The Best Things to Do on Valentine's Day By Connie Vines #BWLAuthorBlog, #Valentine's Day Ideas, #Romance

 Valentine's Day has always been my favorite holiday. 

Valentine's Day is more than just gifts. Valentine's Day reminds me of pieces of childhood: excitement, handmade gifts, candy hearts in a small box, and fingers and chins sticky with chocolate. Of course, I adore flowers, sentimental/cute cards, chocolates...

I'm aware of the 'dark beginnings' of the holiday, but that can be discussed at another time.

February 14th will be here before you know t!

I may not be Cupid ...but I do write romance 💕💖💘

#1 Visit a Book Store or Brouse for E-Books online

The perfect date for bookworms. Spend the day exploring new reads together, grabbing coffee, and talking about the books you bought. (romance picks should be at the top of your list today!)

# 2 Make a Bucket List of Things you and your Significant Other would Like to do Together.

There are 365 days in a year. Local sites and historical areas are nearby and usually easier on your budget.

Here in the Burbs, my travels have included more than the usual (well-known) SoCal  choices:

The Ocean to Ocean Highway (Holt Boulevard)

Guasti Winery

Graber Olive House

Route 66 (Starts in downtown Chicago and ends at the Santa Monica pier in California).

Stomping grounds of Frank Zappa and the location of  Dr. Sandra Lee's (TLC network) medical office.

                                (copywritten by Connie Vines)

#3 Make Fondue

My personal choice for this year.

Why? It's perfect for two or for a Valentine's Day gathering.

Everyone gets to choose their own "dippable"—strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, or mini pretzels and it's easy to make. Only three ingredients are chocolate, cream, and a pinch of salt.

Flavors may be added to the chocolate: peppermint extract, cinnamon, and chile for a Mexican spin, or Amaretto or Bailey's Irish cream for a grown-up version.

And if it's just the two of you, chocolate fondue is a great way to end a romantic meal at home. The dip-ables can be prepped in advance, and the chocolate sauce comes together in just a few minutes.

For the dipping fondue chocolate:

1 cup (8 ounces) heavy cream

Pinch salt

12 ounces milk or dark chocolate (chips or roughly chopped bar)

For dipping:

Strawberries

Banana pieces cut into 1-inch chunks

Dried apricots

Apple slices

Candied ginger

Squares of pound cake

Heat the cream:

Heat the cream with a pinch of salt over medium heat in a small saucepan until tiny bubbles show and begin to lightly and slowly simmer.

Remove from heat and add the chocolate:

Remove from heat, add the chocolate, and whisk until smooth and fully incorporated.

Serve immediately:

Transfer the chocolate mix to a fondue pot heated at low or low flame, or serve straight from the pot.

Arrange the dip-ables on a platter or plates around the chocolate pot.

Use a fondue fork, bamboo skewer, seafood fork, or salad fork to dip the fruit pieces and other dip-ables into the hot melted chocolate mixture. Eat immediately.

If the fondue begins to feel a little stiff, add a tablespoon of heavy cream and stir.

Enjoy!

Happy Reading 📖📱 and Happy 💗Valentine's Day, too!

Connie Vines

Visit my BWL page:

https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

https://books2read.com/Gumbo-Ya-Ya

Find me here:

https://connievines-author.com/  (links/ blog posts, etc. are here :-)

Romance in Bloom--The Art of Perfuming By Connie Vines #The Art Of Perfuming, #BWL Insider Blog, #Gumbo Ya, Ya, #Cajun Romance

 Romance in Bloom

Fragrance can transform your entire mood. 

And when the mood you want to conjure up is romance, a whiff of the right scent gets you there faster than a binge session with your favorite romance movies. 🎥

From spicy, sensual accords to rose-based floral diaries, I’ve updated rounded 5 of the best fragrances to wear to Announce Spring—or whenever you won't feel like you're living in a fairy-tale! 🏰

Perfumes, like wines, are categorized by notes. As many of my readers know, I was a fragrance consultant at a Perfumery. I love to share my acquired ‘secrets’ in blog posts and novels.

 *Remember, perfumes are a personal preference, and all fragrances lingering scent (bottom note) vary by a person’s PH Level.

Now let the fun begin!

1. Ralph Lauren's ROMANCE

Designed to hit all the feelings associated with falling in deep L-O-V-E, a spritz of this classic and light romantic fragrance treats you to notes like white violet, patchouli, musk, rose, and marigold.

2. Tom Ford’s infamous BLACK ORCHID Fragrance has become a cult icon in the beauty industry.

It is recognizable from just one spritz, but it's also one of the most compliment-inducing smells I've ever come across. Smells like: Warm incense spices, creamy vanilla, and heady patchouli.

3. Lancôme's TRESOR

The diamond-shaped bottle is one of the most popular fragrances out there. The brand evoked the radiance and warmth of love using floral and fruity notes like rose, lilac, peach, and apricot.

4. YSL’s BLACK OPIUM (one of my personal favorites) The fragrance is: Initially sweet with punchy notes of vanilla and coffee but dries down to a musky white floral base.

The creamy notes of coffee and vanilla give a non-sickly sweetness that develops into a dry white floral scent, after which you get the base notes of musk and patchouli. It's unique and oh-so moreish; this one will 100% become the most reached-for in your perfume collection.

5. Jo Malone London's LIME BASIL & MANDARIN COLOGNE. Smells like: Long summer days.

This fresh and zesty scent will have you dreaming of warm summer days with every spritz. Juicy notes of lime and mandarin are balanced with earthy basil and white thyme.

Like so many BWL authors and our readers, I love their gardens!

While my garden is no longer producing the lush harvest of fruits and vegetables of my two son’s elementary school years. I still maintain a PERFUMED GARDEN.

My Perfumed Garden is small because the scent can be overwhelming—robust scents. I try to intersperse my fragrant garden plants with scentless plants that complement their appearance over time.  

Lilacs have a strong scent, but only in late Spring. Therefore, Jasmine is a vine and a plant I utilize where ever possible. And, of course, roses🌹 and herbs.

The garden brings peace to my life, nourishes my soul, and inspires my creative spirit.

This clip has New Orleans Music: 🎤🎹🎵

How do I keep the Romance in Bloom in my stories?

Gumbo Ya Ya—an Anthology for Women who like Cajun Romance, features Persia, a New Orleans perfumer, and Cooper T., a breeder of the Catahoula Leopard Dog and Westminster Dog Show favorite handler in “The Love Potion.”

You will discover that the art of perfuming creates complications for this no-longer-together-couple. But love is, and a happily-ever-after is definitely in the air!

Enjoy the fragrances of Spring and Summer....and the latest releases from BWL Publishing, too!

Happy Reading, everyone,

Connie

XOXO

https://bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

https://books2read.com/Gumbo-Ya-Ya  (all vendors)

*copyrights of photos and videos have been granted to the author by Canva.

What Makes a Romance or Any Novel Memorable? By Connie Vines #BWLAuthor, #Rodeo, #Cowboy, #MarriageProposal, #ConnieVines

 What makes a novel memorable? 

The best stories connect with readers on a visceral level. They transport us to another time and place and put us in a different “skin,” where we face challenges we may never know in life. And yet, the commonality of the story problem draws us onward and, in solving it vicariously through the protagonist, changes us.

Another feature of a memorable story is characters that live off the page. One of the highest compliments I’ve received for my novel “Lynx”, Rodeo Romance, Book 1was from a reader who attended a book signing. She said, "I think about that story constantly.  Lynx and Rachel's story seems so real, so heart-wrenching, and their love so enduring.  She shared that she was going through a difficult time in her life and my story gave her hope. 

Hope.  

Hope for someone going through a desperate time in her life.

I felt blessed that she shared her story with me. I was also very humbled. 

We, as writers, are so focused on the mechanics of writing, plotting, and meeting deadlines, that we forget/ or do not realize how truly powerful our story is to a reader.  

While I never sit down at the keyboard and say, “I think I will write a powerful, life-changing story today.”  What I do, by nature, is select a social issue for the core of my stories.  Since my stories are character-driven and often told in the first person, the emotion has a natural flow.

How do you create this type of engagement with your story?

Go beyond the five senses.  Your reader must feel your character’s emotions.  Your reader must forget there is a world outside of your story.

Hints:

Embrace idiosyncrasies.  As teenagers, everyone wanted to fit in, be one of the crowd.  Your character isn’t like anyone else.  Give him an unexpected, but a believable trait.  In “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow”,  my heroine, a Zombie has a pet. Not a zombie pet. Not a dog, or a cat.  She has a teddy bear hamster named Gertie.

Make them laugh. It doesn’t need to be a slap-stick.  Just a little comic relief when the reader least expects it to happen.

Make them cry.  Remember the scene in the movie classic, Romancing the Stone, where Joan Wilder is crying when she writes the final scene in her novel?  I find this is the key.  If you are crying, your reader will be crying too.

If you are writing a romance, make them fall in love.  Make the magic last.  The first meeting, first kiss, the moment of falling in love.  These are the memories our readers savor, wait for in our stories.  Don’t disappoint them.

As Emily Dickinson, said so well: 

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toll;

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul!

Excerpt:

Lynx

Her friend was right--she did need to get on with her life. She couldn't keep expecting shadows to cover her world. Rachel had never been close to her parents, but her father's death had left a deep hole in her life. Perhaps attending the rodeo would be a good first step to her letting go of the past. 

"You're right, Charlene. I can't avoid my past forever. And a promise is a promise. What time does the bull riding start?"

Charlene let out a whoop of delight. "If we get move on it, we'll see the first series of rides."

Excerpt: 

Brede

Thunder rumbled across the remote New Mexico sky as an unforgiving wind shoved somber gray clouds against a craggy mountaintop. Brede Kristensen tugged the brim of his Stetson lower his forehead. The threat of a storm didn't faze him; nothing fazed him anymore. The worst had already happened.

Excerpt:

Tanayia --Whisper Upon the Water

1868

The Governor of New Mexico decreed that all Indian children over six to be educated in the ways of the white man.

Indian Commissioner, Thomas Morgan, said, "It is cheaper to educate the Indians than to kill them."

1880, Apacheria, Season of Ripened Berries

Isolated bands of colored clay on white limestone remained where the sagebrush is tripped from Mother Earth by sudden storms and surface waters. Desolate. Bleak. A land made of barren rocks and twisted paths that reach out into the silence.

A world of hunger and hardship. This is my world. I am Tanayia. I was born thirteen winters ago. We call ourselves N'dee. The People. The white man calls us Apache.

I hope you enjoyed my blog post.

Happy Reading,

Connie

BWL Author page

Connie's Website

Dishn' It Out, Connie's Blog

It's (Almost) National Kitchen Klutzes Day--Let's Celebrate! by Connie Vines

(The actual date is June 13th--but I blog on the 28th of each month, so this gives you ample time to celebrate!)

Even those who know her/his way around the kitchen, are able to relate to the occasional--or daily kitchen mishaps.  

Writing, Painting/Drawing, Music, and Cooking are classified as the 'Arts".  I find creative people are usually gifted, to some degree, in all of the Arts. (I'm also inclined to include gardening under the Arts umbrella, however, that's another blog post.)

Culinary Arts, in which culinary means "related to cooking", are the cuisine arts of food preparation, cooking, and presentation of food, usually in the form of meals.

I must admit most of my 'heroines/heroes" are able to cook.  However, as in real-life, there are Kitchen Klutzes in my novels, too.  I must also confess, I routinely have more than my share of kitchen mishaps.  Especially, since we have all been spending a great deal of time cooking family meals these past couple of months.

June 13th honors those who would like to cook and be in the kitchen, but it just doesn’t seem to work well for them. After all, it is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day.

Klutz:  most commonly referred to as a clumsy person.

Kitchen Klutzes are the people who set out with the intentions of being like Ree Drummond, Molly Yeh, Gordon Ramsey, or even the great Julia Child as they open up the cookbook.   Mixing bowl or Kitchen Aide mixer and ingredients on the counter, they imagine knife cuts as swift as Wolfgang Puck or Bobby Flay. However, reality quickly dissolves all those dreams as smoke billows from the oven, skillets erupt in flames, and salt is mistaken for sugar. Those knife cuts turn bloody, cookies and fingers are burnt, cakes go flat. The Kitchen Klutz has struck, and visions of spilled milk are pitifully cried over.

It may be necessary to keep a first aid kit and fire extinguisher handy when Kitchen Klutzes are around. Eat a sandwich before going over to dinner. Be ready to call 911 and have your favorite take out restaurant on speed-dial if things don't go well.

HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalKitchenKlutzesDay

There several ways to celebrate this humorous holiday.

Laugh at yourself. Share your mortifying stories of kitchen failure over a slice of microwave pizza.

Give your favorite Kitchen Klutz the gift of cooking classes. Or, better yet, offer to cook.

Watch your favorite cooking flops show.

Don’t forget to share your stories and celebrations using #NationalKitchenKlutzesDay on social media.

Or try a few of these never fail meals.

Walking Tacos

Heat a can of chili in the microwave (in anticipation of stove top misadventures).

Take smaller single-serving packs of Fritos and then slice them open on the side, then serve the chili right inside the packets of Fritos. Add in additional toppings of cheese, diced onions and minced jalapeños. You just hand everyone a fork and they each have their own individual servings of Frito Chili. It makes for an easy cleanup too!

Crab Fondue (For that Romantic Evening Meal)

Nobody really needs a reason to eat more cheese, but this crab fondue recipe is a good one. Crab meat (or imitation crab) and packaged cheese, this fridge and pantry meal is easy yet satisfying.

8 ounces cream cheese, cubed and softened

1 pound processed cheese, like Velveeta

1 cup dry white wine

12 ounces canned crab meat

1 dash of Old Bay seasoning, or to taste

In a fondue pot, slowly melt the cheeses in the dry white wine.

Fold in the crab meat.

Heat through.

Serve with crusty French bread, cut into squares.

Please share a recent, or memorable meal, you prepared. You know, it's the story which is forever embedded in the family oral history.

I'll go first!

Let me share my first kitchen mishap.  I was a new bride and prepared Gumbo for dinner  (my husband is from Louisiana).

Gumbo requires a thickening agent.  I like okra (my paternal grandmother was from Texas and she prepared fried okra).  I also added ground sassafras powder.  This adds a fruit sweet flavor and also smells like root beer.  It is part of Cajun and Creole cooking--also a thickening agent.

Well, my gumbo had to be pried from the pot because it had the consistency of a paste.  Very thick, very hard paste. The rice, cornbread and pecan pie were delicious.  Not a healthy meal, for certain, but it stuck to our ribs for several days.

HAPPY NATIONAL KITCHEN KLUTZES DAY EVERYONE!

For fool-proof kitchen recipes and Cajun Romance, remember to read my latest novel: Gumbo Ya Ya!

 

Remember all of my novels features recipes, too!

Click here for BWL author site and links: bookswelove.net/vines-connie/

For my website: Social Links, Purchase Links, and more: connievines-author.com/

Happy Reading,

Connie

For Western Fix'n's and Western Romance:

Kindle Unlimited: Brede and Tanayia --Whisper Upon the Water

 

FREE May 30 & 31

Angels in the Architecture

 

Find Eileen's books here...

Happy New Year, dear readers.

I love New York City. Since I was a child, it has always been a place of mystery and wonder. On our way to visit my grandparents’ apartment, I would stare in wonder at the tall buildings, vast avenues, steam coming out of worksites. My parents would point out the West Side tenements where each had been born. My father would give us a nickel so we could ride the Staten Island Ferry and get a close look at the waters around and Miss Liberty shining her light from the harbor. Free Shakespeare performances in Central Park and my first Broadway show made me a lifelong lover of theater.

Angel in the architecture, New York City

The last time I was there was Valentine’s Day, 2020.  My husband and I traveled down by train from our home in Vermont to see our son performing in an off-Broadway play. The play was about love in all its forms and complexity and was the perfect date. Afterward, we walked to Greenwich Village and had a lovely late night meal together. We should do this more often, I thought.

Back in out tiny hotel, I looked across the street from our 8th floor window and noticed a building had been converted from its previous incarnation as a church. Some of the details remained intact, including a beautiful concrete angel, recently sand blasted clean. There are wonderful surprises like that, even in this city that is forever re-inventing itself.

I’ve thought about that angel often over this year that’s followed, here in our quarantined Vermont. That angel has looked over a city crippled by a deadly virus (which our son suffered with and survived) a shut down, and political mayhem. 

I hope she will guide us all to follow the better angels of our nature.

It's National Chocolate Candy Day! Celebrate by Leaving Sticky Hand Prints Everywhere! By Connie Vines

 NATIONAL CHOCOLATE CANDY DAY is today. 

