Happy Reading for Your 4th of July Holiday!

GREETINGS! I offer three new releases for you. I hope you see something you'd like to read.

Happy 4th of July!

Celia

Blurb: The Stars At Night
New Yorker Kate Norwood meets Jesse McCoy on her trip to Texas with her young nephew. She learns her plan to leave Nicky with his grandmother -- Jesse’s mother -- is hopeless, and faced with the improbable prospect of rearing the boy herself, she turns to Jesse for help. Kate and Jesse bond easily, but problems arise which may drive them apart and leave the child with the wrong person. With hearts full of love and hope, they work together find the answers they need.
LINK:
Desert Breeze Publishing
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-182/Celia-Yearly-The-Stars/Detail.bok  
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/The-Stars-at-Night-ebook/dp/B0058U7T7Y/ref=sr_1_12?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1309636808&sr=1-12 

Heart of a Hero-Blurb
Matt Carrington escapes a terrorists’ prison while in the Army, but he has difficulty escaping the trappings of a demanding fiancé and his own parents. To get away to think, he meets pretty, girl-next-door Lauren Delaney, the kind of woman he desires. But his fiancé and his parents have other plans, and they determine to have their way—no matter what Matt wants.

Lauren Delaney is an independent young woman who quickly befriends the soldier hero who comes to town. Knowing he has another life in Dallas, she holds a secret, too. But she pretends neither have a problem in order to have the summer with him.

During the long hot months, a hurricane almost destroys the town. Matt and Lauren work with a team to save as many residents as they can, and in the process fall deeply in love. When the danger is past, the two lovers suffer from their own lies and misunderstandings. Can they find peace and happiness without hurting others?
LINK: Available July 4
http://www.whimsicalpublications.com/celia_yeary/Heart_of_a_Hero.html

Blurb: Angel and the Cowboy
He needs a wife…


Because the sheriff summons him, U.S. Marshal Max Garrison rides to town. He resents learning he must supervise a young man just out of prison who will work at his ranch for a time. But when he meets the beautiful young woman who owns the teashop, he knows his trip is not wasted. Max decides she's the one for him.

She faces another lonely Christmas…

Daniella Sommers lives alone above the book and teashop her English parents left her. When U.S. Marshal Max Garrison walks in and asks for tea, she almost laughs. Soon, her merriment turns to hope. Then Daniella learns a shocking truth about herself. If she reveals her past, will Max still love her?

Christmas is near, the time for miracles and surprises. Will the message of the season bring Max and Daniella the best gift of all?
LINK: This is a short story available for 99 cents.
http://www.amazon.com/Angel-and-the-Cowboy-ebook/dp/B0058VZTWU/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309546603&sr=1-11

Thank you and may you have a wonderful holiday weekend.
Happy Reading!
Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/
http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com/

HEART OF A HERO--Coming in July



HEART OF A HERO-COMING SOON

I wrote Heart of a Hero before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, specifically New Orleans.

The story involves a soldier hero who comes home from the Middle East War and knows his life is not right. He leaves Dallas, his family, and fiancé, and goes to a small Central Texas town where his grandmother lives on the river. While there, a hurricane hits the Gulf Coast and sends massive amounts of rain all the way to the middle of Texas. I named this hurricane Krystal. Isn't that odd? I had no idea such a destructive hurricane named Katrina would hit the coast the next year. (Note: hurricanes often drift into Central Texas, bringing much-needed rain. We need a hurricane right now!)

So, anyway, I held on to the manuscript for a long while because I was involved with Western Historical Romances. I did submit it to a couple of small ePresses, those same ones where I had publications, but it was met with revision, revision, revision. Stubborn me, I turned down the advice and held on to it a while longer. Now it has a home, a great cover, and a release date sometime in July.

The figures on the cover are almost identical to my vision of Matt Carrington and Lauren Delaney. It's a lovely cover.

Blurb:
Matt Carrington escapes a terrorists’ prison while in the Army, but he has difficulty escaping the trappings of a demanding fiancé and his own parents. To get away to think, he meets pretty, girl-next-door Lauren Delaney, the kind of woman he desires. But his fiancé and his parents have other plans, and they determine to have their way—no matter what Matt wants.


Lauren Delaney is an independent young woman who quickly befriends the soldier hero who comes to town. Knowing he has another life in Dallas, she holds a secret, too. But she pretends neither have a problem in order to have the summer with him.


During the long hot months, a hurricane almost destroys the town. Matt and Lauren work with a team to save as many residents as they can, and in the process fall deeply in love. When the danger is past, the two lovers suffer from their own lies and misunderstandings. Can they find peace and happiness without hurting others?


I don't have a buy link or page yet, but it will be available in ebook and print.
Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/
http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com/

TWO RELEASES APRIL 1

I'm happy to announce two releases on April l.

The first—in keeping with our glorious Spring—is TEXAS TRUE: The Cameron Sisters—Book II. The wildflowers on the cover are Indian Paintbrush, which is one of the heralds of spring, along with its faithful companion the Texas Bluebonnet. (look on the sidebar for the cover of TEXAS PROMISE: The Cameron Sisters—Book I for the Bluebonnets.)

BLURB:

At a Governor's Ball in Austin, Texas, True Lee Cameron meets suave Sam Deleon. Before the night is out, she transforms from the coddled and protected younger sister to a woman in love. Reality crashes down when she accidentally learns he has deceived her. Daring to disobey him, she follows Sam to the oilfields and determines to live wherever he does. Has she made a mistake? Will she give up and return home where she can make her own rules?

When Sam Deleon meets the gorgeous young woman his mother has chosen for him, he fears falling in love, because he knows nothing about love. In order to carry out his mother’s plan, he marries True and moves her to his mother's home, intending to visit enough to set the plan in motion. When True fails to obey him, he faces the possibility of losing her, thereby losing his inheritance and the family property.

Sam and True attempt a reconciliation and compromise. Together, they now face a nemesis, someone who determines to thwart every action they take, endangering not only their lives, but also those whom they love.

Available April 1-Desert Breeze Publishing
Ebook only.
http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-156/Celia-Yeary-Cameron-Sisters/Detail.bok
Also Available on Amazon--eBook

~*~*~*~

The second book is a Contemporary Romance set in Texas titled Crystal Lake Reunion. The story also involves three women and two babies—one of which dies at birth.

BLURB:
Twenty-five-year-old Houston realtor, Dana Dawson, has no reason to believe her life is not as it seems. When Ruth Dawson, her mother, travels thirty miles to Crystal Lake for her twenty-fifth high school reunion, she becomes ill. Dr. Grant Adams summons Dana to the small town she has never seen. There Dana begins to unravel a secret about her past she did not know existed.

Dana keeps her suspicions to herself and remains in Crystal Lake when her mother goes home. During the next week, she becomes acquainted with the charming young doctor and elicits his help to discover her true birthplace. There she finds a shocking truth that not only changes her life, but also almost destroys her mother and another entire family.

Available April 1 from Whiskey Creek Press
eBook only
http://whiskeycreekpress.com/comingsoon.shtml
eBook only

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/
http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com/

How Much Description is Too Much?

Sweet Historical Romance
WISH FOR THE MOON
North Texas 1901

Remember I am no expert. My knowledge on any writing topic comes from a few years of self-study, and lest you think I know a great deal, let me set you straight. I am not…Sorry, I’ve already said that.

Why am I writing about this boring topic? Lately, more lavish description than is needed or wanted seems to be creeping in some fiction. While our writing instructors tell us “less is more,” and encourage us to omit descriptive phrases, we still feel compelled to endlessly describe.

“Her lovely eyes resembled pieces of emerald, shadowed by long, lush lashes, set in an alabaster face worthy of the most beautiful of angels.” (I made that up.)

