<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442</id><updated>2012-01-22T11:34:42.117-05:00</updated><category term='may'/><category term='embrace'/><category term='Mary j. visions of enchantment'/><category term='poem'/><category term='stewart'/><category term='mom novel'/><category term='broken hearts'/><category term='birthstone'/><category term='cover model'/><category term='books'/><category term='coffee time romance'/><category term='enchantment'/><category term='shiela'/><category term='christmas'/><category term='sensual'/><category term='photos'/><category term='vsit'/><category term='valentine&apos;s day'/><category term='showers'/><category term='erotic'/><category term='ave maria'/><category term='green'/><category term='C.J. Hollenbach'/><category term='summer'/><category term='novel'/><category term='romance time-travel'/><category term='fantasy'/><category term='nanowrimo winner'/><category term='spring'/><category term='cover designer'/><category term='time-travel'/><category term='mercy'/><category term='family'/><category term='diamond'/><category term='heroine'/><category term='enchantments embrace'/><category term='new year'/><category term='enchantment series'/><category term='Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books'/><category term='review'/><category term='recipes'/><category term='hero'/><category term='update'/><category term='dj deppen'/><category term='roses'/><category term='romance'/><category term='mother&apos;s day'/><category term='mary j dressel'/><category term='writing tip'/><category term='Updates'/><category term='jesus'/><category term='author'/><category term='mt. shasta'/><category term='Holiday'/><category term='October'/><category term='writer'/><category term='celtic women'/><category term='june'/><category term='natural delights betty crocker'/><category term='2010'/><category term='april'/><category term='music'/><category term='games'/><category term='single'/><category term='4 cups'/><category term='alone'/><category term='fall'/><category term='happy'/><category term='valentines day'/><category term='glitter-graphics.com'/><category term='book cover'/><category term='Burney falls'/><category term='award'/><category term='visions'/><category term='romantic movies'/><category term='pajama gram'/><category term='creative'/><category term='passion'/><category term='interview'/><category term='nascar'/><category term='escape'/><category term='dessert'/><category term='newsletter'/><category term='keny g'/><category term='romance hunk'/><category term='picture prompt'/><category term='hot'/><category term='flowers'/><category term='centerfold'/><category term='poet'/><category term='fairytale'/><category term='cards'/><category term='love'/><category term='visions of enchantment'/><category term='discovery'/><category term='Intense'/><title type='text'>Loves Enchantment Newsletter</title><subtitle type='html'>Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, Author of

Sensual Romance-Where Love Always Wins</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>33</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-1594026717829029136</id><published>2011-10-08T13:46:00.004-04:00</published><updated>2012-01-22T11:34:42.126-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='October'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Updates'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='glitter-graphics.com'/><title type='text'>Current Updates Moved</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="200" src="http://dl9.glitter-graphics.net/pub/647/647149ib5rxtjazo.gif" width="197" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;Current Updates and News&lt;/span&gt; have been moved to my writing blog at &amp;nbsp;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.blogspot.com/"&gt;Sensual Romance by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;New and exciting news about the Enchantment series.&lt;br /&gt;Go &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"&gt;there&lt;/a&gt; now. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-1594026717829029136?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/1594026717829029136/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=1594026717829029136&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1594026717829029136'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1594026717829029136'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2011/10/current-updates-moved.html' title='Current Updates Moved'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-4517448707260891362</id><published>2011-05-13T16:28:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2011-05-14T15:45:25.673-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Happy Spring</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="50" src="http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/695/695050g3sb2a8720.gif" width="71" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Here it is the second week of May and I can finally say it feels like spring. The air smells fresh, the sky is blue, and colorful Tulips are popping up everywhere. In fact, the&lt;span style="color: #8e7cc3;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.tuliptime.com/" style="color: #8e7cc3;"&gt;Tulip Time Festival&lt;/a&gt; in Holland, Michigan is wrapping up on May 14, 2011. Finally, after a long, cold, snowy winter~ Spring!&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="177" src="http://dl2.glitter-graphics.net/pub/874/874712vgdhk9dhdy.gif" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Do you have a favorite thing to do in springtime? I like to walk and look at tree buds, notice the grass is turning greener by the day, smell the fresh air after a soft rain, and listen to the birds lazily chirping and singing. Another thing I do this time of year, as well as other co-workers, is start to count down to the end of school. This year's different, and I'm not counting down. Summer this year will be different, but through it all I hope I can finish a couple books. Yes, that's right. A COUPLE books. I don't want to stop at only one. The contemporary I'm working on is my priority, but I am finished writing a Christmas themed romance. It's in the editing process. I can't wait to get back to it. It's a doozy, romantic, sexy, with a hot hero who likes to treat his heroine right.&amp;nbsp; Not sure what to do with either one yet. Maybe Kindle, Smashwords, or I might submit to eBook publishers. Either way, my goal is to finish them this summer since I will have nothing but time. Summer work isn't out of the question, but come on, this is Michigan and we all know what this economy is like. In between the books and editing, I am going to write a short article about my trip to&lt;span style="color: #8e7cc3;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mackinac.com/" style="color: #8e7cc3;"&gt;Mackinac Island&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #b4a7d6;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;about seven or eight years ago. It was memorable fun. Obviously, if I still want to write about it, let alone remember it!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Wishing you all a great spring and a wonderful summer.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-4517448707260891362?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/4517448707260891362/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=4517448707260891362&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/4517448707260891362'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/4517448707260891362'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2011/05/happy-spring.html' title='Happy Spring'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-672667390784509234</id><published>2011-02-17T16:54:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2011-02-17T16:54:49.754-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment series'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions of enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='C.J. Hollenbach'/><title type='text'>Updated Interview with Cover Model, C.J. Hollenbach</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cdR3o5_AVH8/R7Jd7GCjHRI/AAAAAAAAAWo/WHOwX5f1mPU/s1600/pic+from+kelli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cdR3o5_AVH8/R7Jd7GCjHRI/AAAAAAAAAWo/WHOwX5f1mPU/s200/pic+from+kelli.jpg" width="133" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Come over to my other blog &lt;a href="http://www.mjdresselbooks.wordpress.com/" style="color: #8e7cc3;"&gt;A Walk With Words&lt;/a&gt; and read the updated version of my interview with the legendary C.J. Hollenbach, cover model and fantasy hunk. Don't delay. Until midnight tonight February 17th, 2011 you can get in a drawing for a signed photo of hot and hunky C.J. by leaving a question or comment.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-672667390784509234?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/672667390784509234/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=672667390784509234&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/672667390784509234'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/672667390784509234'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2011/02/updated-interview-with-cover-model-cj.html' title='Updated Interview with Cover Model, C.J. Hollenbach'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cdR3o5_AVH8/R7Jd7GCjHRI/AAAAAAAAAWo/WHOwX5f1mPU/s72-c/pic+from+kelli.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-4667652930534383353</id><published>2011-02-10T19:57:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2011-02-11T18:40:02.082-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mary j. visions of enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='valentine&apos;s day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantments embrace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='interview'/><title type='text'>Coming soon!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: Times,&amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,serif;"&gt;For Valentine's Day this year I'm re-posting an exciting interview. Come back and see who it's with. You won't be sorry if you like hot, hunky cover models.&lt;/span&gt; Just saying . . .&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-4667652930534383353?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/4667652930534383353/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=4667652930534383353&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/4667652930534383353'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/4667652930534383353'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2011/02/coming-soon.html' title='Coming soon!'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-6122515084164257504</id><published>2010-12-10T21:18:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2010-12-10T21:18:16.629-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='vsit'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='keny g'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='family'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='nanowrimo winner'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='christmas'/><title type='text'>Wishing You a Wonderful Holiday Season</title><content type='html'>Here it is Friday a couple weeks away from Christmas. It's been forever since I've put out a newsletter and I apologize for that. My most important writing has been on hold. Last month I went out on a limb and participated in NaNoWriMo 2010. You don't know what that is? It's a world wide writing challenge for the month of November. Simply, you write 50,000 words in 30 days. Guess what? I did it. Everyone who gets at least 50,000 words is considered a winner. Fifty-thousand words is a big deal in 30 days. You don't think so? Sit down and write a thousand and see how long it takes. I did it as a personal challenge to myself and to give myself a distraction. Enough of that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm editing that Nano story now. It has a title and it is nearly finished in first draft but it needs tons and tons of editing. Nano books usually do since you are writing for word count. They tell us to silence our inner editor. That was hard!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="251" src="http://dl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1765/1765611lxpejlg12q.gif" width="318" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;What will you be doing for Christmas this year? I hope you have plans to spend it with your family and loved ones. My Christmas will be different this year. I'm on my own again and that means being alone although I will be visiting with one of my sons either in California or on the east side of my home state of Michigan. Christmas is for love and to spend it with those closest to you. Let's not forget the true meaning though. Jesus is the reason for the season. My wish for all of you is to be happy and hug your loved ones. Don't leave them without saying "I love you."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, to keep this short since there is not a lot of news to pass on about Mary J. Dressel Books, I'l just keep it at wishing you a Merry Christmas. Enjoy and be happy. Take a minute to listen to Kenny G play a beautiful Christmas song from me to you. I Wish You a Merry Christmas.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-6122515084164257504?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/6122515084164257504/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=6122515084164257504&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/6122515084164257504'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/6122515084164257504'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/12/wishing-you-wonderful-holiday-season.html' title='Wishing You a Wonderful Holiday Season'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-5694774185322940908</id><published>2010-11-05T16:42:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-11-05T16:42:11.600-04:00</updated><title type='text'>November Rain</title><content type='html'>&lt;object height="385" width="480"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8SbUC-UaAxE?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8SbUC-UaAxE?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-5694774185322940908?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/5694774185322940908/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=5694774185322940908&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5694774185322940908'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5694774185322940908'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-rain.html' title='November Rain'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-2902911160458244750</id><published>2010-08-13T23:49:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2010-12-10T20:40:23.286-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Lovin' Spoonful - Summer In The City</title><content type='html'>Summer is gone and the video Summer in the City has been removed.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-2902911160458244750?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/2902911160458244750/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=2902911160458244750&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/2902911160458244750'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/2902911160458244750'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/08/lovin-spoonful-summer-in-city.html' title='Lovin&apos; Spoonful - Summer In The City'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-8967680164756007852</id><published>2010-07-08T00:38:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-07-08T00:38:09.595-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='update'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='summer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writing tip'/><title type='text'>Wishing you all a Wonderful Summer!</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;I'm busy writing three books this summer and close to finishing one as we speak. Please check out my &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;WEBSITE&lt;/a&gt; for more information.&amp;nbsp; Other than that things are kind of quiet for me this summer, so until I have more news to share with you, I'll take this opportunity to wish everyone a Wonderful Summer.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: left;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="17" src="http://dl4.glitter-graphics.net/pub/898/898424e2iwh0f3xo.gif" width="83" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small;"&gt;Remember~~ Use Sunblock; Don't TEXT and drive, and Don't Swim alone.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-8967680164756007852?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/8967680164756007852/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=8967680164756007852&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/8967680164756007852'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/8967680164756007852'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/07/wishing-you-all-wonderful-summer.html' title='Wishing you all a Wonderful Summer!'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-9054304224821333894</id><published>2010-06-24T11:52:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2010-06-24T11:52:02.792-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coffee time romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantments embrace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment series'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions of enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='summer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='sensual'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writing tip'/><title type='text'>Summer Time Writing</title><content type='html'>I don't have a whole lot to post to make a newsletter this month, so I'll just let you know I posted news and updates to my Official Blog.&amp;nbsp; I'm re-posting it here so you can only read it once if you come here, or there.&amp;nbsp; I hope everyone has a wonderful summer!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/713/713396rk8c5e3kvh.gif" width="240" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;It's finally summer vacation! I made it through another school year. The year hasn't been easy for me; there's been changes everywhere. Changes at work, changes at home, changes in me. One thing that hasn't changed is writing. Wait! I guess that has changed a little, since I am now writing in another genre. Still romance, but a lot more than sensual; not like my Enchantment Series. I've been very busy trying to finish up three new books. My priority now is a holiday romance. Good news, because it's nearly finished in the first draft. Actually it's probably more like the 50th draft! I am the kind of writer who does some editing as I go. For one reason, I was away from that story for six months so I had to go back and reread it. I did some editing then. I usually go back and edit what I wrote the night before, somewhat. It's nothing like a final edit or revision because I'll do that when I finish the whole thing. I'm on Chapter Nineteen, and there will probably be twenty chapters. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;In the meantime, I have not been working on the third book in the Enchantment Series. I hope I haven't lost my faithful readers who are waiting. Like I said, I have other writing priorities now. I will get to it, I promise! There is always so much to write, and it always feels like there will never be enough time. Darn day job! But, I do need that day job... For now, I'm on summer vacation until after Labor Day. My goal is for books to get finished, and make some changes in my own life. Stress is not good for a woman's heart; therefore, I need to think of me for a change. It's now time for me to get back to the holiday story. There are deadlines for holiday works! Till the next time, I wish you all a beautiful summer.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="293" src="http://dl9.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2325/2325489d3g4f7nry8.png" width="435" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-9054304224821333894?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/9054304224821333894/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=9054304224821333894&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/9054304224821333894'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/9054304224821333894'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-time-writing.html' title='Summer Time Writing'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-3525031853414484938</id><published>2010-02-14T17:59:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-14T17:59:12.900-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Capture the Moment | Quazen</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://shar.es/AvsN"&gt;Capture the Moment | Quazen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Posted using &lt;a href="http://sharethis.com/"&gt;ShareThis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-3525031853414484938?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/3525031853414484938/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=3525031853414484938&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3525031853414484938'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3525031853414484938'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/02/capture-moment-quazen.html' title='Capture the Moment | Quazen'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-8685875577998187642</id><published>2010-02-13T22:15:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-13T22:53:29.530-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='valentine&apos;s day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='author'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romantic movies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='pajama gram'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Intense'/><title type='text'>Valentine's Day 2010 Newsletter</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;February 14th&lt;/span&gt;-- a special day for lovers. I've always loved the idea of Valentine's Day. Whether I have a lover or not, I still get excited over this special day for lovers. I'm a romance writer; I better love, LOVE! To me, writing about love is special. Writing happy endings is something I will more than likely always do. Real life doesn't always have happy endings. Or does it?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="32" src="http://dl5.glitter-graphics.net/pub/178/178045emdvvhvyoe.gif" width="336" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: black; color: #a64d79;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;The other morning I was listening to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122863517"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;N.P.R.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;&amp;nbsp; Radio.&lt;/span&gt;&amp;nbsp; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;They were interviewing a couple who had been married many years. They went through major disasters together, one being Hurricane Katrina, but stuck with each other through it all. Click the link and read their amazing story.&amp;nbsp; I often wonder what the secret is to staying in one marriage for a lifetime. Do you know the secret? A friend told me you just have to trust in God. I think two of the most important characteristics to a happy, long lasting marriage besides trusting God, is respect and honesty.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="83" src="http://dl9.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2672/2672289vaw58km8c6.gif" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #a64d79;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;My parents were married for well over 50 years. Two sets of aunts and uncles-- the same. Many of my acquaintances have been married well past 50 years and even into 60 years. One friend and neighbor in particular comes to mind. I asked her to tell me of how they met so I could add it here. It was 1944 and she was at a concert in&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.centralpark.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="background-color: black; color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Central Park&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;in New York City with her girlfriend. They started talking to a couple sailors. One of those sailors is the same man she has been married to for nearly 65 years! They joke about it and say that he picked her up in Central Park! She also said this: "It's been a great life and there's nothing I'd change about it." Is that heartwarming or what? This story melts my heart!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="283" src="http://dl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/729/729221t45vriwh5x.gif" width="161" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;One of my favorite movies is the Notebook. (I know I told you before) Talk about respect and loving your spouse for all of your married life. Wow! But, then again, that is fiction. The notebook was inspired by Nicholas Spark's wife's grandparents. So, even though it's&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.nicholassparks.com/LearnMore.asp?BookID=1"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;inspired by true facts&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;it still has elements of fiction. Click on the previous link for a brief account by Nicholas Sparks on how he came to write The Notebook. It will make your heart feel good. I can't think of a better time to make a heart feel good!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="193" src="http://dl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/662/662681mwe4uu65se.gif" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #a64d79;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;I've been all over the web in search of the origin of Valentine's Day. There are several legends, but I'm not sure which is correct. A link to a site called&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.holidayorigins.com/html/valentines_day.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Holiday Origins&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;is included for you to check out and make your own decision. I don't think it matters because it couldn't possibly be anything like it is today. One article said that Valentine cards have been popular all over the world since 1840. I've seen authentic handmade ones in some of my Victorian Era books. Click on the link to see and use some&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://vintageholidaycrafts.com/free-vintage-valentines-day-cards-romantic-couples/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Vintage Valentine Cards&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Clip Art.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="192" src="http://dl7.glitter-graphics.net/pub/961/961457njqoucs7zc.gif" width="200" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #a64d79;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Last year I did my Valentine newsletter for singles. Who said you have to have a lover! In it I suggested things for singles like cooking and dessert for one, movies, places to go on Valentine's Day so you don't run into couples everywhere you go, etc. So, if you do find yourself alone this Valentine's Day, I suggest you scroll back and check it out if you missed it last year. For Valentine's Day I will be doing what I do best. Writing Romance!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="100" src="http://dl3.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2297/2297353g3ut7g1dp8.jpg" width="100" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;In previous newsletters I've done some interviews too. One is with&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.cjhollenbach.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;C.J. Hollenbach&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;,&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;a cover model and Fantasy Hunk of 2001. Another is with&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.whisperingmoments.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;D.J. Deppen, a Romantic Poet&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;His poems are hot and sensual. Be sure to read these interviews on my&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/interviewsbymary.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;website.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;While there you can read my interview with Sheila Stewart, author of Erotic romance. And last but not least, I interviewed the cover artist who did the covers of my two books. He has some interesting things to say. I'm planning on another author interview soon. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Some fun things for you~~&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.lovingyou.com/content/quizzes/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Love Quizzes&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Oh, come on, you know you want to!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pajamagram.com/"&gt;Pajama Gram&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Anyone tried this? Ladies, they also have&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://great-gifts.pajamagram.com/nav/ty/men/0?cnt=300"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;MEN'S&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;pajamas!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.k-y.com/intense/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Intense (KY)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt; &amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Need I say more?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.k-y.com/articles.jsp"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Tips for Two&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;from KY and 10 Intimacy Enhancing Questions.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.theromanticway.com/romanticdinnerrecipes.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Romantic Dinners for two&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;&amp;gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Do you have a special Valentine's Day dinner you share with your Valentine?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.soundexp.com/showcase/u.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Favorite Love Songs&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;through the ages&amp;gt; What is your favorite love song? My all time favorite love song is&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6xb_ddP4nM"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;Unchained Melody&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;by The Righteous Brothers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.chiff.com/a/Valentines-Day-Tips.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;10 Tips for a Romantic and Memorable Valentine's Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #c27ba0;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Guys, don't forget we always like jewelry!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;I'm not promoting any of these sites personally. I came across them through Google and Bing searches, just like you can. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ea9999;"&gt;Please visit my Official Website at&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #d5a6bd;"&gt;Mary J. Dressel Books&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="259" src="http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/967/967496mqdihj9nj5.gif" width="248" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #a64d79;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-8685875577998187642?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/8685875577998187642/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=8685875577998187642&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/8685875577998187642'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/8685875577998187642'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-day-2010-newsletter.html' title='Valentine&apos;s Day 2010 Newsletter'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-3890901759381698809</id><published>2010-02-07T12:07:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-07T12:13:52.064-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='valentine&apos;s day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6666;"&gt;I'm working on my Valentine's Day Newsletter. It will be posted soon. In the meantime, scroll down, or go to older pages for previous Valentine Newsletters. You'll find some interesting interviews there.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 40px; HEIGHT: 34px" height="16" src="http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2416/2416226asx45hyoga.gif" width="16" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-3890901759381698809?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/3890901759381698809/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=3890901759381698809&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3890901759381698809'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3890901759381698809'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2010/02/im-working-on-my-valentines-day.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-721040233984565363</id><published>2009-12-31T11:43:00.001-05:00</published><updated>2009-12-31T11:46:29.667-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='author'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='2010'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='new year'/><title type='text'>See you next year!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 431px; HEIGHT: 100px" height="57" src="http://dl4.glitter-graphics.net/pub/2628/2628144umybtq9sf4.gif" width="313" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:85%;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcccc;"&gt;Sending you wishes for a wonderful New Year!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcccc;"&gt;Happy 2010&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-721040233984565363?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/721040233984565363/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=721040233984565363&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/721040233984565363'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/721040233984565363'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/see-you-next-year.html' title='See you next year!'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-882492405423749953</id><published>2009-12-19T16:50:00.009-05:00</published><updated>2010-02-12T20:44:34.465-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='celtic women'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='recipes'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mary j. visions of enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='games'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantments embrace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='music'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='ave maria'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>It's Christmas Time!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="110" src="http://dl3.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1769/1769173cl3jsgbglk.gif" style="height: 110px; width: 116px;" width="116" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season's Greetings, and&lt;br /&gt;Happy Hanukkah!&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;News and Views 2009&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Here we are at the end of another year. Wasn't it just the beginning of 2009? Now, all we have to do is turn around, and it will be a new year again. I hope it's better than last year, for it wasn't a good year for me. Truly, I hope it was wonderful for you and yours. I'm disappointed that I didn't have a book come out in 2009, but I'm hoping all that will change in 2010. Two Thousand Ten—Wow! I guess the days of us saying 07, 08, and 09 are over. It won't sound right to say 0 10. Will it? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Is it just me? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;Writing News&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;I've been busy editing book three, and I'm nearly ready to finish the book in rough draft. What will happen when this one is finished you might ask? I'm not sure at this point. Will there be a book four? Not sure… I have it nearly all planned out in my head, and I was so excited about it, but I don't know if it will happen. I've never been contracted for a four book series, and in fact, I will look for a different publisher for my other books, so I am not obligated to write a fourth. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;Wishes for YOU&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;While I have you here, I'd also like to thank you for your friendship in one way or another. Without your support and constant well wishes, I don't know what I would have done! You've helped put some sanity and smiles into my world, and whether it was in a small way or a large way, I thank you.. My wish is that you have a merry and delightful Christmas and an enchanting New Year, and that 2010 will bring you multitudes of happiness, magical love, seas of smiles, and a lifetime of excellent health!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="33" src="http://dl8.glitter-graphics.net/pub/754/754748cj6kqjr3q4.gif" style="height: 33px; width: 306px;" width="306" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;For your convenience I've put together a list of Christmas Movies that I've seen and enjoyed. Please feel free to add some of your own. The&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/ConsumerWeb/ConsumerSite2007Nov/Default_2009Holiday.aspx"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Hallmark Channel&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;has been running lots of Christmas movies too; many are free to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;watch online, as is the&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.mylifetime.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Lifetime Channel.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Also, Amazon Screening Room has free, as well as, pay for movies to watch online or download.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Stick a candy cane in your hot chocolate, put on your Snuggie, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;and relax with a feel-good movie!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001I55YM?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=timlink-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B0001I55YM"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;One Magic Christmas&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HT3PPG?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=timlink-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B000HT3PPG"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Miracle on 34th Street&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HEWEJO?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=timlink-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B000HEWEJO"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;It's a Wonderful Life&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CFEC7Y?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=timlink-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B001CFEC7Y"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;A Christmas Story&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CFEC7Y?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;tag=timlink-20&amp;amp;linkCode=as2&amp;amp;camp=1789&amp;amp;creative=390957&amp;amp;creativeASIN=B001CFEC7Y"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/Four-Christmases-Reese-Witherspoon/dp/B001CTA1UM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;s=dvd&amp;amp;qid=1261260254&amp;amp;sr=1-1"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Four Christmases&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;(I haven't seen Four Christmases, but I know&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;I'd like it)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Find your own favorite movie and make it a family tradition.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;It wouldn't be a Christmas party without a piece of fudge. I've searched for many recipes, so instead of one recipe I've added a link for many.. I'd like to hear about your favorite fudge recipe.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Holidays-and-Events/Christmas/Candy/Fudge/Top.aspx"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00; font-size: 130%;"&gt;Fudge!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;My favorite Christmas song ever. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;This one is by The Celtic Women.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ-8jYpa1-o&amp;amp;feature=related"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;O Holy Night&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Second favorite is Silent night, and this is sang &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;by the Celtic Women, too. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;It begins in Gaelic.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtQr81k3TSk&amp;amp;feature=related"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Silent Night&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Charlotte Church singing&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8g6Tqqc6DQ&amp;amp;feature=related"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Ave Maria&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;~~~~&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.123greetings.com/events/christmas/merry_christmas/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;FREE eCards for Christmas&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;~&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;~~~&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://akidsheart.com/holidays/christms/chgames.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Christmas Games&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;I played one and didn't have to download anything.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;And last by not least&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.christmasgifts.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Christmas Gift Ideas&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;Have a Wonderful Holiday!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;And of course, don't forget&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Visions-of-Enchantment/Mary-J-Dressel/e/9781424152032/?itm=1&amp;amp;USRI=visions+of+enchantment"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00; font-size: 130%;"&gt;Visions of Enchantment&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/EnchantmentS-Embrace/Mary-J-Dressel/e/9781604417982/?itm=1&amp;amp;usri=enchantment+s+embrace"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00; font-size: 130%;"&gt;Enchantment's Embrace&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Or&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;Contact &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;me for special offers.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ffff66;"&gt;dresselmj @ aol dot com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="400" src="http://dl5.glitter-graphics.net/pub/720/720245cxfei8oweh.gif" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-882492405423749953?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/882492405423749953/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=882492405423749953&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/882492405423749953'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/882492405423749953'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/12/its-christmas-time.html' title='It&apos;s Christmas Time!'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-1310050094695825294</id><published>2009-05-31T10:33:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2009-05-31T11:29:48.994-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance time-travel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='passion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='june'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='books'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions of enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='summer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='novel'/><title type='text'>Need I Say More...  Love's Enchantment</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="500" src="http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/980/980320n6pg4g24wf.jpg" width="700" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;Tomorrow is the first of June. Where did this year go? I've been working on book three, but it's not finished yet. In the meantime I've been working on two new contemporary romances. It's been dificult to write these days due to a lot of anxiety and "life" things happening. It's the end of the school year, and that's always a busy time of year. I'm looking forward to summer so I can dedicate my time to finishing up my works in progress, including book three. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;There are no big plans for me to travel this summer. It would be wonderful to go to California to see my son, but I'm not sure that will happen. I will definitely visit with my youngest son who lives in a Detroit suburb. Somewhere between the beginning of the year, my stepdaugher bacame a teenager! One more year in middle school for her. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;I don't have any book signings scheduled for this summer, or presentations. I want this to be my summer of "finishing" what I have started, so that will entail a lot of time writing. I'm excited to be able to work on writing full time. Of course, I'm not turning anything down if someone wants me to do a presentation. Feel free to ask if you'd be interested in reading one of my books for your book club. I will be happy to come to your group and talk about my writing, or whatever your topic may be. Please contact me at dresselmj at aol. com (no spaces, of course)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;I hope you have a wonderful summer. Have fun at whatever you do, and I will keep you posted on my progress. Remember, contact me if you are interested in purchasing any of my books. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;I offer specials if you contact me personally! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;Grab your camera, your kids and pets, sunblock, and first aid kits &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;and have fun this summer!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;color:#ff6600;"&gt;Happy Summer!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;~~Remember some special Summer Holidays~~&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;Memorial Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;Flag Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;Father's Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;Summer Solstice&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;Canada Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;Independence Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Parents' Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;Labor Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;~~For You and the Kids~~&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://holidays.kaboose.com/summer/"&gt;http://holidays.kaboose.com/summer/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;Summer Reading and Gift Suggestions &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff9966;"&gt;Visions of Enchantment and&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff9966;"&gt;Enchantment's Embrace&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gifts.com/occasions/graduation/her/3ohFr6aicp758n"&gt;http://www.gifts.com/occasions/graduation/her/3ohFr6aicp758n&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;For the Ladies and Gents, Reading List&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/books/274495_summerbooks20.html"&gt;http://www.seattlepi.com/books/274495_summerbooks20.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-1310050094695825294?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/1310050094695825294/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=1310050094695825294&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1310050094695825294'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1310050094695825294'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/05/need-i-say-more-loves-enchantment.html' title='Need I Say More...  Love&apos;s Enchantment'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-1218899122870371372</id><published>2009-02-10T16:48:00.018-05:00</published><updated>2012-01-10T11:54:54.539-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='valentine&apos;s day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fairytale'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='dj deppen'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poem'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions of enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='natural delights betty crocker'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='embrace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='poet'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='nascar'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='dessert'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='green'/><title type='text'>Single on Valentine's Day?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="30" src="http://dl4.glitter-graphics.net/pub/757/757794p2mhlhr1i7.gif" width="450" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: black;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SZIFSzrz-TI/AAAAAAAAAtc/9i7IXUzlM_o/s1600-h/feverishaddictions.jpg"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Welcome to my first newsletter of 2009., and to another special Valentine’s Day issue. As some of you know, last year I interviewed CJ Hollenbach, romance cover model, and Fantasy Hunk of 2001. &lt;i&gt;(Scroll through the old posts and you can find his interview.)&lt;/i&gt; This year I’d like to introduce you to &lt;b&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whisperingmoments.com/"&gt;DJ Deppen&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;, a poet of some of the most romantic and sensual words you’ll ever read. Not only that, but he finds just the right picture to go with each poem, and he makes them himself! I hope you enjoy my interview &lt;i&gt;(below)&lt;/i&gt; with him. Please go to his &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whisperingmoments.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;website&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt; and read some more of his beautiful poems. Here's a sample for your enjoyment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301306007659093938" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SZIFufgqH7I/AAAAAAAAAtk/lhZKD6fTij4/s400/feverishaddictions.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 227px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 379px;" /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;I’ve come up with a few suggestions for being alone on Valentine’s Day. You probably wonder why a romance writer would write about singles on such a romantic day. I never had to spend this special day of love alone for many years. Then one Valentine’s day I found myself alone on February 14th. Maybe it helped because I was very sick with the flu. It wasn’t because of that, that I was alone though. I was getting over a bad relationship, so maybe the flu was my escape that year. When I could finally hold my head up, I wrote about how I felt that day. I wasn’t bitter, and I wasn’t hurt, anymore, but I was sad. I was also at peace. The days working up to that day were hard. I knew what ‘he’ would be doing on that day, and that’s the part that made me sad. So, being sick kept me from worrying about being alone on such a special day. Some years have gone by since then.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;This year when I was thinking about another newsletter for Valentine’s Day, I decided to gear it toward being single and being alone. For whatever reason it is, I hope everyone can find something here that you can enjoy or take away with you. Maybe it will be a special quote, or a pleasant thought you found here. In the meantime, I’ll still be writing romance, and putting a hero and a heroine together with some infamous plot and conflict, so don’t think I’m giving up on romance or anything like that. Oh, no, I still believe in love and that everyone is entitled to a fairy tale romance. In fact, speaking of writing romance, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Visions of Enchantment and Enchantment’s Embrace&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt; are always available. If you haven’t been introduced to Eryn and Uriah yet, I invite you to read some excerpts on my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;website&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;. If these two characters can convince you to read their story, then I’ll even give you a discount on an autographed copy. Let me know if you’re interested, and for a limited time, I’ll send it/them with free standard rate shipping.(limited to two books)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="179" src="http://dl7.glitter-graphics.net/pub/408/408727i48e626jo8.gif" style="height: 61px; width: 131px;" width="399" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color: black;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color: black;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 180%;"&gt;My updates&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;I’m preparing for a book signing/ Presentation on March 10th. I’ll be discussing the road to publication. It can sometimes be a very long road, and it was for me. When you see all those books on shelves, each one of those authors had to struggle to get there. It doesn't happen overnight.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I’ve been working on Book Three. As a special surprise, I’m enclosing a small excerpt. I don’t usually do this until I have a book under contract, but just for you, and because it’s Valentine’s Day. What the heck!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;In March I’ll also be teaching &lt;b&gt;Romance Writing 101&lt;/b&gt; at a local college. I’m looking forward to that. It should be fun. I was approached by the director of the program I teach in, and she asked if I would do it. Did you know that romance writing has a certain criteria to follow?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And now a short excerpt from Book Three in the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Enchantment Series (excerpt is G rated, the book isn't)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;i&gt;They drove down PA Rte 8 to Venango Airport which was two miles south of Enchantment. The airport set up a small room for family of the passengers. A PR person from Avis’ travel magazine was there, but had no information.&lt;br /&gt;Uriah held Eryn as tightly as he could, pulling her head against his chest, smoothing her long chestnut colored waves away from his face.&lt;br /&gt;Cole came in with coffee and sat beside Alyce, holding her hand tightly, trying to calm the tremble. So much so that he took her hand and led her to the hall. He held her close against him. “She’ll be okay.”&lt;br /&gt;She held her tears in check, until now. “Cole, she’s a part of me. I don’t know what I’ll do without her.”&lt;br /&gt;“Let’s wait until we hear something, babe.”&lt;br /&gt;“You don’t understand! We’re connected. There hasn’t been a time in our lives that we’ve been apart; we have a bond. She’s my twin, a part of me!”&lt;br /&gt;“I know, babe, I know...”&lt;br /&gt;Uriah opened the door, and came over to them. He held his arm around Alyce, but couldn’t find words of comfort. He patted Cole on the back then went back in to Eryn.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 180%;"&gt;Dinner for One&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Do something simple. How about Pasta! Treat yourself to your favorite wine. Throw in a slice of garlic bread, after all you don't have to worry about 'garlic' breath! Toss a quick salad, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;and they you are! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Valentine’s Day is Saturday. If you want to stay home and watch a movie, and have been sitting around in your sweats all day, then check out &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hulu.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Hulu&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;. They have many things to watch there. Or you can go to all the locals like NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS and watch a TV show you might have missed. You don’t have to be alone tonight. Check out WE channel, the Hallmark Channel… the list goes on. Don’t forget to go online and check out your fantasy hero or heroine at their official website. And last but not least call your best friend! Guys, you might like Spike TV, FX, HBO, Discovery, or the History Channel.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Take a hot bubble bath, &lt;i&gt;(Yes, you guys, too!)&lt;/i&gt; with candles and afterward smother your skin in your favorite lotion or oil! If you want to get out of the house, get a massage; hot stone massages are awesome. Take a walk, but stay away from places where you’re likely to run into couples holding hands and hugging and kissing. Tonight’s not the night you’ll want to see that. Hit Starbucks with your laptop! Go to the bookstore; chances are couples won’t be hanging out there, but other singles might be. While you’re there pick up a blank page book so you can start a journal. One day you can look back at it and recall all your memories. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Dessert&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;This sounds so yummy. Don’t want to eat a sweet dessert? Try this! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Mochachino &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;1 part Kahlua Mocha&lt;br /&gt;1 part coffee&lt;br /&gt;1 part hot chocolate&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;While we’re in the dessert mood, how about visiting Betty Crocker! If you sign up for a newsletter, you can get coupon’s for Warm Delights. They are sized for one, and since we’re talking about singles, give it a try. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.bettycrocker.com/Products/Warm-Delights/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Warm Delights&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you’re interested in Green?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.naturallysavvy.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;http://www.naturallysavvy.com/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.nascar/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Nascar&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt; is just starting so if you’re sitting at home and a race fan, go ahead and watch the Nationwide Race (formerly Busch Race) on Saturday night.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;This is a good time to pull out your favorite book, cuddle up with soothing music, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;and escape!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 180%;"&gt;Enjoy your Valentine’s Day, no matter what you do!&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Love,&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;b&gt;Mary&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;And now... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Drum Roll Please.... &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;I introduce you to the one and only Male Poet of Romance filled with sensuality and love... D.J. Deppen.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="50" src="http://dl2.glitter-graphics.net/pub/752/752002u5xfnfaqr5.gif" width="250" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whisperingmoments.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="77" src="http://www.whisperingmoments.com/wmbanner.jpg" width="415" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301325403617353314" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SZIXXfFd3mI/AAAAAAAAAts/aRlNGW_c8FQ/s320/m_b77c472f4afa4cc38140c671d68c26e5.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 199px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 192px;" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;D.J. Deppen&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color: black; font-size: 130%;"&gt;Interview D.J. Deppen&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Whispering Moments - "Filled with verses of longing passions for one true love." Whispering Moments, Undying Love- The sequel to Whispering Moments "is filled with gentle fondness and love in every verse.”&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Young or old, single or in a relationship, you'll enjoy these sensuous words written from the heart of Mr. DJ Deppen. Come along with me as I interview this writer of romantic poetry.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;DJ, I'm excited by your poetry, and I know others will be too. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;Can you describe to us what you think the perfect romance should be like?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Romance is what you feel inside your heart for another person. It's the expression of love for your lover. It comes in many different ways; a note, a flower, a poem or my favorite, the way you kiss your lover. The perfect romance is seeing that spark in the other's eyes. Their smell entices your senses and makes your heart beat fast, "Love's Scent."&lt;br /&gt;I've always thought of romance as an exciting feeling in the presence of a lady. The way she smiled when I entered a room. The wantonness in her eyes when she gazed in mine. The ambiance in the surroundings, which made the moment special, as we both spend that precious moment in time together. That moment that seems to last forever is the fairytale.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;You've said that writing romantic poetry is like "therapy" for you. Can you explain?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The feeling of creating from a random discovering of thoughts inside my soul, and transforming those feelings into passionate words of love that others will be touched and can only understand with their heart, is a fulfillment that cleanses my soul. When I write something I become overflowed with emotions. When I capture a moment I know everyone feels, it could bring a tear to my eye, or overflows me with energy, because the words are so powerful, I know love is no longer a word, it has become real. &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;What is the first thing you do to put your random thoughts into passionate words? What do you do to get in the mood to create such beautiful love poems?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;I don't do anything. I could be sitting in restaurant or on a park bench, when my mind is suddenly triggered by something. The words just seem to enter my head. I truly believe God is working through me. The writing, "Undying Love" came as random words sitting in a meeting. I started writing notes and after arriving home put them together. It is one of my most powerful pieces of art. "No wind or storm, not even Satan's swarms, can change God's grace for what will be formed." I read over things I've written in the past and don't know how I could have ever written such beauty.&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;Where do you get the beautiful graphics that you use to enhance your poems?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;I spend hours searching online for one writing, it sometimes takes several pictures to mold and shape together.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;What do you do when you're not writing? Any hobbies?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;I ride cross country and enjoy spending time in the country camping and riding on horseback.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;Your covers are beautiful. Who designed them for you?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;A very special and extremely talented lady has used my descriptions to create them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;Have your poems been published anywhere other than in books? Awards?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;No, I've never entered them in anything. I never planned on writing. It just happened one day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;What made you decide to publish your poems in a book?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;It was an accident. I never thought about publishing anything. I was using myspace.com as an online journal, and didn't realize others could read what I was writing. I only moved forward after receiving several reviews and suggestions to contact someone to be published.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;You also write for children. Why did you decide to do children's books?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;The book "The Searching Prince" was just a fun thing for me. I would sometimes stare out at the stars and dream about my girl. I would see a shooting star and be all excited, thinking it was a sign she was soon to come. The little boy in the story became me and how I searched for my princess. I would rhyme the story for fun. It took me close to two years to finish a 20 page story. After reading it to my 5 year old niece and seeing how captivated she was from the story, I decided to put it into print. I experimented with boys and girls of all ages and got the same response. A few of them asked me to write another story, so I wrote the day before. "Fairy, Sprites and Moonlit Nights"&lt;br /&gt;The Searching Prince battles a great foe to save the Princess from a terrible fate. Only one thing powerful enough can save them both. That one thing is "Love."&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;Who is your favorite poet?&lt;/i&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;To be honest, I've never read any. lol &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff; font-size: 130%;"&gt;Do you have any appearances coming up?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;NO&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;How long have you been writing?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;2 years&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;How can someone contact you, and/or purchase your books? Website?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Anyone may contact me through my website &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whisperingmoments.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;www.whisperingmoments.com&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;I also have a book store, which anyone can order through at this site, with free shipping! &lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #33cc00;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccffff;"&gt;Thanks again for doing this interview, DJ! I’ve read many of your poems, and along with the graphics you so carefully choose, I know they definitely touch the soul. I wish you all the luck with your endeavors.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccccff;"&gt;DJ Deppen's beautiful poetry books are filled with romance and sensuality, and written from his heart with words of love anyone would want to hear from their lover. These books are perfect books for anyone who loves romance; whether you're still searching, or have already found your fairy tale. Whispering Moments and Whispering Moments, Undying Love, are available now. Contact&lt;b&gt; &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.whisperingmoments.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #9999ff; font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;DJ Deppen &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: #ccccff;"&gt;for more information. Visit DJ's website for other works, and works in progress.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Thank you for taking the time to ask me these interview questions. I had a lot of fun answering them. DJ&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Please don’t be shy! DJ welcomes your &lt;b&gt;comments&lt;/b&gt;. &lt;b&gt;And so do I&lt;/b&gt;! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Enjoy your Valentine’s Day.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="39" src="http://dl4.glitter-graphics.net/pub/767/767314usxm2azb0j.gif" style="height: 57px; width: 508px;" width="400" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-1218899122870371372?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/1218899122870371372/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=1218899122870371372&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1218899122870371372'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1218899122870371372'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/02/single-on-valentines-day.html' title='Single on Valentine&apos;s Day?'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SZIFufgqH7I/AAAAAAAAAtk/lhZKD6fTij4/s72-c/feverishaddictions.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-9052713589377817378</id><published>2009-01-22T18:45:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-22T19:12:31.552-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Mary j. visions of enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='valentines day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='single'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='broken hearts'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='time-travel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='embrace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='alone'/><title type='text'>What's in Store for February?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="240" src="http://dl.glitter-graphics.net/pub/288/288331sksb2ftung.jpg" width="300" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;color:#993399;"&gt;Valentine's Day is a day for lovers. Or is it? This year, I'm doing something different. I'm gearing my Valentine's Day Newsletter toward singles. Not everyone has a lover to spend the day with. Come back for Valentine's Day and see what I have in store for you if you have to spend the day alone. Even if you do have a lover to spend this day with, come by and see what else is going on. I just might have an interesting interview. One you'll enjoy with or without a lover. Hope to see you soon!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-9052713589377817378?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/9052713589377817378/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=9052713589377817378&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/9052713589377817378'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/9052713589377817378'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2009/01/whats-in-store-for-february.html' title='What&apos;s in Store for February?'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-8275881008121266922</id><published>2008-12-23T19:50:00.013-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-22T18:41:40.591-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cards'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Burney falls'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='christmas'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mt. shasta'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='recipes'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coffee time romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='happy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='creative'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='Holiday'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='jesus'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='photos'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='new year'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writing tip'/><title type='text'>Merry Christmas and Happy New Year</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img style="WIDTH: 344px; HEIGHT: 264px" height="326" src="http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1777/1777686y2bdw4k55h.gif" width="500" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Hello! Is it really December? Goodness, where have I been? As I remember, it was just summer! Sunday and Monday snowed hard it was like a blizzard--again. Six or Seven inches of snow has fallen, and it drifted so badly from 40 mph winds, I'm not sure what we'll end up with when it's all said and done. Two feet had to be cleared out of the driveway. Another storm headed this way today. The whole bed of my pick-up is filled with snow. I heard it snowed every day in December. I had two snow days out of it in one week!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;News in my writing world&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;Of course, Visions of Enchantment and Enchantment’s Embrace are doing well. I haven’t been doing much marketing lately, or promoting. I just finished teaching a six-week creative writing class at my local college. That was fun, and I realized something. Some of my students never looked at themselves as writers before. On the last day, I nonchalantly called them writers, and one student was surprised. I said, “You don’t have to be published to be a writer.” She said, “I never thought of myself as a writer.” To reiterate, you don’t have to be published to be a writer. If you write, you’re a writer. So, get out there and write if you have the calling to do so.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Speaking of writing, I have started a Christmas Story, and it’s just a short story for fun. I’m not sure if it will be posted as a free read on my site, or whether I’ll submit it to Triond .com where I post other random writing and poetry. Then, I suddenly had an idea for another short story. This one is about a biker. The question is, “What life could have been like if…” Keep an eye out for these two new writings from ‘yours truly.’ Shame on me, but I haven’t been doing much on Book Three. I will plan some writing time, and try to get it finished up in draft form. I’m not sure about a book four at this point. I have this terrific plan for it, but I'm not sure it's going to work the way I want it. I heard people say that Stephenie Meyer should have stopped at book two in the Twilight series. I don't want that to happen to my Enchantment series. I'm still working on my 'more than sensual' contemporary novel. It's getting good!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;My Personal News&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I did! The reason is because I spent it in California with my oldest son. I went by myself. It was such a long trip to get there, though. Going out, it took about 12 hours with flying and lay-over’s. Then it was another hour to drive to his house. He picked me up at the airport in Chico, CA. We had a great, wonderful, awesome time! Now, I miss him even more being here, and him being there. The temperature was an average of 67 degrees, sunny, with skies of blue. Unusual for this time of year. I told him it was all for me! When we went to the mountains two different times, at two different places, the temperature dropped as low as 43 degrees. The higher we climbed, the lower the temperature went! It was fun. Enjoy the few pictures I’m posting. We went to Burney Falls which was northeast of where he lived, and the next day to Mt. Shasta, north of his city. We went as high as about 6,500 feet to the ski lodge. It was closed. The ski lodge used to be at 9,000 feet, but an avalanche took it out, and they rebuilt it at 6,500 feet, but now it sometimes doesn’t get snow early enough. For a humorous account of my 18 hour trip home, click this link.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.trifter.com/USA-&amp;amp;-Canada/California/Flights-and-More-Flights.411113"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;Flights and More Flights!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style="VISIBILITY: visible"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;For You, My Readers and Friends&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a wonderful New Year. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, I wish you a happy holiday season however you celebrate it. I hope that you’re planning some fun things, and happy family times. Is your tree up? Mine is! We put it up over a week ago. It looks so pretty, and helped to get me into the holiday mood. I even started to listen to Christmas music last week. Some local stations have been playing it since November 1st. That’s too soon for me! But, last week everything changed. I even took a Christmas CD in to work, and played it for some of the kids. Believe me they are excited. Middle school isn’t a lot different than elementary when it comes to vacation. It reminds me of an article I wrote earlier about who’s more excited, the kids or the teachers! It’s posted on one my favorite writing sites--&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.authspot.com/Journals/Who-Needs-a-Break-More-Kids-or-Teachers.68343"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://www.authspot.com/Journals/Who-Needs-a-Break-More-Kids-or-Teachers.68343&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;After the holidays I’ll get back to marketing and promoting, and do some more guest spots on blogs. On March 10th of 2009, I’ll be doing a book signing/ presentation at the &lt;a href="http://www.marshallmi.org/events.taf?_function=detail&amp;amp;id=868"&gt;Marshall Library&lt;/a&gt;. Watch for updates. I’m looking forward to that. Another new thing for me will be teaching Romance Writing 101 at the local college. It should be fun? This will be a new venture for me. I’m excited!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I came across an awesome Christmas Card site. Please go there and see this. It's fun, and beautiful, too.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://ecard.ashland.edu/2004admission/index.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;With Christmas this week, I wanted to make sure to get this newsletter out to you,, and to remind you to remember the romance reader in your life. I have books on hand, and will be more than happy to autograph them. I am offering a discount of $14.00 for one. That’s almost 50% off! Ask about a discount on purchasing both books together in the series. Even though your gift wouldn’t be received in time for Christmas, unless I know you personally, and we live close. A belated gift for would be a great surprise! Contact me at dresselmj @ aol.com (no spaces) for more information. If you’ve already read Visions of Enchantment, don’t forget the second book, Enchantment’s Embrace. For excerpts see my Excerpts page on my website.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ff99;"&gt;So, for now friends, family, and fans, I once again would like to wish you and your family the happiest of holidays, and a Wonderful New Year. Be happy. Be safe, and celebrate the beauty of Love’s Enchantment. And don’t forget why we are celebrating this holiday. Take a minute to say happy birthday to Jesus. Thanks for all you’ve done, and for being here with me during this past year.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffff;"&gt;You can now follow my updates. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffff;"&gt;Check out the sidebar for details.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style="VISIBILITY: visible" align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Yummy Recipe&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.foodclassics.com/re1565/recipes.php"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://www.foodclassics.com/re1565/recipes.php&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;Fun!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dgreetings.com/newyear/newyear-resolution.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://www.dgreetings.com/newyear/newyear-resolution.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;Be sure to check out my vacation slide show at the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#990000;"&gt;beginning of this post.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thank You Everyone, for a Great Year!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="113" src="http://dl5.glitter-graphics.net/pub/763/763795vz2m8p8sqs.gif" width="221" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#006600;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-8275881008121266922?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/8275881008121266922/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=8275881008121266922&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/8275881008121266922'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/8275881008121266922'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/12/merry-christmas-and-happy-new-year.html' title='Merry Christmas and Happy New Year'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-988698268720734009</id><published>2008-12-16T19:49:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-16T19:50:37.851-05:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="350" src="http://dl10.glitter-graphics.net/pub/759/759770yfyfv3n10x.gif" width="309" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#333333;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-988698268720734009?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/988698268720734009/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=988698268720734009&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/988698268720734009'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/988698268720734009'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/12/glitter-graphics_16.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-5879648600585987375</id><published>2008-12-05T23:03:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-06T10:48:04.391-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='embrace'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#cc0000;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Newsletter Coming This Month&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="153" src="http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/817/817186udkjifznjm.gif" width="475" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-5879648600585987375?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/5879648600585987375/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=5879648600585987375&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5879648600585987375'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5879648600585987375'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/12/glitter-graphics.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-754163119799056651</id><published>2008-09-20T11:55:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-11-02T08:24:34.568-05:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="68" src="http://dl5.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1604/1604785sumaigmrax.gif" width="446" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#ffcc66;"&gt;I'm working on my next newsletter so check back &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;color:#ffcc66;"&gt;sometime in late November.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-754163119799056651?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/754163119799056651/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=754163119799056651&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/754163119799056651'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/754163119799056651'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/09/glitter-graphics.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-7523678173457331044</id><published>2008-07-24T19:18:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-08-04T15:31:29.695-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coffee time romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance time-travel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mary j dressel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='interview'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romantic movies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='erotic'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><title type='text'>Sizzling Summer</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Summer's Heating Up! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="40" src="http://dl2.glitter-graphics.net/pub/820/820792bcldnixdrk.gif" width="571" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;First of all, I'd like to thank all the new members who signed up for my Newsletters and Updates. Thanks to all my readers who have taken the time to email me and comment on my books. I appreciate hearing from you very much! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;When summer first starts in West Michigan, I can usually say, "It’s Hot!" But until July this year, the mid-west had a cool spell, not to mention crazy weather and too much rain in some spots. So, it jumped to 90 degrees with no warning! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Be careful this summer– Remember safe boating, and don’t swim alone! Prevent sunburns– use that sun screen.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="30" src="http://dl4.glitter-graphics.net/pub/760/760624xc7s3gq7rm.gif" width="160" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Okay, so what’s new you might ask? For all my Enchantment Series fans– I’m on Chapter 10 in my first draft. The urge and ideas are flowing together now. I love when that happens! It’s been exciting with a little sadness so far in the story. Oh, I wish I could give you an excerpt, but I never do that until it’s ready to go to print. It’s too early to submit this one yet, but I’m thinking of it. The urge to get back into this one surprised me, because I was so wrapped up in my new novel, I didn’t want to stop. But as usual, and like it always has, my Prescot family kept calling to me. Sometimes they just won’t leave me alone! For instance, Uriah was so worried about Avis over something, that he would not let me rest until he knew she was going to be okay, or not. That’s a father for you! Now, you’re probably wondering if she is okay. Well, you’ll just have to wait to find out. Fathers and heroes have certain privileges.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Speaking of Father’s I hope all the DADS had a terrific day last month on their day. My husband and I watched his youngest daughter in a ‘BIG’ horse show that day. The day before that, we spent the day with all three grand babies and daughters! His weekend was special.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Is everyone going an vacation this summer? You can check &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.gasbuddy.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;Gas Buddies&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt; for the best prices. Have fun and remember to take lots of pictures for memories of your time. I was watching the morning show and they did a segment on &lt;em&gt;Is Sex Better on Vacation?&lt;/em&gt; So, if you’re going away, read this first. I couldn't find the link to include here. They say that on vacation the stresses of everyday life are gone;therefore SEX is hotter and more frequent! Sounds good to me... Remember to pack silk...for both of you. I don’t usually watch TV in the morning, but since my husband always has it on, that’s where I sit and drink coffee now. I love peace and quiet on a summer morn, but it 'ain't happening!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Ah, summer, the time of summer weddings... If you got married send pictures! I’ll post them on my website! You can show your happy day to the world. A teacher at work got married the day after school got out. Can you imagine how busy she must have been? And speaking of teachers and work, I am laid off from my job at school, again. Three times in three years, is a bit much. Before coming here I was at the same job for 27 years! Bah humbug!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;On June 28th I did a reading/ presentation at the Delton Public Library. Hey, it was the day before my birthday! I’m sorry, but by time this newsletter goes out, it will all be over. On August 12th I’ll be doing a book signing, and presenting &lt;em&gt;Enchantment’s Embrace&lt;/em&gt; at the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wayne.lib.mi.us/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;Wayne Library&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; This will be my second signing there. Then on August 14th I’ll be Spotlighted at the Paranormality Blog. Click &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://paranormalityuniverse.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;here&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt; to bookmark that site now! Please stop by that day, and if you’ve read my books, putting in a few good words can’t hurt either! Thanks... But, stop by to say hello, regardless! I’ll be giving away a PDF copy of one of my books. All you’ll have to do is answer a question about my book, but the info will be somewhere on my website, you don’t have to have a book to know it. On September 23rd I'll be spotlighted on the Blog of &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://rainedelight.wordpress.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;Raine Delight&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; In October I'll also be spotlighted at the Latte Lounge, but that's not 100% confirmed yet. Details about that will follow.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I’ve been up to a few other things. I went back to &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/maryjdresselbooks"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;MySpace&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;.