Tag Archives: Irish dance

St. Patrick’s Day Blog Hop: Siamsa Time!

16 Mar

Welcome to my stop on your St. Patrick’s Day Blog Hop! I’m thrilled to have you here!

My grandfather was Irish (my maiden name is Maher), and I’ve always been proud to have a bit of Irish in me.

I’d always wanted to try Irish step dancing, partly due to heritage, and partly because it just looks and sounds so very cool! A year ago on March 15 (oooooh, Beware the Ides of March), I blew out my knee during a taekwondo class. After surgery to replace the ACL and six months of rehab, I decided it was time for a new activity. After years of suggesting Irish dance as a mother/daughter activity to the Princess, she finally gave in, and we joined a school.

I’m not fantastic at it yet…still have a bit of trouble translating the steps from brain to feet! But it’s enormously fun and I only wish I’d started years ago. To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, I’ll be dancing in my first Siamsa (pronounced SHAMsuh, it’s basically a big Irish party), with hundreds of other dancers, musicians, and assorted folk turning out to celebrate the day when everyone can be Irish! How will you celebrate?

Leave a comment for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card from me, and to have a shot at one of the hop’s Grand Prizes: Your choice of a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, or your choice of a $90 Amazon or B&N Gift Card!

Oh, before you go, here’s the recipe for my current contemporary romance, Mending Fences…

Take one reformed hotshot CEO playing rancher. Add one strong woman, an abuse survivor with a lot of secrets. Toss together for one searing kiss on Halloween, then separate. Fold in a slightly deformed pet bison who creates serendipity by accident.  Stir together. Add discoveries, revelations, angst, heartbreak, suspense, and generous helpings of both healing and sexual tension. Layer with family relationships and a secondary love story and simmer to a Happy Ever After.

Opening taste: Curran Shaw treasured his anonymity, but maintaining it required solitude. And the damned solitude was killing him.

Available in paperback and ebook.

Kindle:  http://amzn.to/yJy1Af     Nook: http://bit.ly/xgLD9O     Smashwords: http://bit.ly/wHtLGm     ARe: http://bit.ly/ybSwtV

Enjoy the rest of the blog hop!