First of all, this passage must be from the Hero’s POV. How many men do you know, or have ever existed had thoughts like this? A cowboy might think, “Her eyes sure were pretty, sort of green.” A modern man might say this: “Her eyes were so pretty, I wish I had the words to describe them.”

AVOID detailed descriptions of characters. Elmore Leonard in his Ten Rules of Writing, says, In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” what do the “American and the girl with him” look like? “She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.” That’s the only reference to a physical description in the story, yet we see the couple and know them by the tones of voice, with not one adverb in sight.

However, I need some description of the characters in some manner, or none at all. Why? Because I visualize the characters, and unless I have a clue early on I’ll paint a picture of them myself. If an author waits until about the fourth or fifth chapter to finally let me know the girl is petite, buxom, with coal-black hair hanging almost to her waist, I might have her pictured her as tall, lithe, and blond. By that time I have so much invested in my version, the author’s description makes me irritable.

AVOID great detailed descriptions of places and things. We don’t need to impress our readers with the beauty of our story setting. If we go on and on about it, heaping up adjectives and adverbs along the way, we run the risk of losing our readers because they have become weary and slammed the book shut.

Again, as a reader I do need to know in some creative way the surroundings or setting of the novel.

Now that I’ve offered this advice, I’m still in the process of “how much description is too much.” Or maybe I should be learning how to include my descriptions without listing everything in one paragraph.

In Wish for the Moon (1901), Max Garrison wanders to the McGinnis farm. There he meets the family, especially young, pretty Annie, complete with a few descriptions.

Excerpt:

When alone, Max walked to the spreading shade tree by the house and sat so he could lean back on the trunk. He lifted his hat and repositioned it to cover his eyes. Then he crossed his arms over his full stomach, let out a huge sigh, and fell sound asleep.

After some time, he didn’t know how long, he opened his eyes because he could feel a presence like somebody watched him and maybe waited near him. There sat the little blonde girl, except on close-up inspection, she was just about grown, maybe sixteen, seventeen years old. She sat cross-legged right beside him so he could easily touch her if he reached out. But he didn’t; he just waited, until she did something instead of sitting there, studying him.

“Hi, there,” she said, in a sweet sounding voice, sort of like water gurgling and sliding over smooth rocks—that swooshing, humming sound a person never gets tired of. “What are you doing here? I’ve never seen you around here before. Are you from over to Granbury? Or maybe Mineral Wells or Dublin?”

“Uh-uh. I’m from nowhere,” he said without grinning or anything. “I’m just a wanderer.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I don’t have a real home, that’s why,” he answered. He never took his eyes off her big, pretty, blue ones, a little turned down at the corners, and framed all around with dark-brown lashes.

“Everybody has a home, don’t you know that? Except maybe those hoboes that stay over yonder under the railroad trestle. Are you from over there?”

“Nope.” He shook his head and chuckled a little at her persistence and curiosity. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

“Why should I be?” she asked with a mock frown. “Are you a crook who robbed a bank, or a bootlegger who runs whiskey, or maybe you’re just a no-account bum?”

Now her face split into the widest grin that made his cold empty heart jump to life. More than anything right now, he wanted her to keep smiling at him.

“Nah,” she answered her own question, “you’re too nice looking to be a bad person. I bet you’re really a rich man who’s just having a good time wandering about letting somebody else take care of all his money, or maybe a famous doctor who left a good-paying hospital so you could rest from all the pressure of saving people and all that operating and stuff. Or I bet you—”

Max’s laughter cut her off. She sat real still and watched him laugh aloud, studying his one slightly crooked eyetooth on the left side. He said, “Yeah, I just bet you think all that. But you don’t really know, now, do you?” Max’s voice lost all trace of the laughter, and he solemnly gazed at her prettiness.

WISH FOR THE MOON: Coming Soon from Willow Moon Publishing.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas

JUST WHEN YOU THINK YOU'RE SAFE

My writing career, if I may call it that, began in 2004 on an impulse brought about by severe boredom. Soon, I had a novel-length story written. Smugly, I said, “It’s a wrap!” Well, no, it wasn’t at all. I knew nothing about the intricacies of writing fiction. The knowledge I had would fit into a thimble, and even that, I based it on my experience with writing scientific research papers.

The first big shock was something called Point of View. Since I’d only been a reader of fiction, rather than a writer, POV puzzled me. I talked with two would-be-authors and asked about this term. Each of them explained…and explained…and showed…and finally told me one day it would just click, like a light bulb turned on. Actually, this happened, but alas, I dealt with only two POVs—the hero’s and the heroine’s in third person.

Since I’ve always been a self-learner, I began to rely on "How to Write Fiction" books for enlightenment. One neat little book was totally devoted to “mastering point of view.” Just what I needed. Do you know how many Points of View exist? At least six: Unlimited POV, First-Person POV, Inner Limited POV, Second-person POV, Outer Limited POV, and Combo POV. Then the writer may combine any of the six with “Multiple POVs and Challenging Perspectives.”

How did I deal with this conundrum? I pretended only two categories existed. Since I wrote romance, I felt fairly confident. So far, not one editor has asked me why I mixed Inner Limited POV with Unlimited POV.

My second learning experience was Passive Writing. Although I didn’t know the term, I did learn that all of us had probably studied it in high school, and knew it as Voice--with action verbs or without. Well, I took care of that right away by going to the Spell Check Options in Word, opening Check Grammar, and making certain every little box contained a little blue check, especially the one titled “Passive Writing.” From my first editor, I discovered the Find button, typed in the insignificant word “was,” indicating a passive sentence. In my first editing experience with this real editor, she located 972 times I’d used “was.” That’s a close approximation. Why did the publisher ever take such a messy manuscript?

The third, and last, learning episode for now is Formatting. A new phenomenon is sweeping through the e-presses community. Earlier, the guidelines stated only a few requirements: a particular font, double-spaced, one-inch margins, and page numbers. Now that I’m working with several publishers, I’m wondering why e-presses don’t standardize their formatting requirements? Each one has a long, detailed list of tasks the author must accomplish. (I do appreciate the publisher stating “do the best you can—we don’t expect you to be an electronic genius.) I admit I spent two entire days trying to change my “curly quotes” to “straight quotes.” When I learned how, I shoved my desk chair back, stood, punched my fists into the air, and yelled, “Yeeesss!” My husband came running to make certain I had not lost my mind. No, I had not lost anything. I’d found a valuable tool.
Celia
TEXAS PROMISE: The Cameron Sisters-Book I
*Love Romances Café-Best Historical Romance 2010-Honorable Mention
*The Romance Studio-Five Hearts
*Love Western Romance-Four Spurs
*Sherry Gloag, Reader-Five Hearts
*Steph Burkhart, Reviewer-Five Hearts


Celia

Two New Christmas Releases!

Good morning, Linda. Aren't you excited about our Christmas releases? A Time to Give is a perfect Christmas story. How did you come up with the plot?

You know, Celia, I sometimes feel the stories behind our books are as interesting as the books themselves. We've discussed how our characters take on life and develop minds of their own.

Oh, yes. More than once one of my characters starting acting a little bit too big for her britches and became the star of the show.

Well, as you wrote A Christmas Wedding, I remember you saying that you didn't know where the story was going.

That's right, I didn't know how I was going to make Kailey Lovelace connect with Alex Dunn. At the time, they were medium-height people.


But I guess Kailey knew all along and you just had to give her a chance to tell it. I started the book last night and the plot has already drawn me in. I had to force myself to leave it for another time as it was past the witching hour and I needed sleep. But I won't be able to get it out of my mind until I read that last word. Your stories always have that effect on me.

Thank you so much. You don't know how much that means to me.

When I read a couple of your short, short stories recently I asked you if one was an offshoot of the other. I had seen a similarity in the characters and plot that reminded me of an incident in my own work. And I promised to share that with you.