&lt;/span&gt; A couple years ago my site got hacked, but I just went back. Don’t forget to ‘befriend’ me if you are there, too. You can meet other authors. Oh, wait, that’s my competition! Hmm– I guess this is the time to wonder why I just interviewed Shiela Stewart, Erotic Romance Author, in both eBook and Print. I thought having a hot author here for my summer newsletter was a great idea. Well, hot besides me, that is! So, be sure to read Shiela’s interview. I have liked her since I’ve known her, but after doing the interview, I have a whole respect thing going on for her. She’s an awesome erotic romance writer. You’ll like reading about her. I’m reading one of her books now. Since I’m writing an erotic romance myself, I thought a little sample might be good. Yummy! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I’m loving the novel I’m working on right now. It’s an erotic contemporary, and has a Royal hero. Oh, yeah, royal as in Duke! I’m thinking of submitting this one to an E-Publisher. Shiela gave me her editor’s name. One good thing about an ebook is the price. The downside is you sit at your computer to read it, or purchase an ebook reader. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I just read a great book. If you’re just kicking back this summer, I have a wonderful summer love story for you. The Notebook! Okay, I might be the only one who hasn’t seen or read it yet. Watch the&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.myspace.com/maryjdresselbooks"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;trailer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;on my MySpace Profile page... I know it’s been out awhile, but it’s a great story. Also, if you love time-travels like I do, you might want to watch Somewhere in Time, again. It’s my favorite, and part of my time-travel inspiration. If that’s not enough romance for you, I have books on hand for sale!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;My son is living only miles away from one of the fires in California. His boss and friends at his work have already been evacuated. He has been sending me pictures and reports. The last reports from him were that they are 95% contained in the area of Redding. His boss and some friends from his job had to be evacuated. I know someone there had horses to evacuate. Ranches in the area out of danger were taking in animals that had to be moved. Awww... that's so sweet! What a great gesture of humanity. Visit this YouTube link for videos from the area.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;Click here for&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=california+fires%2C+shasta%2C+redding&amp;amp;search_type=&amp;amp;aq=f"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ffcc99;"&gt;California Fires, Videos&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;For Your Summer Movie Pleasure&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;Romantic Movies&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;The Notebook&lt;br /&gt;The Graduate&lt;br /&gt;Pretty Woman&lt;br /&gt;Grease&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Moonstruck &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;LINKS &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;June&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Flag Day, 14th &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Gemstone -- Pearl, Alexandrite, and Moonstone&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Flower-- The Rose&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;July&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong first man &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;to step foot on the moon!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Gemstone-- Ruby&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Flower-- Larkspur&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;August&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;August 1, 1969, The birth of the Internet&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;National Catfish Month&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;August 4, Twins Day Festival&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;INTERESTING FACT&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Weed Wacker string produces 720 million feet of string, enough to go around the earth 5 ½ times.&lt;br /&gt;Modern Marvels, – History Channel, June 16, 2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;Food&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ffffcc;"&gt;What's Your Secret to the &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;Perfect&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;Grilled Cheese?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?boardid=479&amp;amp;ThreadID=733014&amp;amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?boardid=479&amp;amp;ThreadID=733014&amp;amp;BoardsParam=HIPDelay%3d1&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;WRITING TIP&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Carry a pen and paper around with you all the time so you can write down anything that inspires you. For instance, if you see someone who looks like a great story character, observe and write details! Even if you don’t have a place for them now, you might later. Did you run across a perfect setting– old house, alleyway, sunset, etc? Write it down! What if you’re driving down the highway, and an idea pops in your head? Do you have something to write it down on? :-)&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;Be sure to scroll down and read my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;interview with Shiela Stewart!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;Please leave comments!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;I hope the rest of your summer is wonderful!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/myspace/text_generator.php" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/heart2/m.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/heart2/a.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/heart2/r.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/heart2/y.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;Please forward this to anyone &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;you think might be interested!&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="111" src="http://dl4.glitter-graphics.net/pub/343/343054h1acgs82ip.gif" width="631" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#330033;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-7523678173457331044?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/7523678173457331044/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=7523678173457331044&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/7523678173457331044'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/7523678173457331044'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/sizzling-summer.html' title='Sizzling Summer'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-5590237175419837141</id><published>2008-07-18T18:21:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-18T18:30:22.552-04:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="26" src="http://dl4.glitter-graphics.net/pub/752/752004ewor3ue4oi.gif" width="289" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"&gt;Sizzling Summer Newsletter &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;"&gt;coming soon&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="20" src="http://dl6.glitter-graphics.net/pub/596/596696z2ypf41694.gif" width="150" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-works.org/" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#000000;"&gt;glitter-graphics.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-5590237175419837141?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/5590237175419837141/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=5590237175419837141&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5590237175419837141'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5590237175419837141'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/07/glitter-graphics.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-6095737068640466467</id><published>2008-06-29T13:33:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-06-30T21:08:01.151-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coffee time romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='shiela'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='discovery'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='passion'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='escape'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mercy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='stewart'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='erotic'/><title type='text'>My Interview with Shiela Stewart</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://www.shielasbooks.ca/"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217359253856127410" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SGfImT-xCbI/AAAAAAAAAbw/1MdluScla64/s200/Discoveryprintcvr.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="http://www.shielasbooks.ca/"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217359118250418850" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SGfIeaz2IqI/AAAAAAAAAbo/FQRlAhn1zpI/s200/Escapeinprint.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shielasbooks.ca/"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217358903627908162" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SGfIR7R2hEI/AAAAAAAAAbg/DWdlUypRNlc/s200/Mercy.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Interview with Erotic Romance Author Shiela Stewart. ENJOY!!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Hello, Shiela and thanks for being here. Your website opens by saying, "If you’re looking for love, look no further&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;. Each one of my books brings you not only love and romance, but a good healthy dose of sizzling heat." Well, we’re ready to listen!Please enjoy my interview with Shiela Stewart, author of Paranormal, Contemporary, Suspense, and Fantasy Romance&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;1. I’ve met many authors who started writing as children. Are you one of them?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Thank you Mary!! I am thrilled to be here today!!&lt;br /&gt;Yep, I’m one of those authors! I’ve always had one story or another floating around in my brain. As a child I would regale my cousins with stories I would make up in my head. Then in my early teens I began to write them down. I was known as the Dreamer. LOL&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;2. You’re the second youngest of seven children. Do any of your brothers or sisters write?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I am the only writer in the family. I am not the only celebrity of sorts, though. One of my brothers was the carpenter on a Canadian home improvement show called, Open Homes.&lt;br /&gt;We’re such a large family that I really don’t know my older siblings that well, and they don’t know me either. They were all shocked when I sent out a notice that I’d been published. They knew I wrote poetry, but not Romance.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;3. What do your teen-age children think of you being an erotic romance writer?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;They’re proud of me for doing what I love. But none of them have read any of my books so they really don’t know how juicy my stories are. They think I’m a romance author and that’s that. They know they’re adult books, but nothing more. I’m not sure I’m ready to have my children read my stuff yet. Someday, maybe.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;4. Shiela, you’ve been married for 22 years! That’s so awesome in this day and age. Can you give some advice to newlyweds on keeping a marriage strong?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I am truly lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life! We’ve been together for twenty four years, married for twenty two and though there have been some rough patches in our lives, we’ve worked through them and in my opinion, have become a stronger couple. What advice can I give newlyweds? Communicate. Talk to your spouse. I know this may seem silly but there are so many couples out there who don’t talk to each other about the things that go on in their life. Open up to your spouse. Share your feelings.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;5. Does your husband read your manuscripts or novels?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Oh most definitely! And if he doesn’t get around to reading them before I send it off to my editor, he reads the finished project. He is my biggest fan and is always promoting me to everyone he knows and meets. We can’t go anywhere without him mentioning that I am an author and boast about my books.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;6. How long have you been writing romance novels?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I think my first romance was when I was fifteen. I’ve come so far since then and I’ve learned so much about not only writing but publishing and promoting as well. I look back at my older work and cringe. Oh…how green I was. LOL&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;9. Have you ever written outside of the romance genre?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Actually, I have several non-romance novels sitting in a box in my garage waiting to be put on the computer. I love a good suspense or scary story. I’ve written a story about a teen age boy who is so desperate to win his fathers approval that he’s willing to murder to get it. It is as far away from a romance as they come. It’s called Mind over Madness. I also wrote another story about a teenage girl who delves into the black magics and finds t controlling her life. It’s called, Too Young Too Evil.&lt;br /&gt;I just love to write and I find I don’t have enough time to write every idea that pops into my head. I have over seventy manuscripts still in print form that I haven’t had time to put on the computer.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;10. How did you come up with the name of your town– Passion?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;The original title for my Passion series was the "For love" series and Discovery in Passion was originally titled, For Love and Justice. After submitting the first book to my editor, I saw a fellow LBR author come out with a book called, For Love and Money. I quickly decided to change it so that readers weren’t confused and thinking For Love and Money was part of my series. While walking with my hubby, we began talking about a new title and trying to link it to something romantic. We brainstormed for a while (we do this often) and before I knew it, we’d decided to rename the town, Passion and focus the titles on the name of the town. I am so happy with the change in titles and never look back.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;11. When did you know your Passion Series would actually be a series?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I’d submitted Discovery to my editor, but as an individual book. I figured if she said yes to Discovery, I could mention to her that there were two other books in the series. When the name change came about, I told her I would have to rename the whole series and the next thing I know, she’s talking with my publisher and me about signing a contract for all three. She hadn’t even read the other two. I was blown away and so utterly giddy!! I still am.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;12. Do you have a favorite character in any of your books?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I have a few favorites actually. C.J. Dowling is one of my favorites not just because he’s such a babe but because he’s driven. He knows what he wants and he doesn’t stop until he gets it.Thomas Healy from Discovery is another one. He’s such a cool, calm character. I wish I had his ability to remain calm even in the face of danger. Victor Davis, Thomas’s friend is so damn sexy and charming. Who could resist him. I love his sense of humor!&lt;br /&gt;And lastly, Trinity Ford from my newest release, Seducing the Darkness. She is a strong woman who is not afraid to be out on her own and not afraid to stand up for what’s right.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;13. What do you do to get in the mood to write your love scenes? Candles, music, etc?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I place a call to the local strip club and ask for three of their sexiest male dancers to come to my place and give me a private show. NOT!!! LOL&lt;br /&gt;I don't do anything out of the ordinary when I write my love scenes. But if when I’m writing and I come to where the couple get together and I’m not feeling in the mood to write passionately, I’ll leave it for later and come back to it when I am in the mood. ;)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;14. Will the 5th book be the last book in your newest series– The Darkness Series?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Hmmm….I never say never. I could also come up with a forth book in my Passion book. Actually, I do have an idea in mind for a sixth book in my Darkness series but I’m not going to give you anything about it. Sorry, no teaser for you today! J&lt;br /&gt;I’m always thinking about new stories.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;15. Have you ever been afraid to write erotica for fear of what friends and family will think?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Oh most definitely! I always warn friends and family that my books are X-rated so they know going into it that it isn’t a tame book. I’m on the tamer end of erotica and I don't think I will take it any further than that. I love the romance of the story where the couples meet, feel an attraction and while the world around them continues their relationship builds. But most of all, I love creating a story that the readers will enjoy and want to read over and over again.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;16. Is there one particular book you’ve written that is the closest to your heart?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Secrets of the Dead, by far. Don’t get me wrong, I love all my books, but Secrets is closest to my heart. I am a true believer of the after life, of spirits clinging to a place they feel most comfortable in. I believe in some circumstances death is not the end. Having lived in a haunted house in my early childhood is one of the reasons for my belief. And so when I wrote Secrets of the Dead and as well with Discovery in Passion, I took those experiences and beliefs and incorporated them into the story.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;17. Do you have advice for aspiring writers?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Never give up! Don’t let the rejections deter you from what you love to do. And never stop learning. But most of all, love what you do!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Thank you so much, Shiela, for doing this interview with me. Erotica seems to capture the heart of young and old readers. I don’t know why it took so long to be a part of the romance genre, but I’m glad publishers realized that women love to read this kind of romance. Thank you again, but before you go, could you leave us with a little sample of some of your work?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Thank you Mary for this wonderful interview!&lt;br /&gt;I’m doing a virtual book tour this month with Pump Up Your Book Promotions, promoting Discovery in Passion, so keep a look-out for me.&lt;br /&gt;I think I’ll leave you all with a little taste from my latest release, Seducing the Darkness. My tag line for my Darkness series is… If you’re afraid of the dark…you’re screwed! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shielasbooks.ca/TheDarknessSeries.htm"&gt;Seducing the Darkness&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Summary:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;An outcast by her kind, Trinity Ford has learned how to live on her own. And it isn't easy doing so, considering she is a Vampire.&lt;br /&gt;Once a fragile girl, taken by a powerful vampire prince, Trinity had relied on Basil for support. But finding him in the arms of another woman was more than she could take. On her own, she has decided to protect her city from the predators of her kind that prey on the innocent. Another tough thing to do when you're heart is broken. She's had to learn fast, how to be tough, how to survive, how to stay alive. And she's doing a pretty damn good job of it. Until Basil walks back into her life.&lt;br /&gt;Basil Hawthorn has been the reigning prince of vampires since banishing his father to the Realm of Darkness decades earlier. When his father comes to him in a dream, threatening Trinity’s life, he knows the only way to save her is to push her away. Doing so is not easy, especially when she is the only woman he will ever love.&lt;br /&gt;Rumors in the underworld talk of raising the vampire King and blotting out the sun. Basil knows that if his father rises, he will be put to death for his betrayal. Trinity knows that if the King returns, no human would ever be safe again. Despite the betrayal and the threat, neither can stay away from the other. But can the two work together to stop the Ritual before the King is resurrected?&lt;br /&gt;Or will the darkness capture them both?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Excerpt:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Trinity stood in the shadows and watched as a group of humans exited a local hang out called Buckeye’s Bar. It was a known pick-off for her kind. Most of the humans that came and went from the bar tended to leave through the back entrance which led to the alley. Then bam! You were vamp food.&lt;br /&gt;People were so stupid. Why did they think they had their faculties in order when they plied themselves with alcohol? The brain was sluggish after several drinks and thus impaired their thought process. So of course, stupid and drunk, they stumbled through the alley thinking themselves impervious to harm.&lt;br /&gt;When would they learn?&lt;br /&gt;Considering the past few weeks, it seemed as though the vampires were out in full force. Okay, so people didn’t want to believe there could actually be such a thing as a blood sucking half dead creature taking up residence in their city. But come on, one look in the newspapers and you had to at least be worried about all the dead bodies being found lately.&lt;br /&gt;Still, people never believed it could happen to them.&lt;br /&gt;Until they end up dead.&lt;br /&gt;She watched a group of young girls—and if they were of legal age she would eat her shoes—stumble from the bar.&lt;br /&gt;They separated and two went off towards the street while the last wandered drunkenly down the dark alley.&lt;br /&gt;Oh yeah, like this was going to end well.&lt;br /&gt;"Five, four, three, two, one. Bam!" She shot her hand out just as a vampire jumped from out of the shadows and right beside the stupid young girl. Shaking her head, Trinity moved towards the screaming girl. Idiot.&lt;br /&gt;"I don’t think you want to be doing that."&lt;br /&gt;The tall, gangly, greasy haired vampire jerked and spun around to face Trinity. His teeth were primed for the kill, his yellow eyes glaring at Trinity as if she were his next meal. The poor girl in his arms was wailing something awful.&lt;br /&gt;Now you regret going through the dark alley.&lt;br /&gt;"Yeah, says who?"&lt;br /&gt;Trinity lifted a brow, cocked her body to one side and rested her hand on her hip. "Jesus, could you have said anything more lame? Let the girl go and no one has to get hurt." Okay, so that wasn’t completely the truth. He would be more than hurt when this was over.&lt;br /&gt;He would be dust.&lt;br /&gt;"How ‘bout I keep her and you wait against the wall until I’m done?" He jerked the girl towards him, yanking her head back to expose her neck. He was just about to bite down when Trinity placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and his face froze.&lt;br /&gt;"How ‘bout I don’t." Trinity bared her fanged teeth to show him she was not going to back off. "Beat it kid." She clamped her hand on the vampires shoulder, her nails digging into his flesh as she jerked her head at the girl. As she’d suspected, the guy was a wimp.&lt;br /&gt;He released the girl who immediately ran off screaming.&lt;br /&gt;"Now, you wanna take off, or am I going to have to mess up that pretty face of yours?" she asked sarcastically as she glared down at him.&lt;br /&gt;"You couldn’t handle me, bitch." He slapped her hand free, then curling his fingers in a fist, threw a punch at her face.&lt;br /&gt;She was ready and ducked out of the way. Slicing her hand up, she chopped him in the neck, sending him crumbling on the ground. "You don’t want to mess with me, jerk," she advised as she planted a booted foot on his jugular. The razor blades she had attached to the toe drew a small amount of dull gray, deoxygenated blood as she pressed it just below his chin.&lt;br /&gt;"Go ahead and dust him, he’s useless."&lt;br /&gt;Trinity glared over her shoulder at the man she had once been destined for and felt her heart ache. She couldn’t stop herself from admiring the beauty of the man before her.&lt;br /&gt;His long dark hair floated in the light breeze sweeping away from a face sculpted of fine bone and delicate skin. He looked so dark and dangerous in that long, black leather coat he always wore. One look into his translucent blue eyes turned her heart to mush.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please don’t forget to leave a comment for Shiela in the Comments section at the end of this interview.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;She can also be contacted at:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;shielas @ shaw.ca (no spaces) &lt;strong&gt;Email&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.shielasbooks.ca/"&gt;http://www.shielasbooks.ca/&lt;/a&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Website&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/myspace/text_generator.php" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/spblue/c.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/spblue/o.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/spblue/m.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/spblue/m.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/spblue/e.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/spblue/n.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;img src="http://text.glitter-graphics.net/spblue/t.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-6095737068640466467?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/6095737068640466467/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=6095737068640466467&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/6095737068640466467'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/6095737068640466467'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-interview-with-shiela-stewart.html' title='My Interview with Shiela Stewart'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SGfImT-xCbI/AAAAAAAAAbw/1MdluScla64/s72-c/Discoveryprintcvr.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-1527041496295069855</id><published>2008-06-04T19:28:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-06-24T15:36:24.238-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='june'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='hot'/><title type='text'>June</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="100" src="http://dl9.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1255/1255389hbkg2z1fc4.gif" width="100" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;June/July Newsletter coming soon! Stay tuned for my interview with an Erotic Romance Author. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Note:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Instead of adding the interview with my author friend, to my newsletter, I'll add it separately. It will also be on my &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.blogspot.com/"&gt;BLOG&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;WEBSITE&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;                                                                                                      &lt;a href="http://www.glitter-graphics.com/"&gt;&lt;img height="100" src="http://dl9.glitter-graphics.net/pub/1255/1255389hbkg2z1fc4.gif" width="100" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-1527041496295069855?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/1527041496295069855/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=1527041496295069855&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1527041496295069855'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1527041496295069855'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/06/june.html' title='June'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-7160046973386747173</id><published>2008-05-06T17:47:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-05-06T19:23:21.280-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coffee time romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mother&apos;s day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='hero'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='mom novel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='may'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='visions'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='showers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heroine'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='embrace'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='flowers'/><title type='text'>Happy May, Happy Mother's Day</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SCDauBBA-EI/AAAAAAAAAas/MQQoWqW_L-Y/s1600-h/showers1.gif"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197394454067083330" style="CURSOR: hand" height="243" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SCDauBBA-EI/AAAAAAAAAas/MQQoWqW_L-Y/s320/showers1.gif" width="259" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;May is here and it feels like spring, finally! Today was beautiful here in West Michigan. The temperature was about 75 degrees, and sunny and bright. I'm looking out my window and seeing pretty lilacs! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;They smell wonderful.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#cc66cc;"&gt;NEWS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;I've been working on my novella! I love it, but I'm not sure it will really be a novella. I'm getting attached to these characters, and the hero is a real gentleman. Wait till you see what a lover he is, too. Wait till you see what a lover he is! My imagination is running wild with this one. I have the title already, too! It just came to me quite awhile ago. The name is perfect for this upcoming book! Sorry, but you'll have to wait. I never give out my titles until I know it's actually going to be the title. (per publisher's approval)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Also, I wrote about a chapter in Book Three. It's still so early, and there will probably be many changes. I've yet to get into much yet, but the beginning starts out exciting, and you'll keep reading to find out what happens. New ideas come to me, and I love that part of writing. I just told a good author friend of mine how much fun it is to be a writer. I'm glad you all enjoy it as readers, because it is just as much fun for me! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;My publisher's 50% off special is over, but you can still get a 20% discount on either book at their &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc66cc;"&gt;website&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;.&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;-- Just click on the link, and type my last name (dressel) in the search box on the right of their page. Wouldn't your mom love a romantic love story for Mother's Day! Oh, excuse me, it would be a late Mother's Day gift! How 'bout just an 'any day' gift for MOM? Remember, if you purchase one of my books at a bookstore, or online, contact me and I'll send you an autographed name plate for your book.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#cc66cc;"&gt;PERSONAL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;My youngest son is buying his first house. I'm so excited for him! Did I ever mention that he is also a writer? He writes poetry, and beautiul, deep poetry. One of his poems is on my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#993399;"&gt;website &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;under Poems. He hasn't tried to publish any, but I am encouraging him.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;As you may know, I work at a middle school, and summer is getting closer all the time! To me, that means more writing time, although, this summer is up in the air right now. I'm not making too many plans as to what I'll be doing, other than working on writing. Actually, my job is up in the air, too. I was hired for this position because of the student count, and that type of job goes from year to year. Cross your fingers for me, please! I love my job and would love to stay there.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;There is no interview this month. Like I said before, it takes some time to prepare questions, and post it. I will do random interviews as they arise. I'd like to spend more time writing at this point.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;I wish I had more news for you this month, but there hasn't been a lot of change going on. So, on that note, I hope you will enjoy some of the links I've prepared for you! Please feel free to contact me at any time at dresselmj @ aol.com (No spaces) &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.epa.gov/asthma/awm/index.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;May is Asthma Awareness Month&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Events in the Month of May&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;May Day &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Stepmother's Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;National Day of Prayer&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;3rd&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Derby Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Brothers and Sisters Day&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4th&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Significant Other's Day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Relationship Renewal Day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Internation Respect for Chickens Day! (really?)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5th&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Cinco de Mayo&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;HalfWay Point of Spring&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7th&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Robert Brownings Birthday (my favorite poet)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;11th&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Mother's Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;14th&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Motorcycle Rider's Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;25th&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wine Day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Auto Race Day (Indiana)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;26th&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Memorial Day&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;My Stepdaughter's Birthday&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;29th&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;My Son's Birthday&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;31st&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Poetry Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2188150/"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;Do April Showers Really Bring May Flowers?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/2007/05/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-may.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;MAY DREAMS GARDENS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.exploreasheville.com/what-to-do/seasonal-fun/springtime-in-asheville/spring-bloom-schedule/may-spring-bloom-schedule/index.aspx"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;May Spring Bloom Flower Schedule&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://plantsbulbs.suite101.com/article.cfm/birth_flower_for_may"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;Birth Flower for May&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Lily of the Valley&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SCDiJhBA-FI/AAAAAAAAAa0/621FKjh4sto/s1600-h/Lilyofthevalley_1.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5197402623094880338" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SCDiJhBA-FI/AAAAAAAAAa0/621FKjh4sto/s320/Lilyofthevalley_1.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Poem for May&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Spring is God's way of saying,&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ccffff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;"One more time!" &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;Robert Orben&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;~~~~~&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;color:#ffcccc;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For Mothers&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcccc;"&gt;Why are you crying, a young boy asked his Mom? "Because I'm a woman," she told him. "I don't understand," he said. His Mom just hugged him and said, "And you never will, but that's O.K."....... Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does Mom seem to cry for no reason?". "All women cry for no reason," was all his Dad could say...... The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God and when God got back to him, he asked "God, why do women cry so easily?" GOD answered...... "When I made woman, I decided she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world, yet, made her arms gentle enough to give comfort... I gave her the inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times will come even from her own children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going and take care of her family and friends, even when everyone else gives up, through sickness and fatigue without complaining.... I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances. Even when her child has hurt her badly.... She has the very special power to make a child's boo-boo feel better and to quell a teenager's anxieties and fears.... I gave her strength to care for her husband, despite faults and I fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.... I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly.... For all of this hard work, I also gave her a tear to shed. It is hers to use whenever needed and it is her only weakness.... When you see her cry, tell her how much you love her, and all she does for everyone, and even though she may still cry, you will have made her heart feel good.&lt;br /&gt;She is special!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcccc;"&gt;Love your Mother Always&lt;br /&gt;and keep her Smiling&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-7160046973386747173?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/7160046973386747173/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=7160046973386747173&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/7160046973386747173'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/7160046973386747173'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/05/happy-may-happy-mothers-day.html' title='Happy May, Happy Mother&apos;s Day'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/SCDauBBA-EI/AAAAAAAAAas/MQQoWqW_L-Y/s72-c/showers1.gif' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-3471769200811295073</id><published>2008-04-07T19:52:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-04-25T20:50:57.541-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='april'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cover designer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='award'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='spring'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='interview'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='diamond'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance hunk'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='coffee time romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='birthstone'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance time-travel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='review'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='4 cups'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='flowers'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='novel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='picture prompt'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='writing tip'/><title type='text'>April Showers Bring May Flowers</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;color:#ccccff;"&gt;NEWS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Now until April 28th, my publisher has reduced the price of my books by 50%. Go to &lt;a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/"&gt;http://www.publishamerica.com/&lt;/a&gt; and put my last name- dressel- in the search box. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Both books will come up.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Welcome to&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;S&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;p&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;r&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#66ffff;"&gt;i&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ff33;"&gt;n&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffccff;"&gt;g&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccffff;"&gt;!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;I’ve been doing newsletters for just over a year now. I don’t write them on a monthly basis, but pretty close, although I was a little lax in the summer! I hope everyone had a chance to read last months interview with C.J. Hollenbach. Interviews take up a lot of time, so it won’t be a regular part of my newsletters. However, you will find one this month! In February it was with a cover model. Now, right here, you can read an interview with a cover designer! What a great opportunity it was to do this interview with Anthony Saavedra. I hope you enjoy it, and knowing more about how a book cover is designed. Please leave some comments or questions for me and/or Anthony. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Winter sure has been long here in this neck of the woods. The second day of spring we got hit with 14 inches of snow. Then a week later another five inches. Just when it was almost all melted, too! Oh, well, I always say, "Don’t trust March.’ And even though, it came in like a lamb, it turned into a lion with a big roar overnight!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Special Sale!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Enchantment’s Embrace is out now, and going strong. Reviewers have been saying it’s not a ‘stand alone book’ but if you read the first one, you will love it! I knew that. So, during the month of April, I am having a special for as long as I have a supply of Visions of Enchantment. (I think I have &lt;strong&gt;ten&lt;/strong&gt; left in stock) If someone wants to purchase Enchantment’s Embrace at the publisher’s price of $24.95, they can purchase Visions of Enchantment from me for $15.00! That’s nearly a 40% discount! For this special while my supply lasts, contact me as soon as possible. Tell your friends! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;Just added: New Review-- Four Cups from Coffee Time Romance &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Enchantmentsembracebook2.html"&gt;http://www.coffeetimeromance.com/BookReviews/Enchantmentsembracebook2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;My News&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;I was busy teaching a Creative Writing Basics class, and loved every minute of it. My students were awesome, and a wonderful blend of writers. It’s been a challenge because they are already creative writers. I was sad to see the class end, but I’m preparing a course proposal for the second class where we’ll dive into what students are currently writing, and carry that as far as we can! Hopefully, publication!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;I’m having a book signing/ presentation in August in my previous home town of Wayne, Michigan! I am already excited about that. This time I will have two books to present! At the last presentation there, a contract for Enchantment’s Embrace had just been signed, so I didn’t have a lot of details about it, but now it’s published, and beautiful! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;For the month of March, Enchantment’s Embrace was up for Best Book Cover Art Award as many of you know, from &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.talauthors.com/TAL/BestCoverArt.