Tena Stetler Archives - Page 74 of 115

Dec 9th A Profession From a Book I’d Love to Try

Happy Holidays! Welcome to #L&SR’s Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge December 9, 2020, A profession from a book I’d love to try. That I can do! Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice. Take your choice of a Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate.

I’ve researched and written fictional books involving a cyber security specialist as a character. That is a profession I’d love to try. I’m pretty computer literate, but finding and destroying worms or developing software to do that would be so intriguing. I also have read fictional stories about these characters and that is my final answer.

Well…almost. I’d like to be a powerful witch, a time-traveling Gypsy, a sexy vampire or a werewolf. But since none of those are going to happen, even in 2020 where nothing is as it seems. I’ll stick to the cyber security specialist for now. Still working on the magic. LOL

So there you have it a profession from a book I’d love to try. How about you? Tell me about it in the comments.

Alas, I must return to my writing cave preparing promo on HIDDEN GYPSY MAGIC, 99¢ sales on A DEMON’S WITCH, and A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING. Stay tuned! Chocolate Raspberry Magic release date been extended until April 2021. And I’ve turned in the sixth book in A Demon’s Witch Series to my editor at The WIld Rose Press. She likes it! Yippee! AND I’m starting a new project Wylder West Assignment. Keep an eye out for more information. Now let’s see what the other author’s list as a profession from a book I’d love to try. LOL L&SR

Pssst… While you’re here, don’t forget to check out my paranormal romance/mysteries click here.

Need help with your gift list? Check out the award winning HIDDEN GYPSY MAGIC.. Psssttt.. it’s available in audiobook too! Yippee!! Grab a copy today. Also makes a great gift for the Paranormal Romance/Mystery reader on your list.

A little about HIDDEN GYPSY MAGIC –

The Salem Wildlife Sanctuary is Gwen Taylor’s life work. Her Irish Gypsy heritage provides a hidden talent she uses to help the creatures under her care. But even her magical skills can’t help new rescues in dire need of veterinary care.

The opportunity of signing on as the vet for Gwen’s sanctuary dropped into Brock Scutter’s lap after he expanded his practice to include wildlife. The personal attraction he and Gwen experience is undeniable the more their professional and personal lives collide.

Touring the only “non-haunted” house in Salem they both feel a spark of magic. A trip to his family’s cabin uncovers a heritage he didn’t know existed. If they want a future together, it means facing the consequences of awakening hidden Gypsy magic and a race against the clock to correct past wrongs.

A peek between the pages of HIDDEN GYPSY MAGIC – available in audiobook (the hook)

Carefully, Gwen took the poppet and eased her hand into the painting. A vortex sucked her arm then her entire body into the painting swirls of red, blue, and yellow swam around her then she was falling. She gulped in air as her stomach flipped threatening to spill its contents into the void. Her throat hurt from screaming, yet there was no sound. Something hard hit her backside, then it was quiet, she blinked and rubbed her eyes. Finding herself sitting in a rocking chair that squeaked announcing her arrival, she straightened and several pairs of eyes peered at her with interest. The room was familiar— it was the living room of Brock’s soon-to-be house, only the furnishings were quite different. The dragon staircase…

Before she could grasp what was happening a swirling portal of colors opened up in the center of the room again

Pssst… While you’re here, don’t forget to check out my paranormal romance/mysteries click here.

Thanks for popping in. I really appreciate it. Wow, only 16 shopping days until Christmas. Yikes! Anyway, next week’s blogging challenge December 16th, Books that would make great gifts! Oh this will be fun!! Until then have fun, stay safe, and never let the world get you down!

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged #L&SR's #Wednesday's Blog Challenge, A Witch's Holiday Wedding, magic, Mystery, Paranormal Romance, Tena Stetler, wildlife rescue, Witches by Tena Stetler with 9 comments.

Dec 8th Christmas Traditions Make the Holidays Bright!

