May is National Military Appreciation Month - Aloha to Julie Rowe

Julie Rowe added international flare to the SOS America Military Tribute - she hosted the Canadian Table and read IN FLANDERS FIELD (we'll chat about the military tribute next week).  From Julie's bio,

Full-time author, freelance writer and workshop facilitator,Julie Rowe’s debut novel, Icebound, was released by Carina Press on Nov 14, 2011. North of Heartbreak followed on April 16, 2012 and Saving The Rifleman on October 8, 2012. Both North of Heartbreak and Saving The Rifleman finaled in the 2013 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, with Saving The Rifleman winning the novella category. Enticing the Spymaster and Aiding the Enemy followed in 2013. Molly Gets Her Man was published by Entangled Ignite in January 2014. Hollywood Scandal released May 27, 2014 from the Entangled Indulgence imprint. Julie’s articles and short stories have appeared in numerous magazines, such as Romantic Times Magazine, Today's Parent magazine and Canadian Living. Julie facilitates business writing and communication workshops at Keyano College in her home city, and has presented writing workshops at conferences in the United States and Canada. She’s also a strong supporter of life long learning and moderates a free announcement loop for the promotion of online classes, workshops and webinars. 

Visit her at JulieRoweAuthor.com.

Julie is preparing for the release of DEADLY STRAIN, Book One of the Biological Response Team, available June 15:

Major Grace Samuels, a trauma surgeon deployed to Afghanistan, spends her life helping her fellow soldiers overcome disease and combat injuries. But her own wounds are harder to heal. Wracked with guilt over the death of a fellow soldier, she finds comfort in her only friend and appointed bodyguard, weapons sergeant Jacob “Sharp” Foster.

Sharp feels more for Grace than a soldier should, more than he wants to admit. When the team discovers a new, quick-to-kill strain of anthrax, he tries to focus on the mission to find its source. He knows he can help Grace defeat her demons, but first they must defeat the deadly outbreak.

Sharp is Grace’s most loyal ally, but in close quarters, he starts to feel like more. She can’t watch someone else she cares about die—but she might not have a choice. The closer they get to finding the source of the strain, the closer it gets to finding them.

A real medical team in Afghanistan ...

Mahalo, Julie for your support of the SOS America Military Tribute.  May is National Military Appreciation Month. For the month of May, I am giving away one grand prize of books and swag from the authors featured this month (link). Plus five more commenters - one for each branch of service - wins a book choice from my convention stash. To enter the giveaway,

1. Leave a comment about Canada - what do you know about it?  What do you love about it?  When we lived in the Netherlands, my oldest son attended the International School. He was taught by Canadian teachers for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades.  Andrew learned about Canada's hero, Terry Fox.

2. Comments are open through Sunday, May 31, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winners on Monday, June 1.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Terry Fox, Canadian cancer research activist
Image released to Public Domain (link)

May is National Military Appreciation Month - Aloha to Ella Quinn

Ella Quinn cohosted the international table at the SOS America Military Tribute.  From her bio,

Ella Quinn lived all over the United States, the Pacific, Canada, England and Europe before finally discovering the Caribbean. She lives in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands with her wonderful husband, three bossy cats and a loveable great dane.

Ella loves when friends connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Ella is standing in the front row, second from right.

Ella is celebrating the release A KISS FOR LADY MARY, Book 6 in the Marriage Game:  

Handsome, charming, and heir to a powerful Viscount, Christopher “Kit” Featherton is everything a woman could want—except interested in marriage. So when he hears that someone on his estate near the Scottish border is claiming to be his wife, Kit sets off to investigate.

Since her parents’ death, Lady Mary Tolliver has been hounded by her cousin, a fortune-hunting fool after her inheritance. Refusing to settle for anything less than love, Mary escapes to the isolated estate of rakish bachelor, Kit Featherton. Knowing he prefers Court to the country, she believes she will be safe. But when Kit unexpectedly returns, her pretend marriage begins to feel seductively real… 

Edinburgh Castle circa 1753
Public Domain (link)

Ella offers a guest post ....

As an historical author I love taking my readers to different places. In A Kiss for Lady Mary, even though my heroine desperately wanted to go to London for a Season, Circumstances forced her to settle for the capital to the north, in other words, Edinburgh. The reasons for that will become clear if you read the book. Unfortunately, other than one scene in an earlier book, I had never placed a book in Scotland before. And although I knew they had a Season, I knew nothing about it. Suffice it to say that the research ended up being intensive and rather illuminating.

Since I had a number of gentlemen, I found it necessary to research gentlemen’s clubs. Unlike the English clubs such as White’s and Brook’s the Scottish clubs didn’t affiliate themselves with particular political parties. There was a betting book, but the Scots considered it ill-mannered to bet on anything a lady may do (I can’t say I disagree) and downright stupid to bet on raindrops racing down a pane of glass. Scotch not brandy was the drink of choice. Who didn’t see that coming? Still, they were the place gentlemen went to commune, dine, catch up on the latest news, and get away from the ladies.

Ladies, on the other hand, had endless morning calls. They not only began earlier in the day, but, as there was no Promenade à la Hyde Park, they lasted much of the day.

In the evenings, the Scots engaged in the same round of balls, dinners, theater, and other forms of entertainments, but not on the grand scale as their London counterparts. A surprise to me was that public assemblies were quite popular. Assemblies in England were restricted for the most part to Bath, and county towns.

One piece of information I found interesting was that the grounds of Holyrood Palace were used by debtors to escape debtors prison. If the debtor was on the grounds of the old church, they were immune to arrest.

All in all, it sounded like a good time to me without the grand drama of the ton. London or Edinburgh? What do you think?

Holyrood Palace circa 1649

Public Domain (link)

Ella is giving away an ecopy of A KISS FOR LADY MARY to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Answer Ella's question - London or Edinburgh?

2.  Comments are open through Sunday, May 31, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Monday, June 1.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore

Aloha Spirit in Charm City 

Memorial Day - A Day To Remember

I asked romance authors to share their thoughts about military life, using their input for several posts for USA Today's Happily Ever After (HEA) Blog:

"Brats" share their memories: link
Spouses share their stories: link
Veterans share Their Memories: link

I saved two submissions for Memorial Day:

Geri Krotow, Navy Veteran, gerikrotow.com,

Each Memorial Day I pause to think about my classmates from the Naval Academy who gave the ultimate sacrifice--they're no longer here to brag about being an Annapolis grad, or to meet up for a reunion. I think about the active duty men and women we've lost. As a Navy spouse I experienced the loss of one of my husband's squadron's members who had transferred to the Pentagon and who gave his life on 9-11. I am honored to have served in the same Navy as they did, and doubly honored to have served as a Navy spouse so that my husband could fulfill his duties for an entire career.

Elizabeth Langston, Air Force veteran, elizabethlangston.net,

My brother James served two tours in Iraq as a National Guardsman. In 2005, I wrote him every Friday without fail. They were funny, newsy, lighthearted letters. A regular catchup on my kids. Sports highlights from his favorite teams. The "stupid criminal joke" of the week.

When he returned, he never mentioned them, and neither did I.

Then, in 2009, he learned he'd be going on a second deployment. At his farewell party, the whole family was laughing and kidding around, asking what kind of care packages he wanted us to send. I asked him, "What would you like from me?" And he said, "The same thing you sent last time."

If you would like to write to deployed personnel, please contact me at sos.aloha@yahoo.com.

Finally, please enjoy the military tribute I created from readers' pictures of their loved ones who serve and continue to defend freedom at this link. My goal is 500 views, so please share with your family and friends.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

 Sailors man the rails from the USS Nimitz in honor
of the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor