Maxine Douglas

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Maxine's Musings -- February 2014

It’s the month for Love! Let’s have a collective SIGH. February has spawned

marriages, engagements and otherwise unusual happenings when it comes to the matters of the heart. I hope everyone’s Valentine’s Day is filled with warm, love, happiness and a special night with the special someone. The big party night before Cupid’s Arrow strikes happens at Mardi Gras a/k/a Fat Tuesday on February 5th! Get your King Cake in time and see who gets the baby this year.

In this Issue:

Quote of the Month

Recommended Read of the Month

Interview with Sir Reynold Roddington of Knight to Remember

Valentine Traditions

News/Updates

Coming next month

Quote of the Month: “All that we are is a result of what we have thought.” Buddha (563 BCE - 483 BCE)

Recommended Read: I found Do You Believe? in a Dollar General store one day. Although this book was published in 2005, I’m sure you’ll be able to find it on Amazon. It is a definite book that makes you think about the differences between good and evil and how sometimes their paths cross in one’s life. You can read a full excerpt at the author’s website: http://www.annlawrence.com/

DO YOU BELIEVE?

Rose doesn't believe in evil . . . or love. Vic is determined to change her mind about both.

"With its paranormal energy, English ambience and steamy sex scenes, this book won't disappoint fans of Lawrence's previous supernatural romances."

--Publisher's Weekly

"...an intriguing and steamy mystery that will keep you awake at night, DO YOU BELIEVE is a read you won't want to miss. This reader couldn't put it down!"

--Leslie Tramposch for PNR Reviews

" ...Ann Lawrence captures the reader on the first page." --Romantic Times Magazine

Interview with Sir Reynold Roddington a/k/a The Black Knight in Knight to Remember

Q: Sir Reynold, please tell us what brought you to our land.

Roddington: Black magic.

Q: Black magic? Really now, can you honestly say you believe in magic in the modern world?

Roddington: In thy world, mayhap not. Magic is a way of life in my land and practiced by Queen Isabel for her own gain.

Q: And what of Queen Isabel? What is the relationship between the two of you?

Roddington: We grew up as children playing within the castle walls with Thomas and Kathryn. Isabel took over the crown when her father, King David, died. I swore on his deathbed to protect her and the lands of Heartsease, not to lay in her bed. ‘Tis was her jealousy of my love for the Lady Kathryn which hast sent me to thy lands; deception and trickery.

Q: Ahhh, another woman. I’d say typical male, but you’re anything but typical. Are you in love with Lady Courtney?

Roddington: Thee hast but to look into my eyes to see the truth. Lady Courtney is my life and soul now as she was as Lady Kathryn.

Q: Tell my readers just what it is that makes you defy your queen for another woman.

Roddington: A passion for people, love of thy country. My heart speaks louder than any of the Queen’s threats upon my life.

Q: Is there a happy ever after to your story, Sir Reynold?

Roddington: M’lady, if I revealed such a secret there’d be no reason for your readers to seek out our story, now would it?

Q: You are so right. Thank you, Sir Reynold for your time and insight.

Roddington: ‘Tis been a pleasure, m’lady.

Valentine Traditions: Valentine's Day always falls on February 14, and is the traditional day on which lovers in certain cultures let each other know about their love, commonly by sending Valentine's cards, which are often anonymous. The history of Valentine's day can be traced back to an obscure Catholic Church feast day, said to be in honor of Saint Valentine, are discussed below. The day's associations with romantic love arrived after the High Middle Ages, during which the concept of romantic love was formulated.

Some legends go back to erotic festivals in ancient Rome that happened to take place during February. Women would dress up as wolves and wait to be whipped by men wearing loin cloths. Today in Italy and Greece, young men still chase young women while brandishing whips - made of plastic. The Lupercalia (February 15), was a fertility festival until 495 A.D., when a pope put a stop to it.

Valentines Day Chocolate Love Potion

2 pods of vanilla

1 liter of milk

2 tbs spoons of pure cocoa

1 quarter of liter of tepid water

2 tbs spoons of honey

2 tbs spoons of brown sugar

1 half tea spoon of Tabasco or Cayenne pepper

1 pinch of salt

1 glass of rum or tequila

Preparation
- Heat the vanilla pods 10 minutes in milk.
- Withdraw the pods, press them to extract all juice from it and scrape them to preserve small seeds.
- Add the pure cocoa to water with a quarter of tepid liter of water.
- Add hot milk while stirring up well, then to add honey, and the brown sugar.
- Incorporate while whipping: Tabasco or Cayenne pepper, salt, and rum or the tequila.
Is useful hot or cold. Drink in very good com

pany!

Valentine’s Day Weekend! Nashville Rising Star

Utah Sheridan intends to win Nashville Rising Star at all costs; will his bribe be the end of Emerald Braun? Sure, one hundred thousand would be the answer to some prayers, but she couldn’t keep it…could she?

With much gratitude, until next time…keep reading.

Maxine

Spark your imagination and entice your lover

Be adventurous with each other

Take a journey into a new world and be inspired

Enjoy the pleasures of reading ~~

It does the mind and body good.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Guest Blogging

Thinking about writing a newsletter? Not sure where/how to start? I'm blogging about them today @ http://wp.me/p3O05Y-k8 ! Stop by and say HI.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Maxine's Musings

January 1, 2014

Happy New Year!!! 2014 has dawned, I hope everyone enjoyed and had a safe New Years Eve. Does everyone have their list of New Year resolutions done? I know, what’s the use? Remember to think positive and those resolutions will come to be.

In this Issue:

Winner of the $25 Gift Card Contest

Quote of the Month

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Christmas Legends Part 1

Santa Claus

The American version of the Santa Claus figure received its inspiration and its name from the Dutch legend of Sinter Klaas, brought by settlers to New York in the 17th century.

As early as 1773 the name appeared in the American press as "St. A Claus," but it was the popular author Washington Irving who gave Americans their first detailed information about the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas. In his History of New York, published in 1809 under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, Irving described the arrival of the saint on horseback (unaccompanied by Black Peter) each Eve of Saint Nicholas.

This Dutch-American Saint Nick achieved his fully Americanized form in 1823 in the poem A Visit From Saint Nicholas more commonly known as The Night Before Christmas by writer Clement Clarke Moore. Moore included such details as the names of the reindeer; Santa Claus's laughs, winks, and nods; and the method by which Saint Nicholas, referred to as an elf, returns up the chimney. (Moore's phrase "lays his finger aside of his nose" was drawn directly from Irving's 1809 description.)

For more information:

http://www.the-north-pole.com/history/

http://www.time4me.com/card/legend/SantaClaus.html

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Free Book Raffle

Celebrate 2013 Contest

Send me an email at Maxine Douglas for a free review of copy (or purchase a copy at one of the links below) of

Amazon

MuseItUpPublishing

Post a review on Amazon.com
Enter your name below to be eligible for a $25 American Expedient Gift Card
Winner will be drawn randomly from eligible entrants on January 1, 2014.

*All entries will be checked for review posted by midnight (CST) December 31, 2013, when contest ends. Winner will be notified via email. One entry per person.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

New Release December 2013

Nashville Rising Star

There were only three of them left now—Casey Montgomery from Oklahoma, the darling Emerald Braun, and himself. By this time next week, he was banking on only two left standing before the show even started. Emerald Braun wouldn’t be one of them.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope.

Everything I’ve wanted the past few years depends on this...and what’s inside it.

“Welcome back. Our next performer of the night is...”

Utah Sheridan intends to win Nashville Rising Star at all costs;

will his bribe be the end of Emerald Braun?

$.99 cents – Kindle

Print coming in 2014

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Cooking Up Love for Two -- Apple Knockers

It’s a cold, bitterly cold, December day here in Oklahoma so I thought I’d share this recipe from A Taste for Love, A Romantic Cookbook for Two by Elizabeth M. Harbison and Mary McGowan in hopes of warming you and your loved one up.

Apple Knockers

1 cinnamon stick	½ tsp whole cloves
1 pinch nutmeg	1 ½ cup apple cider
¼ cup sugar	½ cup orange juice
2 T fresh lemon juice	¼ cup brandy

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Road Angel

Chapter One

“‘Let It Snow’ on this...” the radio DJ hummed through the radio. Before long I was humming along with the classic Christmas song that more than described the frightful weather.

The snow truly fit snow-packed Interstate 94 which I travel westbound weekly. With less than a week until Christmas, I dropped the load in Gary, Indiana. Then with a mere eight miles to go before hitting Chicago, I can head back home to Wisconsin and my little girl. Damn if I’ll let her spend it with strangers again. I promised and mean every word.

The northwest wind whips across Lake Michigan, causing the blinding lake-effect snow I hate—the trucker’s nightmare I’ve learned to ignore. I’m on a mission, damn it, and no stupid storm will stop me.

Still, I have to admit visibility is slim, like driving through a kaleidoscope of white. The effect plays tricks on my eyes, but I squint, refusing to pull over. I’ve never allowed the weather to interfere with my job, and I’m not about to start now —especially this close to spending Christmas with my family for the first time since my baby daughter was born three years before. She was my Christmas miracle, Isabella Mae Thomas—perfect in every way. Crystal-blue eyes sparkle even when full of sad little baby tears. Light, curly, strawberry-blonde hair falls above her shoulders, framing her round little face and chubby cheeks, giving her a cherub look. Sandi named her Bella, and I was fine with that, as long as a glittering vampire didn’t show up at our front door with a large wolf at its side.

I chuckle. “I have a feeling Sandi would have been thrilled to have a Twilight family of her own.” I chuckle again at the thought of chasing both off while Sandi asks them to come in for dinner. I take my gaze off the road for an instant, the picture flitting through my mind even as the sadness of losing her resonates through me.

Flexing my hand, I remember how Sandi nearly crushed it during delivery. “I can feel your presence Sandi.”

Her grip had felt like being caught in a vise, every bone about to be shattered, leaving me wondering when she’d acquired super-human strength. My soft-spoken wife became a rowdy-mouthed sailor spurting things totally incomprehensible as she pushed our baby into the world, and then it was over. Her body relaxed, her breathing returned to normal, and our lives forever changed with the wail of a new life.

The words “it’s a girl” swelled my heart with pride, but it was seeing Sandi nuzzling the pink bundle in her arms that poured great love into me. I’d never felt anything as amazing as that day. I couldn’t wait for the next time we’d welcome a baby into the world.

A moment later, my life came crashing down around me when Sandi closed her eyes for the last time as Bella snuggled contently in her arms.

“I wish they could have saved both of them, but the aneurism…”

The tires of the truck catch a patch of ice and jolt me back to the reality of the snow-covered highway. “Damn. Keep your mind on driving, you fool!” I push the past away and return to concentrating on getting through the December snowstorm. If I were to lose my focus now, I could end up jackknifed in the road, causing a mass of destruction in the aftermath and cost Bella her one remaining parent.

The strange, otherworldly view through the windshield is like looking into a snow globe after the first shake, only this snow isn’t stopping; it’s getting heavier as I creep farther down the highway. The faster my wipers move, the less visible the tire tracks in the snow-covered highway are. At this point, it doesn’t matter what speed they cleared the glass; the wind blows the snow immediately back into place.

The crackling of the company cell phone slices through the whistling of the wind. Irritated, I tap the button on my wireless earpiece. “It’s snowing like hell; what ya want DJ?”

“You pulled over yet?” The dispatcher’s voice comes through full of static, sounding like an old scratched 78 record. “Get that damn truck off the road as soon as possible. Interstate 94 west of Gary is closing within an hour. You’ve got to bed down for the night.”

No way am I going to break my promise to my daughter. Besides, pulling over is a moot point when I can’t see the edges of the road. “Right,” I snort. “Like that’s gonna happen. I can’t even see the shoulder, let alone find a place to pull over.”

“I don’t care how or where you do it, just do it. Too damn dangerous for you to be pushing through, and you know it,” DJ snaps.

“Gotta make it home for Christmas.” I glance down at the speedometer and then settle back in my seat. Forty miles-per-hour isn’t going to get me home as early as I’d like, but it will get me there sooner than bedding down for the night. “Can’t afford to be stranded in some truck stop. I promised this year I’d be there… not here.”

“You aren’t going to be any good to your little girl in a pine box! Boss wants all the trucks pulled over within the hour. It’ll give you time to update those logs of yours while waiting out the storm, eleven hours or not!” DJ says and then hangs up.

* * * *

Rubbing my face, I yawn big and deep, pulling in as much oxygen as I can, trying to focus. It’s no use; my eyes are fuzzy. Finally feeling the effects of driving in a blizzard, I reluctantly admit I need to find a place to get off the road and bed down for the duration.

“A little cat nap, and then I’ll be good to go.” The eight-mile length of road between Gary and Chicago isn’t getting any better. The question is: where’s a good place to stop? I can’t see the shoulder. Hell, I can’t see the road. Driving in these conditions is like trying to find my way out of a box full of shipping popcorn— nearly impossible.

Glancing down at the speedometer, I wonder when I slowed to thirty miles an hour. At this rate, I’ll find myself stuck with no place to go. “I hate to admit it, but DJ was right.” I have to get off and find a place to wait out the storm. The sooner the better.

I’m not even sure where I am at the moment. All the road signs are obscured by snow, and I can’t make out any city lights. For all I know, there’s a power outage in the area. Even the CB has been quiet for a while. Everyone in their right mind is off the road and asleep in their bunks. Everyone except me.

Licking my dry lips, I reach for the water bottle just as a shadow bursts through the snow. “Whoa!” Grabbing the wheel with both hands, I brace for impact.

Shaking when none comes, I suck in a breath as the tail end of a deer disappears into the shadowy storm. “Stupid, fricking deer! Holy crap! If I wasn’t awake before, I sure as hell am now.”

As the snow swirls in the glow of the headlights, I figure several inches have fallen on top of what may have been tire marks in the road. I don’t even want to think when it was plowed last. At this rate, I probably won’t see one until tomorrow.

The wind howls continuously around the cab of the tractor and bangs against the doors. With each new gust, the trailer slides slightly, giving in to the force. The blowing wind sings a wolf melody, the howling tune mournful—a beautiful yet deadly blizzard accompanied by the music of the wind—Mother Nature’s way of easing the cruelty she sometimes gives so freely.

Snow like this can play tricks on a man’s vision. Even knowing this, when I see a figure in the middle of the road, reaction takes over reasoning. White and flowing, it moves toward me, and then silver-blue eyes bore into my soul, making me yearn for sweet oblivion. In that swift moment, I swerve, my mind screaming out the name of the woman who left my world three years before.

Sandi!

MuseItUp_Publishing

Friday, October 25, 2013

5 Days of Halloween

Night of the Harvest Moon: Harvest Moon Heart: by Maxine Douglas

“A harvest ball on the night of a full yellow moon? And Drac wants me to attend? What the hell is he thinking?” Jasper Reynolds tossed the invitation onto the lone shackled chair in the cold, stone basement; his only means to keep the innocent safe from his rage. Drac knew what havoc the full moon brought forth. The night the wolf appeared and would be capable of doing unspeakable things during those dark hours, leaving Jasper utterly helpless and unaware of the carnage he’d done. . . .

Click title to continue reading OR here for the latest post.

2 pounds ground pork	2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp salt	1 tsp sugar
2 oz almond slivers (blanced)	raisins