Met Some New Friends Today

In person, that is. We'd already met them online.

After church this morning, Julie and I headed to Ponce on the south central coast of Puerto Rico where we met up with Lisa and Beto of The Messy Suitcase Blog. Their story has some similarities to ours!

Lyn, Julie, Lisa, Beto in Ponce.

A few years ago, they decided to spend their early retirement traveling. But they needed an anchor, a place to call home. They settled on Puerto Rico and just recently purchased a home in Cabo Rojo.

We came across their blog when we were researching what it took to bring our cat Charlie to PR. They'd just posted an update about the hoops they'd had to jump through to bring their cat, Kaylee.

After some comments back and forth on our blog, Boom Travel and Wellness, and theirs, we set a zoom Happy Hour to meet online. When we both made it to PR, we'd try to get together.

Librería El Candil in Ponce.

Well, that happened today when we "met in the middle" in Ponce - about an hour drive for each of us. In the old town section of the city, there's a wonderful plaza with a number of shops and one of the best ice cream places on the island. There's also a cute little cafe and bookstore nearby.

After a bit of street food (pinchos de pollo from a street vendor) and some fabulous ice cream from King's Cream, we walked around and caught up on each other's stories. It was a fun afternoon. Definitely visit their blog, they have a lot of adventures to share!

Us at the Fox Hotel in Ponce.

And soon, we'll be sharing some new adventures together.

  

Book Date Monday - #AmReading Feb 21

Here's what's on and off the bookshelf this coming week. 

(Also participating in Book Date Monday - so post your reading update to *inlinkz party* here and comment below with what you're reading. Note: Mostly affiliate links to Amazon below.)

On the shelf but ready to come off...

Enemy of Valor by Josh Hayes (mil-sf, 2020). This is the 3rd and final book in the Valor series, which I plan to start reading this week. Josh lives in the same town as I do and is a solid indie writer.

Naked in Death by J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts) (futuristic suspense, 1995). This is the first of 50+ books in this series (which I will never finish!).

I already blogged about this one and need to get going on it! But it's a paperback and I don't read those at night. It's much easier to read e-books in bed. Finding time during the day to read is harder. 

On the tablet and half-way through...

Omega Sanction by Bob Mayer (special ops thriller, 1999) This is book 4 in his Shadow Warriors series set in Bosnia during that conflict. Despite the grisly opening chapter (which you can skip), the action is tense and fast-paced. 

If you like Brad Thor or Vince Flynn, then you might want to try Mayer's novels. Omega Sanction features a Green Beret (or Delta Section? I can't remember! lol) hero on a mission to uncover the abduction of teenage girls. The bad guys are selling deadly nerve gas and it's a race against time. Etc. The cyber-spying is just a tad dated (written 20+ years ago) but still pretty intriguing.

Also reading So You Need a Fake Relationship by Elizabeth Maddrey (Christian romance, 2021). This is book 5 in her Billionaire series, and yes, it's quite a departure from military SF and special ops thrillers that I normally read! 

But for full disclosure, Beth is my niece and I've read almost all of her 40 or so books. She has about 6 or 7 different series, many are interrelated. All contemporary Christian romance. 

My favorite series of hers is Hope Ranch, but have enjoyed them all. The Billionaire set up is interesting - the owner of a huge tech firm is playing matchmaker with some key leaders in his company. Romantic interests abound.

So yes, I like romance. I've even tried my hand at the genre! I've written an Amish love story, a novella called Thee Will I Cherish (under the pen name of Joyce Daley, see book cover below). It's free on Kindle Unlimited. 

But if you are a reviewer and want a complimentary ebook copy, let me know. I can also provide a discount paperback. Would love for some of you avid readers to give it a shot and let me know what you think. If you like it, I may write more Amish romance stories - always open to ideas! 

Done and back on the shelf...

Mentioned in yesterday's roundup that I finished 3 books last week.

1) Perry's World by Jack C. Haldeman II (Star Trek #13, paperback, 1980, 132 pages) - Pretty good. 3 Stars.

2) Echoes of Valor by Josh Hayes (mil-sf, ebook, 2019, book 2 of his 3 book Valor series) - Really good. 4 stars.

3) So You Have My Secret Baby by Elizabeth Maddrey (Christian romance, 2021, book 4 in the 6 book series: So You Want to be a Billionaire) - Very enjoyable 4.5 stars.

Stuck on the shelf...

I still need to finish these two books that I'm sort of stuck in right now. No reason, just lost steam and need to get back to them:

Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock (fantasy, 1967, paperback, 176 pages, first book in the Dorian Hawkmoon series).

Starship Gilead: Relics of Utopia by John Graves (Mil SF, 2022). An ARC I need to read and review by middle of March, I think.

That's it for Book Date Monday. Feel free to join the link party and comment below. Chat with you throughout the day and week. Happy reading.

Sunday Post - A Weekly Roundup

Time to look back and look ahead. The Sunday Post is hosted by the Caffeinated Reviewer. Go there to see a ton of other book bloggers participating in this weekly round up of what's been going on.

Personal & Family Life...

• Super Bowl party last Sunday with friends. We've been getting together for 25 years! Who knows who won? We just had fun getting together, eating, enjoying each others' company, and watching a few commercials. (grin)
• Valentine's Day - My wife and I actually celebrated it last night at a neat and cozy wine bar in town. It was her retirement party as well. We're excited about the next chapter in our lives - moving to Puerto Rico. More about that in the days ahead.
• Hymn Discussion - for Wednesday Night Bible Study we're going over the stories of our favorite hymns. This past week we talked about "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" and looked at the message of the hymn, its history, and how it has impacted us. Great discussion.
• My Dad's Birthday - My folks died a number of years back, but I recalled his birthday (1916) this past week. The celebration of my Mom's birthday (1921) is next week. Such memories.
• Selling Items - Since we're moving to PR this summer, we're getting rid of practically all our household items. So I'm listing books on Pango. (Please buy!) And my wife is posting items on FB. We're getting weird responses like: "Is this still available." Yes, are in you interested? "Pass." Goofballs! lol
• Cats, Cats, and More Cats - We have 4 strays that we feed each morning and evening. This past week it iced and snowed on Thursday and were able to get 2 of them inside (semi-feral!). But the other 2 had to make do in the garage with a heated pad in a sheltered box. They survived. Looks like a repeat performance this week with freezing temperatures in the forecast. Dang cats.
• Grrrr. Medication. Finished 2 weeks of Fluorouracil cream on my face and forehead to treat actinic keratoses (pre-cancerous skin lesions caused by swimming every day in the California sun growing up!). Now I just have blisters all over and my face is ugly - uglier than it usually is! lol
• Walked 6 miles on Saturday - part of our training to get in 15-mile-a-day shape for our hike in Spain this coming May. We're doing 6 days on the Camino de Santiago, just north of Portugal. Going with our two adult daughters and their significants and two other couples. Should be wow!
• Finally, woke up this morning to the news that my swimmer friend from college who was fighting cancer, gained the victory in Jesus and is now with the Lord. Her testimony of trust and encouragement was so powerful these past 6 months. Pray for Leigh's family, tho. Thanks. 

Books & Such...

• Finished 3 books this past week. Doesn't mean I started and finished them all in one week! Will likely post reviews on Goodreads this coming week for:
• 1) Perry's World by Jack C. Haldeman II (Star Trek #13, paperback, 1980, 132 pages) - Pretty good. 3 Stars.
• 2) Echoes of Valor by Josh Hayes (mil-sf, ebook, 2019, book 2 of his 3 book Valor series) - Really good. 4 stars.
• 3) So You Have My Secret Baby by Elizabeth Maddrey (Christian romance, 2021, book 4 in the 6 book series: So You Want to be a Billionaire) - Very enjoyable 4.5 stars.

Currently reading: 

• Omega Sanction by Bob Mayer (special ops thriller, 1999, book 4 in his Shadow Warriors series)
• So You Need a Fake Relationship by Elizabeth Maddrey (book 5 in her Billionaire series)

Stalled or still on my nightstand/tablet...

• Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock (fantasy, 1967, paperback, 176 pages, first book in the Dorian Hawkmoon series) - having trouble getting past the half-way point.
• Enemy of Valor by Josh Hayes (mil-sf, final book in his Valor series) - want to start this soon, but have a few other books I need to finish up first. Dang.
• Starship Gilead: Relics of Utopia by John Graves (Mil SF, 2022). An ARC I need to get to soon!
• Naked in Death by J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts) (futuristic suspense, 1995) - this is the first of 50+ books in this series, but I won't tackel all 50 lol. I still need to start this one beyond the "first line."

Well, that's about it for now. Comment below and share any updates you want or a link to Sunday Post. Thanks for dropping by!

P.S. I'm also the author of Ma Tutt's Donut Hut, a curious cozy mystery/magical cat adventure. My goal is to finish book 2 in the series this summer. Let me know if you want to review it. I can send a complimentary e-book copy (or discounted paperback) to those who are truly interested. 

Blog Under Construction

Image by Jose R. Cabello from Pixabay.

I'm going to give my blog a facelift starting this weekend. Lots of little things. Will likely keep the basic theme but get rid of a side column. 

So, main blog area plus a side column of goodies for those who visit on their laptops/desktops. Will take a few days, I'm sure, until I'm happy with the remodeled layout.

One reason for the upcoming change is that none of the side column stuff shows up on a mobile device. Just a list of blog posts. Then you have to touch a dropdown tab to see what pages are available for viewing.

That's fine. But since lots of people browse the internet via their phones, I need to make sure all my projects are just a few taps away.

On my various pages, I'll list my stories, collections, series, upcoming projects, etc. I'll keep my "about" page of course and how you can contact me. And probably add a page for direct purchase (paperbacks, especially, but also e-books via Venmo or PayPal.)

When you visit a blog - either by mobile device, tablet, or laptop/desktop - what do you look for? What features are important for you to access? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks!

~*~

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(via PayPal.Me - an e-book from Tule Fog Press.)

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