Carrie Ann Ryan www.carrieannryan.blogspot.com
Lia Davis www.authorliadavis.com/blog/
Jesse Kimmel – Freeman http://bellanottethebook.weebly.com/blog.html
Heather Thurmeier heatherthurmeier.com
Gem Savid www.gemsivad.com/blog/
Emily Cale www.emilycale.blogspot.com
Kharisma Rhayne www.kharismarhayne.com
Megan Slayer http://theauthormeganslayer.blogspot.com/
Wendi Zwaduk wendizwaduk.blogspot.com/
Marie Dees mariedees.com
Cassandra Carr http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com/wordpress
Cynthia Woolf www.cynthiawoolf.com/blog
Sandra Bunio Sandrabunino.com
Vannessa Kelly/VK Sykes vanessakellyauthor.com/vanessa-blog/
Tracy Sumner tracysumner.com/blog
Lousia Bacio louisabacio.blogspot.com
Kacey Hammell http://kaceyhammellkreations.blogspot.com/p/st-patricks-day-blog-hop.html
Casia Major caseamajor.wordpress.com/
Eliza Gayle www.elizagayle.net/blog
Natasha Blackthorne http://natashablackthorneblog.blogspot.com/
Allison Merritt havenovelwilledit.blogspot.com
Sandra Sookoo sandrasookoo.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/st-pattys-day-blog-hop-its-not-easy-being-green/
Tara Lain taralain.blogspot.com
Lila Shaw http://lilashaw.com/2012/03/16/st-patricks-day-blog-hop/
Dianne Hartsock diannehartsock.wordpress.com/my-blog/
Ella Jade http://www.ellajadeauthor.blogspot.com/
Bella Street http://www.bellastreetwrites.blogspot.com/
In a Dream Beyond inadreambeyond.blogspot.com
Jessica E. Subject markofthestars.com
H.D. Tomson www.hdthomson.com
A Girl with a Computer http://www.agirlwithacomputer.blogspot.com/
Dakota Trace alittlebitofnaughty.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Draven www.stephaniedraven.com
Welcome to the Island (DX lux) welcome-to-the-island-of-dxluc.blogspot.com/
Chrisinte Quintessence  christineleovlealand-author.blogspot.com/
Tommy Bull Qutntessence http://bullprotettoremurdermysteries.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Queen www.StephanieQueen.com
Leigth Ellwod leighwantsfood.blogspot.com
Linda Andrews http://lindaandrews.wordpress.com/
Lizze Star – Starry words starrwords.blogspot.com
K.E. Saxon www.kesaxon.blogspot.com
Skye Warren skyewarren.com/blog
Veronica Scott veronicascott.wordpress.com/
Lissa Matthews lissamatthews.com/blog
Life is a First Draft (Rebecca Clark) rebeccajclark.blogspot.com
Keta Diablo ketaskeep.blogspot.com
Victoria Adams victoriaadams.blogspot.com/
Daryl Devore myeroticnotions.blogspot.com/
Adriana Kraft adrianakraft.com/blog
Kaye Manro kayemanro.blogspot.com
Amber Kallyn amberkallyn.wordpress.com
Romance Book Club (Joyce) blog.romance-book-club.com/2012/01/st-patrick-day-bloghop-gift-card.html
A Writers (Kathryn Blake) kathrynrblake.blogspot.com/
Pippa Jay pippajay.blogspot.com/
Erica Pike eripike.blogspot.com
Diane Alberts dianealberts.com
Michael Mandrake tabooindeed.blogspot.com
Nikki Brandyberry nikkibrandyberry.wordpress.com/
Gabrielle Bissett gbisset.blogspot.com/
Tamaria Soana tamariasoana.blogspot.com/
Katey Hawthorn www.kateyhawthorne.com/
She Likes it Verbal (Sarah Bella) http://shelikesitverbal.com/blog/
Ranea Rose www.ranaerose.blogspot.com
Selah Janel www.selahjanel.wordpress.com
Zilah Anderson http://zillahanderson.wordpress.com/
Cari Quinn cariquinn.blogspot.com
Briana Courtney brinacourtney.blogspot.com
Jorja Lovett jorja-lovett.blogspot.com/
Get Intimate with History (Anna Markland) http://annamarklandromanceauthor.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Lynne jenniferlynne.com.au/blog
Breathless Press www.breathlessblog.com/
Stephanie Haefner http://www.stephaniehaefnerthewriter.com/
Lisa Kumar lisakumar.blogspot.com/
Close Encounters (Nikki) http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/
Liana Brooks www.lianabrooks.com
Tory Michaels www.torymichaels.com
Best Erotica (Jemma) best-erotica-books.blogspot.com
Wendy Smith  http://www.wendysmithbooks.blogspot.com/
SL Carpenter slcarpenter.blogspot.com/
Day Dreaming daydrmzzz.blogspot.com/
The Ebook Reviewers (Viari Rose) http://theebookreviewers.blogspot.com/
Dark Haven Book Reviews http://www.darkhavenbookreviews.com/
BooksAreCool www.booksarecool.com
DC Juris dcjuris.blogspot.com/
Roz Lee www.authorrozlee.blogspot.com
Le Ann Sontheimer Murphy http://leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogspot.com/
Realmantic Moments http://realmanticmoments.blogspot.com/
Angela Stone http://www.angelastone.ca/blog-3
Brea Essex breaessex.wordpress.com
Writing Utopia  
Beth-Ann Mason http://www.bethannmason.com/st-patricks-day-its-all-about-the-tradition/
Jennifer Lowery http://jenniferloweryauthor.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/st-patricks-day-blog-hop/
Harlies Books harliebooks.blogspot.com
Modern Mythic Romance http://www.sherifredricks.com/apps/blog/
JM Madden jmmadden.blogspot.com/
Lucy Francis www.lucyfrancis.net
Jennfier Probst www.jenniferprobst.com
Aine Massie apmassie.com
Vickie Taylor www.VickieTaylor.com
The Regeny Inkwell http://theregencyinkwell.wordpress.com/
A Diamond in the Dark www.akmarshall.com
Michele Hart http://michelehart.blogspot.com/
Vicki Batman vickibatman.blogspot.com
Kristine Cayne http://kristinecayne.blogspot.com/
Norah Wilson http://norahwilsonwrites.com/wordpress/
Angelique Armae http://angeliquearmae.blogspot.com/
Lisa Mondello www.lisamondello.blogspot.com
JL Oiler www.joiler.weebly.com
Linda Frazier lyndafrazier.blogspot.com
Stacy Juba stacyjuba.com/blog/blog/
Liz Crowe www.brewingpassion.com
Heaven Oshey http://theworldofheavenoshey.blogspot.com/
Patricia Green www.patriciagreenbooks.com
Cat Kalen www.catkalen.com/blog/
Madeline Sloane www.madelinesloane.com/
Jenna Jaxon jennajaxon.wordpress.com
Dianne Ventta www.diannevenetta.com
The Jeep Diva www.thejeepdiva.com/
Margay Leah Justice margayleahjustice.blogspot.com
Leia Shaw www.leiashaw.blogspot.com
JoAnne Kenrick www.joannekenrick.com
Rose Gordon http://rosesromanceramblings.wordpress.com/

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Saturday Stuff

3 Mar

Random notes for Saturday:

  • I always have a wide variety of birds using the feeders in my little urban forest. Two new species have shown up to eat, and I’m trying to get good photos of them so I can get professional help identifying them. I’m pretty sure one of them is a Pacific-slope Flycatcher. Interesting, because that species doesn’t belong in Utah. I’ll post photos when I can.
  • We worked HARD in dance class today. My calves are killing me from being on my toes for an hour. I wouldn’t trade it, though. Irish dance just makes me smile.
  • I’m participating in a St. Patrick’s Day Blog Hop! It’s going to be a lot of fun, and there are even prizes to give away. Every blog in the hop will be giving away a prize, including mine! Stay tuned for what that will be, and click on the Blog Hop sign to the right to learn more.
  • I’m also participating in the Read an Ebook Week promotion on Smashwords. Starting at 12:01 a.m. on March 4, through March 10, Smashwords will offer a catalog of books discounted by the authors. I’m offering Mending Fences at 75% off, to help entice readers into the world of ebooks. Trust me, reading digitally is cool! More on this tomorrow, when the sale begins.

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Word for Saturday: Tired

18 Feb

It’s been a long Saturday. We are just a few weeks out from the St. Patrick’s Day parade and siamsa, so, accordingly, dance class kicked my butt today. Of course, in Irish dance, that’s part of the steps…when you kick your foot up behind you, the goal is to tap your butt. Hmm, I need a bumper sticker…Irish Dancers Kick Butt. Bet I can find one on Cafe Press.

Anyway, the rest of the day has been equally tiring, but I got everything done that I needed to, and I’m now giving some love to the next book, Finding Refuge, which goes on sale May 4.

In honor of Sample Sunday tomorrow (it’s a Twitter thing), I’ve added an excerpt from Mending Fences for your reading pleasure. Just click on the book cover to the right or on the Books tab above. You’ll find the text below the book blurb. Enjoy!

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Stop Sabotaging Your Own Success

17 Feb

I read this today and absolutely loved it: Stop Sabotaging Your Own Success: A Manifesto « When I Have Time by Sara Rosso.

How many times have you stopped yourself from going after something that interested you, something you wanted to try, because you were afraid of failure, or afraid of what others might think, or …whatever other reason you didn’t go for it?

I’ve done that, so many times. Luckily, something started changing for me after I hit 40. I decided I was too old to worry about what other people thought of me. I realized that life is too short and that I didn’t want to be an old woman someday, thinking back on all the things I wished I had tried. I knew that Old Me wouldn’t be proud of the opportunities I’d backed away from out of fear.

So, I’m pushing myself and I’m doing things I’ve always wanted to try. It doesn’t always go well. I studied Tae Kwon Do last year, and ended up blowing my knee out. I don’t regret a moment of it, though. I loved the lessons I learned. It broke me out of the shell I’d encased myself in over time.

Now that the knee is strong again, I take Irish dance classes, something I’ve loved for years and always talked myself out of doing because I was old and out of shape and I’d look stupid. I have a performance coming up on St. Patrick’s Day, and I couldn’t be happier.

I’m publishing my books, which scares me to death because it’s such a huge a thing to tackle. But now I won’t stare into the mirror someday, looking Old Me in the eye, and regret never trying.

What do you really want to try? Here’s a challenge: Go for it today!

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