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;http://www.talauthors.com/TAL/BestCoverArt.htm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt; Speaking of this beautiful book cover, I had to tell the designer about it being up for this award so he could vote himself! Then the wheels started turning! Why not do an interview with him? So, I asked him, and he said to send questions! I did! I was excited to learn some things about designing a book cover. I hope you like the interview. After all, the cover is the first thing we see, and that which makes us reach for a book! Oh, did I mention that it WON!!!? That is so exciting to me.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;My stepdaughter just turned 12. We were notified that she was chosen as one of the students in her school to go to the &lt;strong&gt;Junior National Young Leaders Conference &lt;/strong&gt;in Washington D.C. to honor and inspire the most exceptional middle school students in the nation, destinguished by their academic excellence, leadership potential and maturity, and to reinforce the virtues of leadership, citizenship and democracy using Washington D.C. as their classroom. What an honor this is!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;I was recently interviewed by Lori at Joyfully Reviewed. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/Interviews/Apr08/MaryJDressel.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#9999ff;"&gt;http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/Interviews/Apr08/MaryJDressel.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt; I was also interviewed by Angela at Simply Romance Reviews. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.simplyromancereviews.com/authorinterviews/maryjdresselinterview.aspx"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#9999ff;"&gt;http://www.simplyromancereviews.com/authorinterviews/maryjdresselinterview.aspx&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt; Feel free to read them.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;My spring break is here! I’m so much needing it. There are no extravagant plans to go to a tropical island to write that blockbuster novel, or to go anywhere. As a matter of fact, I don’t know what will happen that week. I do know I'm working on my newest story, probably a Novella. (shorter than a novel, longer than a short story)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For Your Information&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt;April is National Poetry Month. Write a poem. I recently posted one at &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.triond.com/users/Mary+J.+Dressel"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#9999ff;"&gt;http://www.triond.com/users/Mary+J.+Dressel&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ccccff;"&gt; about Desert Storm. It seems to touch a lot of people. I was touched enough to write it right after Desert Storm started when I was in a support group in my hometown. My oldest son was 21 then, and I worried about him going, and a possible draft starting up.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:0;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;April Quotation&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;April cold with dropping rain &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;Willows and lilacs brings again, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;The whistle of returning birds &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;And trumpet-lowing of the herds. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;Ralph Waldo Emerson&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R_q_chFjAVI/AAAAAAAAAaA/YcY3XMV9jOA/s1600-h/doll+divider.gif"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186668417509425490" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R_q_chFjAVI/AAAAAAAAAaA/YcY3XMV9jOA/s200/doll+divider.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;And now, Please Enjoy my Interview &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;with AnthonySaavedra&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:130%;color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Anthony , thank you so much for doing this interview, and giving authors and readers, alike, an inside look into your world of designing book covers.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: Have you always wanted a career as an artist/ designer?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;A: I’ve been pretty artistic, drawing and the like, since I was a child, so I figure I should do what I’m best at. I tried building bridges once, but they kept falling into the ocean. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;(LOL, best stay with the designing, then Anthony!)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: When you receive a book to design a cover for, what is the very first step you take?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;A: First I check to see if the author has their own suggestion on what they’d like to see and go from there. If there’s no suggestion, I’m kind of on my own, so I’ll read the synopsis and peruse the book for the themes and such details as setting and what the main characters look like.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: Is there a design team that gives input before you begin? Or do you do an initial sketch or design, then get input? Tell us how the team works together.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A: There’s a group of designers who each get book files. We’ll occasionally discuss design techniques and throw each other suggestions on how best to achieve the desired design, but each cover is ultimately the assigned artist’s task to complete. We network, but as they say, too many chefs spoil the broth.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: Just as a book is a writer’s "baby," the cover must be yours. When you send your design to the author the first time, do you get butterflies in your stomach, or a case of the jitters?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;A: Maybe a little. I want the author to be happy with my work and be proud to have it on something they’ve spent so much time and effort on. But usually I’m pretty confident in my work and normally hit the mark on what the author wants to see.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: What is the average amount of time you spend on designing a cover, from the beginning to the end?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;A: That can vary a great deal. Some authors may want something as simple as a sunset, others as complicated as, say, an action sequence from the story. It can range from hours to days, depending on the subject and what the author wants to see.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: Please tell us how you get your ideas so the cover matches the story or the characters?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;A: Usually I’ll just let authors do the work for me. I’ll read what they have to say, and just transform the images they create with their words to actual images. If it’s a sequel like the second one I did of yours, I’ll use the same or similar-looking models, and try incorporating the same style and fonts as its prequel.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: Do you generally use real models?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;A: I do, but I can always Photoshop them to create whatever I need them to be. I’ve turned college students into zombies and Yorkshire terriers into fire-breathing monsters, but don’t tell anyone or they’ll be people with torches and pitchforks outside my door. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;(Your secret is safe with me!)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: As far as education, where would a person begin if they wanted to pursue a career as a book cover designer?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;A: A degree in Art or Visual Communications helps, knowledge of Photoshop is a must, but just a general sense of what looks good plays a big part in the creation process.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Q: What other types of designing do you do, or you have done?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A: I personally like cartooning and work on those in what free time I have. I’m usually volunteered to help friends or associates with their business logos, or my old alma mater’s yearbook covers. I keep changing my number, but they keep finding me. ;) Oh well, whatever keeps me busy. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:100%;"&gt;(LOL, we love your sense of humor)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anthony, this interview has been exciting! Thank you, again.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33cc00;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R_q_vxFjAWI/AAAAAAAAAaI/9VNa6ZqBwx8/s1600-h/doll+divider.gif"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186668748221907298" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R_q_vxFjAWI/AAAAAAAAAaI/9VNa6ZqBwx8/s200/doll+divider.gif" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#00cccc;"&gt;In case anyone might be wondering how I came across Anthony, well it’s very simple! Take a look at Visions of Enchantment and Enchantment’s Embrace. They were both designed by Anthony! He allowed me to ask for a few changes to his wonderful designs to make them fit my book the way I had envisioned. I am very thankful that he also got to design my second book as well as my first. Feel free to leave messages or comments for Anthony. We will both appreciate them!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Enjoy Some Spring Things! &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;April Fools Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Arbor Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Autism Awareness Month&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Alcohol Awareness Month&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;National Child Abuse Prevention Month&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;National Humor Month :-)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;~~National Poetry Month~~&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Poetry and Creative Mind Day April 1st&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;~~I like this one--&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;National Walk on Your Wild Side Day April 12&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Passover April 18&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Hug an Australian Day April 26 &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;William Shakespeare, the playright, was born on April 23, 1564&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, when&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;South Vietnam surrendered.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hcanders.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Hans Christian Andersen&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;, Danish writer &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;of fairy tales, born 1805.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Flowers of the Month&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Daisy and Sweet Pea &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;Birthstone&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffff99;"&gt;Diamond&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R_rHfxFjAXI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/KNobK13DldY/s1600-h/Yellow+flower+full.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186677269437022578" style="WIDTH: 183px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 130px" height="134" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R_rHfxFjAXI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/KNobK13DldY/s320/Yellow+flower+full.jpg" width="271" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;Picture Prompt&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#33ccff;"&gt;Write a story about the picture.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;Writing Tip&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;Carry a pen and notepad everywhere you go to write down&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;your ideas when you come across them. Also, keep one by your bed to record any story idea you might have when you lie there unable to sleep!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;You might think you'll never forget, but you will!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#6633ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc66cc;"&gt;Have a very happy Spring Time! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc66cc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc66cc;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;Don't forget to leave us a comment! You can always email me, too, at dresselmj @ aol.com (no spaces)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#99ff99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Thanks!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc66cc;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;color:#ff6666;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;Mary&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc66cc;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6666;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-3471769200811295073?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/3471769200811295073/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=3471769200811295073&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3471769200811295073'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3471769200811295073'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/04/april-showers-bring-may-flowers.html' title='April Showers Bring May Flowers'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R_q_chFjAVI/AAAAAAAAAaA/YcY3XMV9jOA/s72-c/doll+divider.gif' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-5722542476177016871</id><published>2008-03-28T19:16:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-03-28T20:55:51.498-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cover designer'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cover model'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='interview'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='books'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='book cover'/><title type='text'>Upcoming Newsletter</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Coming Soon. My April Newsletter will be out within the next week or so. I hope you all enjoyed my interview with C.J. If you haven't read it yet, just scroll down, and there you go! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;But now... TaDa... My next newsletter will have an interview with a book cover DESIGNER! See what steps he takes to design that so important cover! Watch for it!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R-2TYBFjARI/AAAAAAAAAZg/A_bH_uF9KlY/s1600-h/spring+flowers.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182960786991153426" style="WIDTH: 187px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 130px" height="130" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R-2TYBFjARI/AAAAAAAAAZg/A_bH_uF9KlY/s320/spring+flowers.jpg" width="143" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-5722542476177016871?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/5722542476177016871/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=5722542476177016871&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5722542476177016871'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5722542476177016871'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/03/upcoming-newsletter.html' title='Upcoming Newsletter'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R-2TYBFjARI/AAAAAAAAAZg/A_bH_uF9KlY/s72-c/spring+flowers.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-2965291108347306727</id><published>2008-02-12T19:23:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2011-02-13T18:09:14.051-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance hunk'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cover model'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='valentines day'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='centerfold'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='roses'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romantic movies'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fantasy'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='C.J. Hollenbach'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='flowers'/><title type='text'>February 2008</title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cdR3o5_AVH8/R7Jd7GCjHRI/AAAAAAAAAWo/WHOwX5f1mPU/s1600/pic+from+kelli.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"&gt;&lt;img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cdR3o5_AVH8/R7Jd7GCjHRI/AAAAAAAAAWo/WHOwX5f1mPU/s320/pic+from+kelli.jpg" width="214" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: large;"&gt;The Interview with CJ Hollenbach has been updated and moved to another blog. Please visit his updated interview&lt;span style="color: #d5a6bd;"&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mjdresselbooks.wordpress.com/" style="color: #d5a6bd;"&gt;HERE&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;My News&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just had a book signing tonight in Battle Creek, Michigan. Of course, Michigan decided it was time for another white-out Winter storm! I met a lot of great local writers there. Thank you to the Willard Public Library.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sometime in April, I'll be having a signing at Barnes and Noble. Details will follow later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, sometime in the near future, I'll be having a booksigning at a coffee shop in Richland, Michigan. Details later on that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Don't forget-- February 18, 2008 is &lt;i&gt;Enchantment's Embrace&lt;/i&gt; official release date! Mark your calendars. Contact me personally for an autographed copy! Available now at &lt;a href="http://www.amazon.com/"&gt;http://www.amazon.com/&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href="http://www.b&amp;amp;n.com/"&gt;http://www.b&amp;amp;n.com/&lt;/a&gt;, and &lt;a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/"&gt;http://www.publishamerica.com/&lt;/a&gt;, on Monday at your favorite booksellers.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Links&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Want to make your Valentine's Day extra special this year? Follow the links to a romantic day and night with the one you love.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Love Chocolate? Love chocolate with strawberries?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img alt="" border="0" height="174" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166273998562204850" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R7JK1GCjHLI/AAAAAAAAAV4/2nINo19TrWA/s200/chocolate+strawberries.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="189" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.pastrywiz.com/dailyrecipes/recipes/530.htm"&gt;http://www.pastrywiz.com/dailyrecipes/recipes/530.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/dessert/sweets/chocdipstraw.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/dessert/sweets/chocdipstraw.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Plan a Romantic Get-A-Way&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.essortment.com/inexpensiveroma_onm.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;http://www.essortment.com/inexpensiveroma_onm.htm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://luxuryresorttravel.suite101.com/article.cfm/gifts_for_romantic_weekend_trips"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;http://luxuryresorttravel.suite101.com/article.cfm/gifts_for_romantic_weekend_trips&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Want to take the ho-hums out of your ordinary bedroom for a special night of love? Check this link!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166272568338095266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R7JJh2CjHKI/AAAAAAAAAVw/wpKJE3xBtEs/s200/romantic+bedroom.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.mylifetime.com/lifestyle/home-crafts/home-decorating/romantic-bedrooms"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;http://www.mylifetime.com/lifestyle/home-crafts/home-decorating/romantic-bedrooms&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.alumbo.com/article/11770--quot-20-Ways-to-Make-a-Romantic-Bedroom-quot.html"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;http://www.alumbo.com/article/11770--quot-20-Ways-to-Make-a-Romantic-Bedroom-quot.html&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Don't Forget the Greeting Card!&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.hugsnkiss.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;http://www.hugsnkiss.com/&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Flowers?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;img alt="" border="0" height="183" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166276687211732162" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/R7JNRmCjHMI/AAAAAAAAAWA/ohneoW2t0FE/s200/rose+bouquet.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" width="127" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flower.com/"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;http://www.flower.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Romantic Movie Recommendations&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIJ0XopBWGI" title="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v="&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;YouTube - Some Of MOVIES GREATEST LOVES ~ Romantic Movie Couples&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.theromantic.com/romanticmovies.htm" title="http://www.theromantic.com/romanticmovies.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Romantic Movie Recommendations&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.celebratelove.com/romanticmovies.htm" title="http://www.celebratelove.com/romanticmovies.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Top 100 "Romantic" Movies&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;Hot Stone Massage&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-hot-stone-massage.htm"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-hot-stone-massage.htm&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 180%;"&gt;Happy Valentine's Day&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 180%;"&gt;2008&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 180%;"&gt;&lt;i&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Mary&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;Be sure to visit my &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.blogspot.com/"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="color: red; font-size: 130%;"&gt;Official BLOG&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt; for a spicy short muse I call &lt;i&gt;Forbidden&lt;/i&gt;. Oh, yeah! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: 130%;"&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="color: red;"&gt;Scroll down to leave a comment&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/b&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-2965291108347306727?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/2965291108347306727/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=2965291108347306727&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/2965291108347306727'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/2965291108347306727'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/02/february-2008.html' title='February 2008'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cdR3o5_AVH8/R7Jd7GCjHRI/AAAAAAAAAWo/WHOwX5f1mPU/s72-c/pic+from+kelli.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-1507586362958480705</id><published>2008-01-29T21:35:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-01-31T19:15:21.282-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Coming in February</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color:#993399;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;Watch for a very special Valentine's Day Newsletter Edition. It's going to be filled with romance and love, plus a very special interview you won't want to miss! Come back and visit around February 12th or 13th.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;Thanks!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;mj&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-1507586362958480705?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/1507586362958480705/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=1507586362958480705&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1507586362958480705'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/1507586362958480705'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2008/01/coming-in-february.html' title='Coming in February'/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-3031751036952031220</id><published>2007-12-10T17:14:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-02-03T17:34:52.428-05:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='enchantment'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='cover model'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='love'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='christmas'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;by Mary J. Dressel&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;December, 2007&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;color:#33ccff;"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;Happy&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Holidays&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;to all my faithful readers and friends! Remember, if you need a great holiday gift, how about an autographed book for the reader of romance on your list. They will have to have the first book before the second book comes out! Since Enchantment’s Embrace won’t be out before Christmas, there’s still time to read book one! How can you pass this up? I would be taking pre-orders, but I don’t know what the price will be. I will start scheduling book signings after the new year. After people want to spend money again!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I haven’t been doing much work on the third book in the series, but some on my paranormal. I’ve been busy working on the proofs for EE, going through them, then finally sending in the final. Enchantment’s Embrace is now in the cover design department. I did contact the designer who designed Visions of Enchantment, and it’s very possible he’ll be doing the second book, too. I think that’s awesome! &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;I’m using a writing site now to post some of my work. So far, I’m posted two poems and an essay. I think I mentioned the photograph I posted in the last newsletter. I’m thinking of posting something Christmasy, and will probably write that this week. It seems my networking sites and Blogs keep me busy, but I find it occupies my mind when the stresses of life come down on me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;News&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Here’s something for you ladies! I came across an opportunity to interview a romance novel cover model. Yes, you read it right! His name is C.J. Hollingbach. If you don’t know who he is check out the romance link on my website. This man is also a writer, and occasionally writes for Romantic Times Magazine. He wants to write a book. If there’s anything you want to know about a cover model, let me know and I’ll try to put your question in my interview. I’m looking forward to the interview.&lt;br /&gt;Another bit of information– I’ll be teaching a Creative Writing for Beginners class in the spring at a local college. I’m so excited about that! Oh, yes, and I got a new job after months and resumes of looking. It makes me feel so lucky to get back into a school district in middle school again. I’m happy to be there. Prayers do get answered. A few of the students are writers, and I’ve been encouraging them to continue with it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;My website has been revamped a little. I like the current design I use, so that didn’t change, but I’ve changed and added a few things. Enchantment’s Embrace has a link, and new excerpts are added, plus there’s also a time-line for its progress. Character Profiles have been updated, too. While there, check out the Random Links.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Historical Romance Club Interviewed me. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.historicalromanceclub.com/index-I.html"&gt;http://www.historicalromanceclub.com/index-I.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;Links of Interest&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;25 Unexpectedly Useful Websites for the Uncommonly Curious&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.webupon.com/Web-Talk/25-Useful-and-Entertaining-Websites.54156"&gt;http://www.webupon.com/Web-Talk/25-Useful-and-Entertaining-Websites.54156&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fix It Club&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.fixitclub.com/"&gt;http://www.fixitclub.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;How I Do It&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;When I develop my characters, I always make a character profile of them. Sometimes I forget something about them, so I can go back and look. I use large index cards. My characters have to have strengths, weaknesses, habits, emotions, likes, dislikes, fears, identifying marks, and everything a real living person has. Do you like to be around boring people? You probably wouldn’t like to read about one either! I also like to give my characters their own voice so the reader knows who is speaking by the way they speak. That way, I’m not always saying, "she said, or he said." My characters are some of my favorite people!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;Quote&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#993300;"&gt;Hold fast to your dreams, for if dreams die, &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#993300;"&gt;life is a broken winged bird– that cannot fly. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#993300;"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Langston Hughes&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;Links&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;Some of My Work Posted through Triond.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.authspot.com/Thoughts/Whats-Your-Adventure.57498"&gt;http://www.authspot.com/Thoughts/Whats-Your-Adventure.57498&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.authspot.com/Thoughts/Whats-Your-Adventure.57498"&gt;http://www.authspot.com/Thoughts/Whats-Your-Adventure.57498&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.authspot.com/Poetry/Candlelight.57390"&gt;http://www.authspot.com/Poetry/Candlelight.57390&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;Personal&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Now, on a sad note, I lost my oldest brother this week on November 27th. When I was a child he was my hero, my protector, my big brother. We’ve been estranged for some years now, but that time seemed to have slipped away when I learned of his death. His daughter and a cousin were with him. There was no service, and I will get his ashes. I wonder how a person gets closure when there’s no service. Guess I’ll find out. We never know from one day to the next what life will bring, so take a moment today and tell your loved ones, that you love them.&lt;br /&gt;I have started a new website about the disease my husband has. Mainly, for support and information for us and for anyone who has a Myeloproliferative Disease. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="http://myeloproliferativediseases.webs.com/index.htm"&gt;http://myeloproliferativediseases.webs.com/index.htm&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#33ccff;"&gt;Recipes&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Jello Chocolate Pudding Fudge&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/JELL-O-Chocolate-Pudding-Fudge/Detail.aspx"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/JELL-O-Chocolate-Pudding-Fudge/Detail.aspx&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Sweet and Sour Smokey Bites&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.smuckers.com/Recipes/Details.aspx?recipeID=22"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://www.smuckers.com/Recipes/Details.aspx?recipeID=22&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Share your Recipes with Flair!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;a href="http://postcards.smilebox.com/recipes/?partner=google&amp;amp;campaign=content_recipe"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff0000;"&gt;http://postcards.smilebox.com/recipes/?partner=google&amp;amp;campaign=content_recipe&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Once again, I’d like to wish you all a Blessed holiday season, and a wonderful New Year!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Remember to forward this to anyone you think would be interested!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Oh, how do you like the new name of my newsletters!? Love’s Enchantment Newsletter!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Thank you!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffffcc;"&gt;Mary&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#666666;"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-3031751036952031220?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/3031751036952031220/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=3031751036952031220&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3031751036952031220'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/3031751036952031220'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2007/12/loves-enchantment-newsletter-by-mary-j.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-5616769426766942328</id><published>2007-11-27T19:50:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-27T19:52:08.157-05:00</updated><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;December&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Newsletter&lt;/span&gt; &lt;span style="color:#cc0000;"&gt;Coming &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Soon!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-5616769426766942328?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/5616769426766942328/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=5616769426766942328&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5616769426766942328'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/5616769426766942328'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2007/11/december-newsletter-coming-soon.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7444603193379035442.post-7561457359902914247</id><published>2007-10-29T17:14:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-10-31T07:34:35.718-04:00</updated><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='hero'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='romance'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='newsletter'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='books'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='heroine'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='fall'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='time-travel'/><category scheme='http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#' term='novel'/><title type='text'></title><content type='html'>&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;color:#ff9966;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MARY J. DRESSEL&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;color:#ff9966;"&gt;Author of Historical and &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:lucida grande;font-size:130%;color:#ff9966;"&gt;Contemporary Romance&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#663300;"&gt;Visions of Enchantment&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#006600;"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#663300;"&gt;Enchantment's Embrace &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/Rydpqs31VtI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/w3aYGNHlmhw/s1600-h/fall+trees.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127182883105363666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 270px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 163px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="100" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/Rydpqs31VtI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/w3aYGNHlmhw/s200/fall+trees.jpg" width="171" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:180%;color:#ff9966;"&gt;Fall Newsletter&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#663300;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;October 2007&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"&gt;NEWS&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;It seems like forever since I've put out a newsletter. I've been in touch with a lot of you, but most of you don't know what's been going on. To begin with, if you don't already know, Enchantment's Embrace, is in production now. At this moment, it's with the text editor, and I should hear something from them soon. That's book two in the Enchantment Series. Please see my &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/enchantmentsembrace"&gt;website&lt;/a&gt; for information on this book. I'll be adding excerpts soon. In the mean time, don't forget to pick up a copy of Visions of Enchantment, so you'll be all ready when the second book in the series comes out. It was harder to write my bio, and the back of the book blurb, then it was to write the whole book! After a few weeks, I had it! You'll see when it comes out! I like keeping secrets. &lt;em&gt;Enchantment's Embrace&lt;/em&gt; is out for its first review as we speak. I'm both nervous and excited! I began working on my paranormal novel, and it's looking good. It's a vampire romance, with some very interesting characters. One other thing I'm trying my hand at is making a book trailer. It seems like that is the 'in' thing right now, and it's not as easy as it looks! Fun, but not that easy for me yet. I'm not a quitter, so eventually, you will see one. An Example of a book trailer: &lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJFIj1OQCmY"&gt;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJFIj1OQCmY&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;So, a little about Book two-- Eryn and Uriah's life picks up a year later. Eryn is now living in Pennsylvania at the Enchanted Inn. The same main characters will be involved in one way or another-- Hanah, Alyce and Avis, and Beth. One has to wonder if the Portal will steal their love once again. That's all I'm saying about that. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;I also had to redo my website a little. My web host decided to do a bit of changing, and my site changed a lot! Not for good, either. So, I have a new background, and a few new items, but it's mostly still the same. I invite you to check it out! &lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="justify"&gt;&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/Ryepdc31VwI/AAAAAAAAAKU/xGuF0IMiNSs/s1600-h/Wildwood.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127253024216274690" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/Ryepdc31VwI/AAAAAAAAAKU/xGuF0IMiNSs/s200/Wildwood.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;In September, I had two book signings in Pennsylvania, both towns where this series takes place. I loved going there in the early fall. It was beautiful. I posted pictures of the places I had them. That was my first time doing a book signing in a restaurant, and it's a lot of fun. Football Sunday and a romance author! Imagine that. Anyway, Tim, the owner of the Wildwood Inn and Resort, wants me to come back next year when the second book comes out, and he wants to invite a local author from there, also. I'm looking forward to it. The other place was the Franklin Public Library, in Franklin, PA. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="right"&gt;&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/RyeqDs31VxI/AAAAAAAAAKc/SYPvceQcPks/s1600-h/library_front_left_edit.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127253681346270994" style="CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/RyeqDs31VxI/AAAAAAAAAKc/SYPvceQcPks/s200/library_front_left_edit.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;PERSONAL&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;I am to be spotlighted on a couple websites within the next two months, and I'll make sure you know which ones. I've been interviewed by Historical Romance Club, too, and I'll let you know when you can see that. Since promoting is something I'm trying to work on, I have taken out pages on different network sites, like Shoutlife, Facebook, and Published Authors. Check them out! Each one might tell you something different about me. Lord knows, I have a lot of different sides!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;I know I keep mentioning something about my husband being ill, and never actually mentioned his disease. On my Facebook page, I have his disease, Polycythemia Vera, posted as a cause, along with the Leukemia Foundation. Donations are accepted for those causes. I have nothing to do with that part, only to mention that they are there. My husband's disease is called a Myeloproliferative Disease, a bone marrow disease where the bone marrow doesn't function. Leukemia can always be the next stage for him. The only thing to do for it is give Chemo medicine that is supposed to keep the blood levels stable, and to make him really, really sick. I have learned to give injections, and he get's a Peg-Intron Interferon injection once a week. Writing has become my solace.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ff6600;"&gt;HOW I DO IT!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;Does a book's title have a lot to do with the purchase of a book? I think it does, that's why I put a lot of effort in finding just the right one! It took forever to find a &lt;strong&gt;title&lt;/strong&gt; for &lt;em&gt;Enchantment's Embrace&lt;/em&gt;! I think the publisher and I went around for about 2 or 3 weeks until we settled on one. Actually, I like this one better than any other I had chose. My first title was going to be Memories of Enchantment, Visions of Love. Well, I couldn't do that one because a similar title was already in production. Then, I wanted Visions of the Heart. Nope! But, when I looked at the publisher's website, I saw that there are three pages of Visions of something! Besides, when a book is listed alphabetically, "V" is pretty far down the line; therefore, we have &lt;em&gt;ENCHANTMENT'S EMBRACE&lt;/em&gt;. Hope you like it as much as I do. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;My photo of the Allegheny River was published online. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;Find it here:&lt;a href="http://www.picable.com/Nature/Water/A-Place-of-Solace.54144"&gt;http://www.picable.com/Nature/Water/A-Place-of-Solace.54144&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Please feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think may be interested in my work, or in the Enchantment Series.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Don't forget to pick up a copy of &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.maryjdresselbooks.com/"&gt;Visions of Enchantment&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;Please visit the links I chose to post on the side bar. The one about the fires in California show complete devestation of a large area. My heart goes out to the people who lost everything and anything.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;THANK YOU!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5127218406779868898" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 210px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 127px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" height="101" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/RyeJ-c31VuI/AAAAAAAAAKE/-0KNZdEj8ss/s200/autumn+leaves.jpg" width="161" border="0" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#ffcc99;"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;MARY&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/7444603193379035442-7561457359902914247?l=maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/feeds/7561457359902914247/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7444603193379035442&amp;postID=7561457359902914247&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/7561457359902914247'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/7444603193379035442/posts/default/7561457359902914247'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://maryjdresselsnewsletters.blogspot.com/2007/10/visions-of-enchantment-book-one.html' title=''/><author><name>Author Mary J. McCoy-Dressel</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/13885679683373617239</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='25' height='32' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ME8nSi8cgeE/ToYNjhs9C3I/AAAAAAAABBA/euGU_5FG5gM/s220/book%2Bsigning%2Bat%2Blibrary%2B1st%2Btime.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Po_1RtIRaA/Rydpqs31VtI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/w3aYGNHlmhw/s72-c/fall+trees.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry></feed>