One of the fun things about Christmas is traditions. Take for instance, the Land Down Under, because, well, someday I want to visit there, just probably not at Christmas. The English and Irish predominately settled Australia so it stands to reason their traditions reflect those countries. Here’s a few of of their Christmas Traditions.
Aussie’s decorate their homes with ferns, palm leaves and evergreens along with blooming flowers of Christmas Bush and Christmas Bell Flower. It’s summer time in December down under, when most of the United States is looking forward to big flakes and blankets of snow for a white Christmas.
Carols by Candlelight is one of the popular events in Australia. People come together under the stars at night to light candles and sing Christmas carols. Seems to me, it’s not far from our own tradition of Christmas carolers. I just can’t imagine Christmas without snow, that’s why I live in Colorado.
Christmas Day is when families and close friends gather from all over Australia for a holiday midday dinner. Some enjoy a traditional British Christmas dinner of roast turkey or ham and rich plum pudding doused in brandy and set on fire before it is brought to the table. Other families head for the backyard barbie to grill their Christmas dinner, maybe shrimp, in the sunshine or go to the beach and enjoy a picnic of cold turkey or ham and a salad. To the delight of children, Father Christmas in shorts may appear to greet children at the beach on Christmas! If you can’t have snow, that’s the way to celebrate Christmas.
Because I am of Swedish descent, let’s take a peek at Christmas Traditions in Sweden where in December the days are quite short, the nights long and the ground is usually snow covered. The Christmas season begins at church on the first Sunday of Advent, which is the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Children use an Advent calendar to keep track of the first day of December until Christmas, just like some of ours do. Each morning, they open a flap in the calendar’s Christmas scene to see the charming picture behind it. This year, I have a Victorian Advent calendar on my computer and enjoy a surprise behind each door daily.
The festivities in Sweden really begin with St. Lucia’s Day, December 13th, a celebration of the patron saint of light. A Christmas market held in the old medieval section of Stockholm is where you can find handmade toys, ornaments, and candy. Sounds fun, doesn’t it? Some people write a special verse to accompany the gift and even seal the package with colorful sealing wax. I have enough trouble with scotch tape and wrapping paper, I can’t imagine what would happen with hot sealing wax. Not a pretty sight, I’m sure. A Christmas tree is selected by the whole family just a day or two before Christmas and decorated, while the delightful aroma of gingerbread cookies in the shape of hearts, stars, or other festive shapes waft through to house. Christmas Eve is when the main feast is eaten. Presents might be brought by Santa (Jultomten) or by gnomes/elves named Tomte or Nissar. Many families set out a sheaf of grain on a pole for hungry birds. My hubby and I always put out special treats for the wild birds on Christmas.

As for my family, we put up the tree, Christmas decorations inside and out, the weekend after Thanksgiving. Or try to. No it’s not a real tree, only because I’m allergic. <sigh> We watch Christmas movies throughout December and make candy such as Divinity, Fantasy Fudge and Beaver Dams. What are Beaver Dams, you ask. Well, take a package of butterscotch chips, melt them in a double boiler, stir in half-package of crispy Chow Mein Noodles and one half can of cocktail peanuts. Spoon the concoction onto foil and let set. They look like beaver dams hence the name. YUMMY.

This year I’m going, to once again, try my hand at gingerbread cookies. Its become a Christmas Tradition of sorts, an make my family cringe. Why you ask? I haven’t had a lot of luck in previous years getting a good tasting cookie. Do any of you have a favorite recipe that I could try? Feel free to leave the recipe in the comments section.

Something for everyone. Two books on sale for 99cents each, A DEMON’S WITCH – The adventures of Bruce, Angie and friends are an entertaining escape from the ordinary world. Be swept away into a magical romantic fantasy adventures, you’ll never want to leave. These spicy tales have it all intrigue, humor, thrills, danger and a splash of magic to keep you on the edge of your seat. https://www.amazon.com/Tena-Stetler/e/B014E0PEPM or A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING – Tales of redemption, magic wildlife rescue, true love, and paying it forward will leave you breathless! https://www.amazon.com/Tena-Stetler/e/B014E0PEPM

Next week My Favorite Things About Christmas. What Christmas Traditions do and your family observe on Christmas Eve and Day? Or during the month of December? I look forward to hearing from you.

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged Australia, Charm Me Again, Christmas, Paranormal Romance/Mystery, Sweden, Tena Stetler, Traditions by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Dec 2nd An Average Day in My Life #L&SR’s Weekly Blogging Challenge

Happy Holidays! Welcome to #L&SR’s Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge December 2, 2020, An average day in my life. That I can do! Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cauldron. Take your choice of a Chocolate Chip, Snickerdoodle, or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate.

My writing cave!

While COVID upset a lot of things socially, for me not a lot changed. Writing is a solitary endeavor. I do miss interactions with my writer friends for lunch and eating out, but over all, I consider myself and hubby lucky. An average day in my life. Starts at 5:30 a.m. LOL Nope, not a morning person I’m a night owl, but hubby has to go to work. Fix breakfast for hubby, Taco our parrot, Mystic our dog, and Sammy turtle. Pack hubby’s lunch. Eat breakfast. It’s the most important meal of the day, you know. Figure out what to fix for supper, take out any necessary ingredients.

Yes, Taco and Mystic are plotting to take over the world.

Then its a 30 second commute to my home office where I work at promos for a couple hours, dive into my fantasy world see what my characters are up to in my work in progress manuscript, direct their activities. Ha, they tell me what they are going to do and I write it down. At 10:00 a.m., Take the stairs to my basement home gym and work out for 35-60 minutes, depending on the day and the time I can spare. Or if the weather is nice, I’ll take Mystic for a nice long walk! Pesky deadlines dictate a lot of my day.

Lunch is then on the schedule. Afterward I work on my WIP until 4:00 p.m., when Taco reminds me with a loud squawk followed by “Hi Guys” or any number of phrases she knows, it’s time to let her out and go into the sunroom. Dinner time arrives shortly there after and either I’ve gotten it prepared or hubby picks supper up on the way home. Kinda depends what kind of day I’ve had. Now weekends I take off. Need to give the muse a rest and recharge. The summer time included working in my garden. So there you have it An average day in my live. How about your day? Tell me about it in the comments.

Pssst… While you’re here, don’t forget to check out my paranormal romance/mysteries click here.

Need help with your gift list? Check out the award winning A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING: Psssst…. A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING is on sale for 99c cents. Grab a copy today. Also makes a great gift for the Paranormal Romance/Mystery reader on your list.

A bit out A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING:

Elemental witch, Pepper McKay and former Navy SEAL, Lathen Quartz built Lobster Cove Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on enchanted McKay land. Wedding planning goes awry when the couple spends Thanksgiving with family in Colorado, a Maine snowstorm fills the center with injured wildlife, Lathen finds himself drawn into a covert military mission, and Pepper wants to cancel the wedding. Is she having second thoughts? Will the nosy McKay ghosts, Lathen’s werewolf pack, Pepper’s parents, and her best friend help or hinder the wedding and holiday plans?

A sneak peek between the pages of A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING.

After she set her glass down, Lathen brushed a couple strands of hair out of her eyes and searched her face. “Are you all right?”

“I’m tired, my wedding is in a couple weeks, I have ghosts fighting over who is going to do what. Guests that have no idea the place is haunted and… Your family and pack, my parents, Gwen… To top it all off, the head of my clan, who is a ghost, is sitting in front of me wanting to know who is coming to the wedding and whether the ghosts will be outed. How could I possibly be all right?”

“When you put it that way.” Lathen chuckled. “It sounds just a bit… I don’t know…crazy?” His right eyebrow winged up. She saw mischief sparkle in his eyes. “We could still elope,” he offered.

“No sir. Not after all the trouble—Not on me watch.” Ghost Aidan shook his head so vehemently his upper torso blurred.

Thanks for popping in. I really appreciate it. Wow, only 23 shopping days until Christmas. Yikes! Anyway, next week’s blogging challenge December 9th, A profession from a book I’d love to try! Oh this will be fun!! Until then have fun, stay safe, and never let the world get you down!

Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged #L&SR's #Wednesday's Blog Challenge, A Witch's Holiday Wedding, An average day in my life, Ghost, Paranormal Romance/Mystery, Tena Stetler by Tena Stetler with 10 comments.

Nov 26th NaNoWriMo 2020-A Tale of 50,000 Words in 30 Days-WOW!

Along with millions of writers around the world, (okay maybe not millions, but close) I’m participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWrimo). UPDATE 11-26-20 Still going strong at 52,384 words! Yippee I won!

A challenge to write fifty-thousand words in thirty days. For weeks, our minds have worked out the logistics of the story, our fingers are twitching to tap that keyboard and kick off the race to our latest novel. The National Novel Writing Month challenge is a great confidence builder and something we writers look forward to November 1st every year. 2020 is a bit different with COVID19, social distancing, and write-ins going virtual.

NaNoWriMo as it’s fondly referred to has become somewhat of a tradition for me starting in 2010. I’ve made my goal of at least 50,000 words every year since with the exception of 2013. That year I failed miserably at only 17000 words. My day job was a monster, the hours were long,and by the time I arrived home, I was the monster. Anyone know what I mean? But I digress, at 17,000 I still had a working story, plot and characters. Yeah! Finished it up in the months that followed, polished the manuscript and submitted it. Since that time, I left the monster of a day job and writing is now my full-time job, and I love it. CHARM ME AGAIN is my 10th novel since 2015.

Click on the cover to read more or purchase.

Thirteen novels that NaNoWriMo helped me to create have been published by The Wild Rose Press. Last year’s NaNo project, HIdden Gypsy Magic was released September 28, 2020. Yippee! Third book in A Witch’s Journey series, perfect for Holiday shopping! Psssst…. to help you with your holiday shopping, my e-book of A WITCH’S HOLIDAY WEDDING is on sale beginning November 20th for 99 cents for a limited time at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and itunes. Download a copy today and join the magical, romantic fantasy adventure, you’ll never want to leave!

This year for NaNoWriMo I’ll be working on An Angel’s Wylder Assignment part of The Wild Rose Press Wylder West series also the 7th book in A Demon’s WItch Series.

I’m also excited to share Gwen and Brock’s story in Hidden Gypsy Magic and return to the world of Pepper and Lathen and wildlife rescue!

One more exciting note is that Charm Me Again a previous NANOWRIMO project is now available in Audiobook. Yippie!

Along with the Romance Writers of America and Pikes Peak Writers group, who gave me the tools, NaNoWriMo gave me the confidence needed to stick my toe in the murky waters of the publishing industry. The 50,000 words, approximately 1,667 per day, usually is three-quarters of a pretty darn good novel. Each year I build on what I’ve learned throughout the year and use it to complete the NaNoWriMo challenge. The camaraderie among participants is phenomenal making the challenge a fun way to kick off the holidays!

Wish me luck! Keep checking back for updates on my progress this year. Will I make the 50,000 words? Only time will tell, but you can bet I’ll do my best! I know you’ll be cheering me on! If you have a chance, I’d love you to leave me comments of encouragement.

Have a fun and safe Thanksgiving! Eat lots of turkey and enjoy family and friends. After all that’s what its all about!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Paranormal Romance, Tena Stetler by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.