I am doing a happy dance for the blessed rain we received this past week! It's a welcome break from the brutal heat and long drought. I'm sure we'll have some hot days ahead here and there, but it feels like the spell is broken. I am so thrilled to have gotten "Painting Christmas" up for pre-order. It's a very short time before I publish, but it all feels right.

Hello, friends!! I am thrilled to announce that PAINTING CHRISTMAS is now available for pre-order with a publication date of 10-10-26. I just love those numbers as they all add up to ones 10+10+2026=111 PRE-ORDER LINK Thank you for all of your amazing support!

Hello, friends. I'm BACK!! And I have a lot to share. So, let's dive in! Doesn't this look like an awesome place to meander? It makes me think of Finn's Forest that D.L. Finn often talks about. Where to begin? When I left you, I spoke of plans to visit my friend, Kay and attend a music festival. I did both things.

I will be traveling this weekend, so there will be no Monday post next week. It will be GREAT to get out of the city for a few hours! I have a friend that has been with me through thick and thin for almost 50 years. I have not seen her in over a year and am going to visit. She lives on beautiful Caddo Lake in East Texas and then tomorrow we are going to a music festival!

Hope everyone is doing well on this Monday, the middle of September. Me? I'm doing just fine. I have some fun things to share today. I just love it when authors get to meet up and visit. And that's what happened last Friday. I had received a random email from this author and almost blocked and deleted it, as I do multiple scam emails per day.

Hello, friends. I am super excited to open my blog up to mystery author, Susie Black today. She has a new book that recently launched and I'm reading it now. I'll turn this over to Susie so she can introduce herself and her books. Thank you, Jan, for giving me this platform today! World Building 101: How a story is born…

I intended to make a Meanderings post yesterday and then... Well, I didn't. It was Labor Day in the United states and an official holiday. I honestly had no idea where the holiday originated until I read Nicholas Rossis' post on Story Empire. It's quite interesting. Today's post will be short and sweet. I wanted to let everyone know I will have a guest author on Thursday that I think you'll enjoy meeting.

I read a lot. I joined Goodreads in 2013 and since it started tracking me in 2014, I've read 745 books. 🙂 I found some nuggets in the books I read in August. Hope you enjoy my thoughts on these. PURCHASE LINK MY REVIEW: This story is one of the most masterfully woven psychological thriller/mystery I've ever read. Gwen Meredith suffers from low self-esteem and carries a burden of guilt that has weighed her down since childhood.

Greetings, friends!! Guess what? I'm not going to talk about the weather today. 🙂 Aren't you glad I'm giving that a rest? What I am going to talk about is writing THE END to Painting Christmas, my novella! Of course, I'm not actually finished, but at least it's ready for editing, tweaking and all that other good stuff we do. …

Hello, friends! Wow! What a crazy few days I've had. Thank goodness I only turn 75 once. 🙂 AND, the heat persists. We are now on our 29th day of triple digits. Back in 2011, this area set a record of over 70 days straight. I was living in Colorado that year, so I missed it. At any rate, this next week doesn't show any relief in sight yet.

Hi everyone, it’s Robbie Cheadle with you today and I’m sharing my review of Tales from the Irish Garden: The Missing Pieces by Sally Cronin. Sally Cronin has a marvelous international …

Hello, friends. It's been another full week of triple digit temps and honestly, there is no end in sight. Maybe by the end of next month. I'm hoping! The book festival in Greenville, Tx yesterday was really good. There were lots of people milling about and I sold a good amount of books. Besides that, it was great to visit with other authors I hadn't seen in a while and to make new acquaintances.

Hi, friends. I am super excited to fly across the pond to South Africa for a visit with my friend, Robbie Cheadle! I hope you'll join me there where we'll talk about books, poems and other authorly things. 🙂 ROBBIE CHEADLE - BLOG POST Not only did she interview me, but she also has a wonderful review! I'm deeply grateful.

Oh my goodness, it's HOT in Texas. We are melting. Come on Fall! Yes, the temperatures are lingering in the triple digits daily. I know we should never be surprised, but it catches me off guard every year. I'm SO ready for my favorite time of year, autumn! I'll rant just a little. I've been in this apartment going on ten years.

Hello, friends. I'm thrilled to share the books I read and reviewed in July. As always, I only share 4 and 5 star reviews. I hope you enjoy and that you leave with one or two. 🙂 PURCHASE LINK MY REVIEW: I enjoyed the first book in the Shallow Draw Series and looked forward to reading Asher Cade's story. And what a story it was!

Greetings!! I am so excited today to travel across the globe to visit with a blogger/author who I greatly admire. Sally Cronin's wonderful Smorgasbord is a place where you can find everything from book features, health advice, funnies, reviews and everything in between. Sally is such a supportive and encouraging human. I deeply appreciate her sharing my short story, "Choosing Bella."

Welcome to the round up of posts you might have missed this week on Smorgasbord.. I know some of you have been enduring record temperatures and even here we have had some scorchers. It is not often…

Hi, everyone. I’m here today to share some great books I read in June. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have nothing to do but read for days on end? I would love it!! PURCHASE LINK MY REVIEW: …

Surprise!! Yes, I know I said I wasn’t going to blog anymore in July, but then… Willow Willer’s Tanka Tuesday Challenge immediately sparked something, so I decided to share it. I&…

Jag Peters works hard to keep his karma clean and his life peaceful. Then a near miss with a red Harley leads him straight into a world he never expected—and to Rena Jett, a fierce beauty…

Hello, friends. While I enjoyed taking a month break from blogging, I’ve missed all of your posts, engagement and comments. But I’m back! Wow!! July was a whirlwind. I have a lot to cat…

Here are the books I read in July that were 4- or 5-star reads! The Gilded Thespian Show (Shallow Draw Series Book 2) by Mae Clair I read and loved “Diamond Jack” and was thrilled to see the series…

I have known photographer and blogger Terri Webster Schrandt for several years. Terri is among the first bloggers I met when I joined Wordpress in 2016. Terri is know for her photography challenges…

Hello, friends. While I enjoyed taking a month break from blogging, I've missed all of your posts, engagement and comments. But I'm back! Wow!! July was a whirlwind. I have a lot to catch up on and this post may be a little longer than I normally write. But I have so much to tell you. 🙂 First of all, how is everyone?

Jag Peters works hard to keep his karma clean and his life peaceful. Then a near miss with a red Harley leads him straight into a world he never expected—and to Rena Jett, a fierce beauty…

Surprise!! Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to blog anymore in July, but then... Willow Willer's Tanka Tuesday Challenge immediately sparked something, so I decided to share it. I'm sure I didn't follow her directions properly, but it's my first time to participate. Her instructions were to take a look through some of your old photos and pick one with a special memory.

Hi, everyone. I'm here today to share some great books I read in June. Wouldn't it be amazing to have nothing to do but read for days on end? I would love it!! PURCHASE LINK MY REVIEW: I read this book at the same time as my granddaughter so we could talk about it. That was fun! It was like having our own private book club.

Hello, friends. Thank you for joining me for another ramble. This week leads us up to the 4th of July in America. But to be honest, I don't feel much like celebrating. I'll just leave it at that. This past week was a rollercoaster on steroids. It started out with the road trip. My three grandsons and I went visit a first cousin in Gatesville, Tx.

Hello, friends. Yesterday was the Summer Solstice, and I found this image to reflect that. I had an extremely busy week (what else is new?), right? Still, this one was even busier than usual. My granddaughter closed out the dance season with three nights of recital. The whole event was so incredibly uplifting. These kiddos work so very hard. I enjoyed every night of the shows.

Hello, friends. Thanks for dropping by for another meandering today. This will be a short one. First the good news. My middle grandson is now a licensed driver! Josh passed his test. The smile says it all. This week is dance recital for my oldest granddaughter while the younger one is off to camp for seven days. Even with no school, their little lives are so busy!

I'm late with this post, but returned home last night. Still, I want to say hello and share. You may remember last week I shared I was going to visit with my brother who lives in Katy, Texas, near Houston. He is eighty-five, so ten years older than me. He's always been a hard worker and one of the most pleasant people I've ever known.

Hello, friends. I'm here today to share some thoughts about fantastic books I read in May. So, sit back, grab a beverage and let's dive in! PURCHASE LINK MY REVIEW: I've read both previous books in this series so immediately pre-ordered this one when it came up. I knew it would be Ace's story and I couldn't wait! Now, I'm impatiently waiting for the mysterious Damian's story!

Hello, beautiful souls! Happy first day of June! I have a lot of meandering to do today, so I hope you'll hang with me. Whew! Where to start? I suppose the best place to start is with the wonderful visit to see my sister! It is a five hour drive to her house, but it took me a little longer because I chose to go a back way due to heavy holiday traffic.

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. Today I’m reviewing Jan Sikes’s latest release – Fringes, Heartstrings and Lyrics. It’s a beautiful book with short stories and a few poems…

Hi Everyone, In the midst of working on my own writing projects, I’m enjoying some great reading and finally finished reviews. I hope my thoughts prompt you to visit Amazon. :) And please kno…

In this regular series for 2026, you are invited to share an excerpt of 400 to 500 words from any book you have written you would like to give a boost to. This feature is for any author who has bee…

Hello, friends. Here in the U.S. we are heading into a holiday weekend AND for all my grandkids, it's the last week of school. There will be no Monday post next week as I will be in Lubbock visiting with my sister, Linda Broday! It's been another busy week around here. Yesterday was Linda's birthday. From now until August, she is four years older, then after my birthday we're three years apart.

I have now read or listened to all of the books recommended to me in the 12 Friends/12 Books Challenge. I actually have 14 recommendations, and they have now all been read and reviewed. I recently …

What a great blog tour I had with FRINGES, HEARTSTRINGS, AND LYRICS! All of my hosts and hostesses were so wonderfully supportive and created welcoming stops for all. I tried to answer all the comments, but I know I missed some. If you missed a post and want to see it, you can click on each name. C.S. BOYACK…

Picture caption: The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder book tour banner Introduction Today I’m delighted to welcome poet and author Lindsey Martin-Bowen to Roberta Writes. Lindsey is showcasing her…

Today I’m hosting Jan Sikes on the last stop of her blog tour! Fringes, Heartstrings, and Lyrics has already gotten rave reviews, and Jan’s given us sneak peeks of the stories at each s…

I am happy to sail off to Kentucky today to spend some time at Teri Polen's place. Come along and let's wrap up this tour!! Teri hosts a monumental month long blogging event every October with her Bad Moon Rising. How she does it, I don't know, but I love following along and have discovered new authors through that event.

Hello, friends. I am feeling especially grateful today. In a world filled with chaos, I choose kindness, love and joy. I hope all the Moms out there had a wonderful Mother's Day celebration! I had a great Mother's Day celebrating with the kids and grandkids. Even got some facetime with the kiddo away at college. One of my favorite places on earth is the area around Sedona, Arizona.

I love sharing books that affect me in some way or another. All of the books I read in April fit into that category for sure! Enjoy! PURCHASE LINK MY REVIEW: This book exposes all the dysfunctions any family could possibly have. Frank was a career military man. While he was sure at least one of his sons would follow in his footsteps, they both chose different paths opposite from their dad's.

I am so happy to get to sail on to New Hampshire for a visit with another of my favorite humans, Liz Gauffreau! I got to know Liz better when she was a member of our Story Empire group and I am a huge fan of her writing. If you look her up on Google, it says she is a writer in poet's clothing.

I promote authors across most genres except for erotica as I do have a younger readership… You can find my personal recommendations Free Book Marketing and personal Recommendations  I am an a…

Hello, fellow travelers. Today, we're going east to visit with Dan Antion. Come on along. I am a fan of Dan's entertaining blog site where he shares his photographs and bunnies. 🙂 But Dan is also an author and his latest book was a fantastic collaboration with poet, Willow Willers. ! PURCHASE LINK MY REVIEW FROM LAST YEAR: I enjoyed seeing some of the same characters in this story that I met in the previous book, "Bridge To Nowhere." It was like visiting with old friends at the newspaper office.

Hello, friends! Here we are, at the start of a new week AND a new month! I'm so grateful for the positive reviews that are showing up for Fringes, Heartstrings, and Lyrics! To everyone who is giving this little collection a chance, I say THANK YOU!! My new Christmas novella is coming along, but now I am thinking I need to switch two of my characters.

Delighted to share my review for the latest release by Jan Sikes, with poetry from Rick Sikes and Sydney Klein…..Fringes, Heartstrings and Lyrics About the book At the edge of the world, and …

When we think of the word "Anniversary," it most often conjures up good memories, happy times and celebrations. That is not exactly the case with this anniversary. I have a hard time comprehending that seventeen years have passed since Rick Sikes left his physical body. I usually try to do something on this day to commemorate his life, his talents, and his work.