I can't wait to hear that tale. Since we have time on our hands, I'd love to hear about it right now.


It began when I wrote A Time To Give. We were living in Alabama at the time and driving a two-lane highway from Kentucky to our new home. On our route was a small roadside restaurant where we always stopped for coffee. Out of that stop, I created a setting, a waitress named Ellen, and the season of winter, which became Christmas. Among my characters that stopped at the restaurant were a young mother and her two children on their way North from Florida. Ellen invited them to stay over but they drove on in a snowstorm.

So, this is the newly released story, right, Linda? A Time to Give?


Yes, and fast forward a few years when I wrote a novel set at a Kentucky Welcome Center with a tour guide named Kala. Again, it was nearly Christmas and the Interstate closed down due to a snowstorm. Tourists were caught with no place to go and among them were a young mother and her two children. When they walked into the Welcome Center in my story, I said to myself, "I know these people." But the problem was, I couldn't remember the names I'd given them, and my manuscript was in my condo in Florida, not available on my computer. I thought I'd named the little boy David but try as I might, I couldn't remember the name I'd given his sister. So I called her Heather and the mother Brenda.

Later I learned that in the short story the little girl was Teresa and her mother Diane. And the irony of this is that both the book and short story are now available on the Internet and I still haven't changed the names!

How funny! This could only happen to Linda Swift.

This second story, Let Nothing You Dismay, was published by Kensington and with a setting in my hometown. It got a lot of local publicity, and in the midst of it, I got a call from a local magazine editor saying she was using a short story I'd submitted to her. Yep, you guessed it. She was publishing A Time To Give in her December issue.

So both stories were available for the townspeople to read, with the same three characters in both. And I was wishing I'd been able to keep the names the same so no one would think I'd plagiarized my own work and tried to cover it up.

I did have a chance to explain this when I did a program in the library for a local TV station. I made a joke of how long it took the woman to drive from North Alabama to West Kentucky, which was about three years instead of the normal five hours.

But this taught me a lesson. Now I try to keep characters from insinuating themselves into someone else's story unless it's a series.

Now, you really have me laughing. Like your To Hull and Back tales, your humor and wit are quite engaging.


You've done a four part series of one set of characters, haven't you? I've read three of them now and I'm waiting for the fourth. And will you do anything more with Kailey and Alex?

A four-part series? Oh, yes, you mean my "Texas books," for lack of a better name. Three have been released, with the fourth coming in April. Each novel led to another, with the same family, the Camerons of Texas, woven through. I can't seem to stop doing that! But the main characters always clamor in my head until I write their stories.

My newest, a Christmas novelette titled, A Christmas Wedding, features a six-foot-tall heroine who finds her hero in an even taller man. Why did I use a tall heroine? I'm not the least bit tall! Once I knew a statuesque woman who had lost her husband some years before. She was still young, a nurse, and one summer she joined a medical mission team to Guatemala. The doctor in charge was very tall. They are now married.


And guess what? Kailey Lovelace in A Christmas Wedding is a nurse and marries Alex Dunn, an ex-soldier who was an Army medic. They plan….oh, I can't tell. You'll have to read the story!


Linda and I invite you to go to Willow Moon Publishing and check out our stories:
A Time to Give-Linda Swift
A Christmas Wedding-Celia Yeary
Link:

http://willowmoonpublishing.com/

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/
New Releases
Texas Promise-eBook-Desert Breeze Publishing
Making the Turn-print & eBook-Wings ePress

SMALL TOWN TEXAS

Small towns occupy much of Texas. Del Rey, population 8,000, is one such place, one-hundred miles southwest of Dallas, surrounded by small farms, family ranches, and even smaller communities. The highway by-passed the town years ago, but Del Rey still thrives with older residents and younger families moving in to escape city life in Fort Worth and Dallas.

One main street holds most of the businesses, with a few other stores and shops on side streets. A new Super Foods sits two blocks from the center of town, the old café turned into a soup, salad, and sandwich shop, the old Kress Variety store is now converted to a Pizza Parlor, complete with a room full of video games, and another with old cartoons showing, one after the other.

Del Rey, Texas is a figment of my imagination for my first women’s fiction novel titled MAKING THE TURN. Thirty-nine-year-old Sara Daniels loses her fortune and all her possessions overnight when her philandering husband dies on the Riviera in the home he shares with his mistress. Sara has no choice but to trade her BMW convertible for a used minivan, load it with the few possessions she salvages from her home, and move back to the farming community where she was born.

Welcome to Del Rey, Texas.

BLURB:
Starting over at age thirty-nine is no picnic under any circumstances, but the task is daunting for Sara Daniels. Living an affluent lifestyle her entire adulthood in Dallas does not prepare her for instant bankruptcy, especially if a philandering husband dies suddenly, leaving her penniless, debt-ridden, and homeless.

Planning on moving in temporarily with her cantankerous mother in the small town of Del Rey, Sara faces more problems than she can handle. During the long, hot summer, she and her daughter, her mother, and a handsome distraught widower and his charming young son learn they can have second chances.

EXCERPT:
After a moment of hesitation, he said very softly, “Sara. I apologize. That should never have happened.”

Shaken by the kiss, Sara turned and gripped the door handle without replying. Instead of opening it, she turned back around, holding the cake platter against her chest with crossed arms. Managing to keep her voice under control, she said, “Well, it won’t happen again, that’s for sure. You won’t be seeing me anymore anyway, probably, unless we just happen to run into each other. I start work tomorrow, and besides, I won’t be staying in Del Rey very long.”

“You’re not moving here?” he asked with some surprise.

“No, I told you from the beginning I was visiting.”

“But you have employment.”

“Yes, but, well…that’s just to help Jeff out temporarily while I’m here.”

“Jeff?”

“The golf pro. So, you see, you really don’t need to worry about my coming around anymore.”

At this juncture, Sara stood as stiffly and silently as Rick.

At last, Rick spoke softly. “It’s mainly about Aaron, Sara. Don’t you see? He needs a lot of things, but right now in his life, I’m the one to supply everything for him—physically and emotionally.”

“Oh, I understand,” she began in a low voice and leaned toward him. “Having your life change drastically is traumatic on anyone, especially a child. But we adults can just suck it up, can’t we, Rick? We carry on, no matter whom we lose, or how much the loss endangers our well-being, or how the circumstances destroy our self-concept.” She paused and looked toward the house and bit her bottom lip. “I need to go.”

Sara drove away. She looked in her rear-view mirror and could barely make out Rick through the near darkness, still standing in the driveway with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets, watching after her as she turned onto the highway.

“Damn,” she whispered to herself. “I can’t please anybody. First kiss in over ten years, and the man apologizes.”

************

BUY LINK:  http://www.wingsepress.com/  (Print and eBook)
ALSO Available at Amazon-print and Kindle

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/

New Releases
Texas Promise-eBook-Desert Breeze Publishing
Making the Turn-print & eBook-Wings ePress

NOTE: PHOTO is Lockhart, Texas 

Rocks on the Porch

 In the late eighties, my husband and I decided to build a house on acreage we owned. First, we sold the house we’d live in for about fifteen years. Then we moved into a small house in a crowded neighborhood so we could build our house with no pressure concerning our previous residence.
The acreage we owned contained pockets of big rocks—some huge flat slabs of limestone, and many odd rocks we called cannon balls. These round rocks ranged in size from a tennis ball to a big bowling ball. All were made of red sandstone, and we thought perhaps they were geodes, but after cracking several open with a sledgehammer and finding no pretty quartz crystals, we concluded they were red sandstone through and through.

I saved three that were the most round and had little angular protrusions making them vaguely look like Sputnik. Our rental had a tiny covered front porch. Since we had the house crammed and the patio, too, I lined the three rocks along the wall of the house on the front porch. Big one, medium-sized one, and smaller one.

One day when I arrived home after a long day of teaching, the doorbell rang. There stood two young men, all cool and cocky, selling some kinds of books. I said no, I don’t believe I need any books. Oh, please, they said, you’ve got to let us give our pitch—we get points for that. How long is the pitch? I asked. About ten minutes. No, I said, I just don’t have the time, and besides I’d be wasting your time, because I’m not going to buy any books.

They became a little angry, and one said I should at least support them by listening, because here they were working like crazy, and I sat in my air-conditioned house. By then I had become slightly mad, so I excused myself. Have a good day, I said, and closed the door. One of them kicked the door. I let it go and went back to my work.

In an hour, my husband came home through the front door because the garage was stacked wall-to-wall and to the ceiling with appliances and boxes.

Honey, he said, your big rock is missing. What?? Oh, I was so mad, and explained it had to be those boys who took it. Probably they smashed it somewhere. I was really angry at those rude young men.

About that time, the phone rang. A young mother I knew lived three doors down, and she said, Celia, I need your help. Will you walk down here? Since you’re a science teacher, you will know what to do. Hurry, she said, I’m a little scared.

What is it? I asked. She said, I think it’s a bomb that dropped from the sky, maybe from space. It has things protruding from it and it’s making a hissing sound, like gas or something escaping. And it must have fallen from a long distance because it made a depression in my yard. Come quick and tell me what to do.

My husband walked with me, and both of us were a little unnerved. Since I am skeptical about almost everything, I wondered, what is it really? At the edge of her yard, she called from the porch to walk around that area by the sidewalk. I looked down, saw the depression, and in it was my biggest round rock. And yes, let me tell you, I heard a hissing sound.

I wanted to laugh, but the hissing sound bothered me. My husband squatted and rolled the rock to the side a little. Under there was the round metal cover over the water main. And yes, it was making a little noise like s-s-s-s-s-s-s.

I called to her. It’s safe to come over here. There’s no danger at all. When she stood beside us, I said, that’s just a rock. In fact, it’s my rock.

She frowned and said, I don’t believe you. You’re just saying it’s your rock. It is, I declared, and I proceeded to tell her my story about the young men. Soon the three of us were laughing our heads off, and she said oh, please don’t tell anyone about this. I told her, Honey, I have to. It’s too good to keep secret.

She said you’re going to tell my mother, aren’t you? (Her mother and I are good friends.) You know I will! I can’t keep it to myself! She laughed some more, and we went home with my rock.

When I see this young woman at her work place, she starts laughing. We both remember the funny story, and she always says, you were so sweet not to call me stupid.

Celia Yeary-Romance...and a little bit 'o Texas
http://www.celiayeary.blogspot.com/
http://www.celiayeary.com/

New Releases
Texas Promise-eBook-Desert Breeze Publishing
Making the Turn-print & eBook-Wings ePress

Hello, Las Vegas!

Okay, I admit it--I have nothing writerly to say today. My husband took me to Sin City for my birthday, and while we're not the sort to go wild and crazy, we did have a wonderful time. Actually, we had lots of fun! Just the two of us.

Here I am in an Undisclosed Location. Want to guess where I am?

The Strip was super busy. Approximately one-half of all twenty-somethings in the U.S. and Japan descended upon the casinos with much exuberance and hilarity. Where do they get the money to play Blackjack and those other games I can never remember? Oh, that was a foolish question, wasn't it?

I love to walk through the Forum Shops, but only to window shop and stay cool. No way can I buy anything in there. It's all so pretty, though.

Water is everywhere around and in the casinos, forming water falls, small streams, pools, and shooting fountains. As we walked around--in 108 degree weather (what were we thinking?), we remarked that we often got a whiff of something that smelled a little too much like a sewer. It finally occurred to me that the water is Reclaimed Water--from the sewage plants. I'm glad they're not using fresh water for showing off.

And now......

A good-looking guy followed me around, eveywhere I went! I wondered, what does he see in me, anyway? He was very attentive, kind, generous, thoughtful, and sweet. I stopped him once and said, "Look, mister, I'm a Senior Citizen, I have silver hair (like it?), and I'm not exactly voluptuous. What's the deal, here?" He answered, "Honey, you've been out in the 108 degree weather too long. Let me take you back to the hotel. You need a cold drink and a nice nap in the air conditioning." Hmmm, he was right. That nap sure was nice.

Now we're back home and I'm my old self again. I found 243 messages, even though I had changed eight loops to Special Notice Only. I had galley corrections to make quickly, because I tripped off on a vacation without a computer. Another publisher needs my information sheets--as in yesterday! I have two releases Wednesday (I hope) and I have not done one thing to tell anyone about them. "Oh, well, I'll worry about that later, for tomorrow is another day."

   Celia Yeary

August 29, 2010

Creative Blog Award!

Greetings! My lovely friend and author, Diane Craver, presented this dubious award to me! Yes, I am a creative writer, but a liar? Oh, not, not me!
I thank Diane for thinking of me, though, while searching for her recipients. You may find her here: Diane Craver. I have nominated a few other worthy friends. If your name is below, copy the award and place it on your own blog with this information: List the person who named you (that would be me!), add a link back to my blog, and pass it on to several friends--six will do, or more if you wish.
To determine how good I am at lying--uh, writing creatively--choose one of the following statements I have made about myself that you believe is the lie--uh, created statement.
1. I climbed a pyramid in Mexico.
2. I have found a twenty dollar bill--twice.
3. I am an Honorary Colonel in the U.S. Army ROTC.
4. I performed in four melodramas.
5. I once worked as a baker in a pie shop.
6. I was my church's pianist from ninth grade until graduation.
7. I have won four golf trophies.
8. I have fired an AK-47.
9. I talked to Michael Caine in an Old Navy store.
10. All the males in my family have Ph.D.s

NOTE-if you guess correctly, I will post your name, your website and blog, and the title and cover of your newest release on my next blog.

With great delight, I pass this award on to the following bloggers:
Allannah Lynne
Barbara Edwards
Caroline Clemmons
K. Dawn Byrd
Anne Patrick
Tina Pinson

Thank you for visiting--
Celia Yeary
Romance…and a little bit o' Texas
http://www.celiayeary.com/
TEXAS BLUE-eBook and Print
SHOWDOWN IN SOUTHFORK—eBook
ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS-eBook and Print
Published by: The Wild Rose Press
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/

BLOGMANIA!

What is BLOGMANIA? It's a one day marathon celebration with a cast of thousands! Maybe not thousands, for I have lost the real count, but Lynda Coker knows. Those of us who signed up obviously love our own blogs--I know I do. My blog is my self-expression, my very own personal vehicle to tell the world about something I deem worthy. The tag line "Romance...and a little bit o' Texas" says it all. Everything I write almost always has something to do with Texas. Often, I do have guest authors, and I've learned I truly do love those days. It's like giving a little party and inviting all your friends to drop by and and visit.

Well, BLOGMANIA is patterned after a party. Each participating Blogger, on April 30, from midnight to midnight, will be on stage, waiting for visitors to pop in. If I could, I'd serve some Texas Peach Iced Tea and Texas Star Sugar Cookies. Instead, I'll have a little gift or two to give away--we'll see. Maybe they'll have something to do with Texas!! 

So, mark April 30 on your calendar with BLOGMANIA, and don't miss out on the Web Event of the Year.

See y'all then!

Celia Yeary

Romance…and a little bit o' Texas

http://www.celiayeary.com/

TEXAS BLUE-eBook and Print

SHOWDOWN IN SOUTHFORK—eBook

ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS-eBook and Print

Published by: The Wild Rose Press

www.thewildrosepress.com