s because my family spent it at my grandparent’s farm where I could take long walks with the birddog, find a spot along the creek, sit and write, for as long as I wanted.

I didn’t have the responsibly of planning, purchasing or cooking any meals, my mom did that. So I was free to roam, dream and write.

To paraphrase Virginia Wolfe, my “room of my own” was the outdoors. That’s where I could be alone for long periods of time. I didn’t have to engage with family, do chores, hear the TV.

We drove from our suburban home to the farm almost every weekend when I was growing up. So I had weekends to wander and much of the summer to do the same. Thanksgiving week held a special appeal and I’m still sorting out why it felt so different.

It might be because that was when the Texas weather switched from hot and dry to chilly and wet. The clouds created a tent of privacy where it was ok to lounge. That’s what I was doing, lounging outside with my journal and imagination.

The yearning to be outdoors has never left.

I live in the city though and it’s so hard to find a remote place where it’s ok for me to wander, sit and write.

Rather than a “room of my own” maybe I need “a land of my own.”

Discover ‘Under The Autumn Moon’: A Steamy Romance Novel

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Romance Novel Now Available

When bestselling author Lexi Maxwell meets legendary guitarist Paddy May in a quiet London bookstore, she doesn’t expect her teenage crush to be soft-spoken, holding her latest book and extending his left hand to shake, knowing she doesn’t have a right.

That single, deliberate touch sparks more than just a connection. It awakens something electric. What begins as a morning coffee becomes a day-long walk, a moonlit dance, and a night of aching closeness neither of them wants to end.

Lexi lives a life of word and solitude- famous for her novels, but not her face. Paddy has been running from fame’s glare, numbing himself with noise and excess. But in Lexi’s presence, he finds something he thought he’d lost- desire, purpose and maybe even a little magic.

To stay together, they’ll have to fight for something rare and sacred: a love powerful enough to burn through fame, grief and the ghosts of the past. A love written in the stars- and sealed Under The Autumn Moon.

Award-winning poet, essayist and author Betheny Lynn Reid has written a lyrical, mystical, sometimes steamy, story that reminds us to always take the first step toward love.

Now Available online or ask your local bookstore.