Month: September 2017

Happy Birthday, Elie Wiesel!

Elie Wiesel

Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel KBE ( September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. He was the author of 57 books, written mostly in French and English, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps.

Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986 and an Honorary Knighthood is 2006.

QUOTES

“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.”

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

 

From Wikipedia.

Happy Birthday, Truman Capote!

Truman Capote

Truman Garcia Capote born Truman Streckfus Persons, (September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Many of Capote’s short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized as literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) and the true crime novel In Cold Blood (1966), which he labeled a “nonfiction novel”.  At least 20 films and television dramas have been produced of Capote novels, stories, and plays.

QUOTES

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”

“Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.”

“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go”

From Wikipedia and MomAdvice.

Happy Birthday, Miguel de Cervantes!

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish writer who is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world’s pre-eminent novelists.

His major work, Don Quixote, is considered the first modern novel,  a classic of Western literature, and is regarded among the best works of fiction ever written. His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is often called la Lengua de Cervantes (“the language of Cervantes”).  He has also been dubbed El príncipe de los ingenios (“The Prince of Wits”).

QUOTES

“Too much sanity may be madness and the maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”

“Facts are the enemy of truth.”

“To be prepared is half the victory.”

 

From Wikipedia and Emaze.

2017 Color of Love Blog Hop Sign-up

Color of Love ButtonIt’s time to start getting ready for this year’s celebrations and participation has been expanded to include authors, bloggers, and sponsors to sign up. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate diversity in romance novels while drawing potential readers to your blog and books.

Every year, over $200 in prizes of both gift cards and ebooks are given away and this year will be no different. This year the event runs from November 23rd to December 3rd.

We are looking for sponsors for our Grand Prize Giveaway. If you would like to donate you have three options:

Donate $5 and have one social media entry included in the rafflecopter option.
Donate $10 and have two social media entries included in the rafflecopter options.
Donate an eBook and have your book featured on the Love Bites and Silk website during the event month.
Please note that since this event is about celebrating interracial and multicultural romance novels, your book needs to feature at least one main character who is a person of color.

For more info and to sign-up, please visit the organizers page HERE.

Dressed to Unimpress #WritingChallenge

New Balance Running Shoes

52-Week Writing Challenge: Week 38
Snippet from current WIP — Family Matters. Attorney Olivia Chandler is stepping further out of her comfort zone for new love, Bruce Bellamy.

Olivia argued with herself the entire drive to Bruce’s home.

The New Balance running shoes felt foreign on her feet.

Purchased over a year ago, Olivia wore the shoes two to three times a week when she worked out in her home gym.

But she’d never worn them outside of her home, much like any athletic apparel…or the jeans she wore today.

She adopted a habit of wearing tailored business suits and heels before leaving law school. The only things which varied were the style of the suit and height of her heels.

Olivia slowed and stopped at a traffic light rubbing her hand down the leg of her jeans.

Margot was right. Olivia was wound too tight… and boring.

Her idea of casual dress leaned toward a light, spring dress accompanied by a blazer, and ballerina flats… but only on non-court days.

The light turned green and Olivia accelerated through the intersection.

Get over yourself, Chandler! People dress casually every day, stop trying to have an anxiety attack. This is for Bellamy, so suck it up!

Warmth enveloped her body as thoughts of the man she was falling in love with filled Olivia’s head. Anxiety over clothing vanished. The corners of Olivia’s mouth twitched as she remembered his admonishment.

“Under no circumstances are you to show up in your lawyer clothes, counselor.”

He chuckled at the horrified expression on her face.

“Please, Olivia? Do this for me. I want the kids to see the real you, not the Olivia-mask the world sees every day.”

Olivia sobered at his words and promised to dress casually.

Bruce pulled her into his arms. “Besides, my specialty dish is considered comfort food and best enjoyed… while you’re comfortable.” He’d claimed her lips before she could respond, kissing Olivia deeply. He pulled away and pushed a small shopping bag into Olivia’s hands. Bruce backed toward the front door.

“Whatever you decide to wear,” he motioned to the bag, “you have to wear that with it.”

Olivia didn’t miss the mischievous gleam in Bruce’s eyes as he all but ran out the door to his truck. He winked as he slid into the driver’s seat and blew her a kiss as he sped away.

She stood in her doorway shaking her head. Remembering the Halloween costumes Bruce chose for them, inklings of dread caused her to shudder. Olivia stepped back inside her foyer, closing the door. She held the bag out at arm’s length and smirked.

“Now what have you gotten me into, Bellamy?”

 

©Felicia Denise 2017

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Happy 93rd Birthday, Rosamunde Pilcher!

Rosamunde Pilcher

Born Rosamunde E. M. L. Scott on September 22, 1924, in Lelant, Cornwall, Pilcher’s first book, a romance novel, was published by Mills and Boon, under the pseudonym Jane Fraser. She published a further ten novels under that name. In 1955, she also began writing under her real name with Secret to Tell. By 1965 she had dropped the pseudonym and was signing her own name to all her novels.

At the beginning, writing was a refuge from her daily life. She claims that writing saved her marriage. The real breakthrough in Pilcher’s career came in 1987 when she wrote the family saga, The Shell Seekers. Since then her books have made her one of the more successful contemporary female authors.

The Shell Seekers focuses on Penelope Stern Keeling, an elderly British woman who relives her life in flashbacks, and on her relationship with her adult children. Keeling’s life was not extraordinary, but it spans “a time of huge importance and change in the world.” The novel describes the everyday details of what life during World War II was like for some of those who lived in Britain. The Shell Seekers sold more than five million copies worldwide and was adapted for the stage by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham.

In 1996, her novel Coming Home won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by Romantic Novelists’ Association.

After penning more than forty novels and anthologies, Pilcher retired from writing in 2000. Two years later she was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).