 For Chocolate Devotes, this is a Jackpot day, second only to Valentine's Day!

December 28th!

National Chocolate Candy Day offers an opportunity for us to polish off the last of the specialty candies we received as gifts. Celebrated on December 28th, the day points us to the truffles and chocolate oranges tucked into stockings. 

Remember to check those boxes of candy that may or may not have guides to help us choose cream-filled or ganache.  

The word “chocolate” comes from the word “xocoatl” or “chocolatl.” Mayan “school” means hot or bitter, and the Aztec “atl” means water. Chocolate comes from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia and grows in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. The earliest known documentation of using cacao seeds is from around 1100 BC.

But before it was ever made into a sweet candy, it was ground into a beverage. In ruling class society, the beverage was used for medical purposes. 

In 1828, Dutch inventor and chemist, Coenraad Van Houten, developed a way to produce chocolate in solid form. His hydraulic press made it possible to remove the cocoa butter from the cacao. His invention leads to producing a powder opening the way for the first chocolate confections. It’s thanks to Van Houten we can enjoy the variety of chocolates we do today. 

Chocolate Facts

Whitman’s produced their first box of chocolate in 1842.

In 1847, British chocolate company J.S. Fry & Sons combined cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and sugar producing the first edible chocolate bar.

The invention of the conching machine by Rodolphe Lindt in 1879 ushered in mass production of the creamy treat.

The first chocolate Easter egg was made sometime in the early 19th century. In 1875 John Cadbury introduced his first chocolate egg.

When Allied troops stormed the beach of Normandy on D-Day, part of emergency rations and in soldiers’ packs included the D ration bar designed by Hershey Chocolate company for the U.S. Army.

Americans consume 12 pounds of chocolate each year (5.4kg per person). 

Australians consume 32kg of chocolate person person per year.

The British consume an average of 11kg per person per year (3 bars a week).

Canadians eat an average of 6.4 kilos of chocolate a year, which, based on an average bar size, is at least 160 chocolate bars per year, per person.

The Swiss were the top consumers per capita, with each person eating an average of almost 12 kilos a year. That is 26 pounds! Wow!! 

When someone says 'chocolate' this is what my mind locks onto:

Who doesn't remember, and still love, this classic "I Love Lucy" episode filmed at See's Candy? 

If you love chocolate, you may wish to join in on the celebration.

HOW TO OBSERVE #ChocolateCandyDay

There are so many different kinds of chocolate candy. 

What’s your favorite? 

Do you enjoy a piece or two or three? 

Do you have leftovers? 

How do you plant on celebrating National Chocolate Candy Day this year?

Are you hosting a family/ Social Distancing chocolate candy party? This is the perfect way to taste and sample all the varieties. A way to discover new favorites. 

Or how about a Zoom tasting event--that's one way to gauge the effects of a 'sugar rush' on your family, friends, and co-workers.

Here's a little known candy fact.  

Did you know the center of a Butterfinger Candy Bar contains melted Candy Corn, peanut butter, and finely chopped salted peanuts?  Yep.  I always ignore the Candy Corn during Autumn , 'cos I don't like/or eat candy corn (or so I thought) Butterfinger Candy Bars happen to be one of my faves!

I'm not a fan of marshmallows but this recipe is delicious. I pour it into a large Thermos and it will stay hot all day!  Perfect for an chilly outdoor adventure or sitting in front of a blazing fireplace.

I love to share jokes with my grands.

I've listed my favorites: 

1. What kind of candy is never on time?

ChocoLATE

2. What do you call Chewbacca when he has chocolate stuck in his hair?

Chocolate Chip Wookiee.

3. Why did the donut visit the dentist?

He needed a chocolate filling

4. I heard a joke about chocolate bars and it wasn’t that funny. So I just snickered…

5. What do you call stolen cocoa?

Hot chocolate

6. What is an astronaut’s favorite chocolate?

A Mars bar

 I hope your New Year is filled with blessings, joy, and a Reader chocked full of BWL novels!

Happy Reading and Happy National Chocolate  Day,

Connie

MY BWL Author Page

LYNX Buy link

BREDE Buy link

Tanayia Buy link

Here-Today-Zombie-Tomorrow

Watch for my new 2021 releases: