interracial romance – Dahlia DeWinters

The Write Way: Self-Care for Romance Authors

As a romance author, I truly understand the demands and pressures that come with the craft. Writing all these captivating love stories (and sex scenes if you’re spicy!) requires immense creativity, emotional investment, dedication as well as perseverance. Lots of perseverance. However, amidst the chaos of deadlines and plot twists, it’s crucial for us romance authors to prioritize self-care. In this blog post, I’m going to talk about the importance of self-care for romance authors and look at some ways to incorporate it into our writing routines. The Heart of Self-Care for Romance Authors As romance authors, we pour our passion into every page and to entertain and excite our readers. But such an investment can drain our own hearts if we don’t prioritize self-care. When we do not nurture ourselves, the creative flames can dim from fatigue and burnout. I’ve seen too many posts on social media about self-published… Continued

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Recipe Wednesday – Stewed Chicken with Andouille

My favorite is cold weather cooking – you can turn on the oven, the stove and warm up the kitchen with spicy aroma. This recipe is taken from the Food Network site. Ingredients 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs (about 1 3/4 pounds), trimmed Kosher salt 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 link andouille sausage (about 3 ounces), chopped 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth 3 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1 10-ounce package frozen whole baby okra, thawed Juice of 1 lime 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro Directions Cut each chicken thigh into quarters (or 1 1/2-inch pieces, if large). Pat dry and season with 1 teaspoon salt. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook undisturbed until browned, about 4 minutes. Continue to cook,

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Recipe Wednesday – Chicken Kiev

On occasion, this geek gal likes to try her hand at new recipes in the kitchen. I’m not a great cook, but I know what tastes good and how to alter a recipe. Unfortunately, I also like to pick complicated recipes that try my patience. (Don’t ask why, it’s just the way I’m built – I like a challenge.) ¼ cup butter, softened 1 tbs. chopped fresh chives or parsley 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic OR 2 tbs. chopped garlic from the jar 6 boneless, skinned chicken breast halves 12 toothpicks 3 cups cornflakes, crushed to 1 ½ cups 2 tbs. fresh chopped parsley ½ tsp paprika ¼ buttermilk or milk Salt and pepper to taste Mix softened butter, chives and garlic. Shape the mixture into a rectangle, like a stick of butter, then freeze for about 30 min. You will be slicing this later. Pre-heat oven to 425

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Music Monday – Top 5 Songs – The Police

There were five Police studio albums released between 1978 and 1983. I know this because I owned them all. For Music Monday, let’s take a trip down memory lane and name my favorite track from each of these studio albums. Outlando D’Amour was the first album released by The Police. They “broke out” with the hit “Roxanne”. I don’t need to go into the whole story now, everyone knows what the song is about. However, while I did like Roxanne, my oh-so-favorite track from this album is “So Lonely”. Reggatta de Blanc Released in 1979, the hot “hit” from this album was Message in a Bottle. While I do love Message in all its iterations (the acoustic version is especially stirring), here’s my go to from this album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz1mEMiNPHQ Zenyatta Mondatta The song “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” hit the U.S. charts with a bang and spent

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Movie Quotes of the Seventies – My Picks

You all know that I go on kicks, and right now is the movie quote kick. So, in order not to leave you out of my musings, here’s some seventies movie quotes that are near and dear to me. Of course, feel free to use them, share them, tweet them or simply read them and laugh, then go find the movie they’re from, cuz some of those movies were pretty good. Either way, enjoy! The Godfather – The best thing about this line is not only was it practical, it was also improvised. Why go through all the trouble of buy cannoli, then leave it in the car with a dead man? Superman – Christopher Reeve, the one, the only Superman. And when he catches Lois Lane? She’s not all calm, cool and collected…who would be? This man is ….flying!!! Anyone who has been following me the past

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5 Things I Love about Winter

Winter is the time of year where it gets dark early, which means cocktail hour starts so much earlier than in the summer. The children are in school, the weather is blustery turning to cold and there’s a lot of baking to be done. The brisk wind wakes you up when you go outside, making you that much more grateful to hurry back into the house or to a warm car. At least that’s the way it is here in New Jersey, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The leaves did their final drop in the last week or so, and gray skies have presided for the last three days. I have no complaints about this, because I love winter. How much do I love winter? Why, let me count the ways. 1. My Leopard Snuggie – Depending on my mood, I wear it as a dragging,