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Wednesday, November 28, 2012

MAXIMUS Release Day

November 28/2012

Fans of historical romance are in for a treat with the launch of MAXIMUS - book I in the Imperial Desire series. Set in ancient Rome, Maximus is the story of an exiled soldier and the woman he wronged years ago.

Carissa Valeria distrusts the handsome soldier who rescues her reckless son from plunging to an early death. Recalling the man's heartless treatment of her from years ago, she itches to even the score, but her son hails the rescuer as a hero. When he becomes her neighbor, her son's friendship with the soldier threatens to uncover old secrets and place her family and her heart in danger.

Exiled to the countryside by the Roman emperor, Maximus Octavius is confounded by the brittle countenance of the woman he's willing to befriend. She's afraid, and he's determined to find out why. But helping Carissa and her son means confronting the guilt of his long-forgotten past and stirring the silenced passion in his heart.
Can Maximus win Carissa before fear and revenge tear them apart forever? 




Four cubits away, a man idly leaned against a tree, watching her with a carefree grin on his face.
Maximus. 
“Have you come to finish the job, Ulla?” Carissa’s hand instinctively went to the knife. He shook his head. “That little weapon doesn’t scare me half as much as the arrow you had earlier. You’ve come without the protection of the bow this time. Why?”
Carissa held fast to the knife, estimating her chances at removing it before he reached her. “I’m looking for my boy, nothing else.” Her pulse raced, and her mind swirled in turmoil. She swallowed down her fear and held his gaze, desperately wanting to run away but knowing he would catch her easily.
“He is not here, as you can see.” The man’s intense blue eyes burned into hers, hungry for something she could name but preferred to forget.
“I’ll be on my way.” Rooted to the spot, she trembled. If she passed him, she would be unable to defend against an attack.
His grin faded, and he narrowed his eyes. “You don’t like me, do you? Is it all men or just me you have a grudge against?”
“Just you.”

Buy Maximus

Monday, November 19, 2012

Four Score and Seven Years Ago....



Four Score and Seven Years Ago…

Most of us have heard those famous words, but I wonder how often anyone takes the time to reflect upon them or their meaning. 

On November 2, 1863, many months after the battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) had ended, Governor David Wills invited President Abraham Lincoln to “make a few appropriate remarks” at the consecration of a cemetery for the Union war dead. 

Lincoln accepted the invitation, probably viewing the event as an appropriate time to honor the war dead, as well as reveal his evolving thinking about the way, not merely as a fight to save the Union but as an opportunity to establish freedom for all those under the law. 

On November 19, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Lincoln spoke the now famous words.  At the time, the President drew criticism because of the brevity of his comments.  Yet those “few appropriate remarks” have gone on to be one of the most memorable speeches of all time. 

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . . we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth.
Well said, Mr. President.

For more information on the Gettysburg Address or Abraham Lincoln, visit:


http://www.nps.gov/archive/gett/home.htm


Sunday, November 11, 2012

Veteran's Day

With the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, World War I (known as The Great War, to my grandmother’s generation) ended. However, actual fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice–or temporary cessation of hostilities,–between the Allies and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.

In November 1919 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: “To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.”

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I –and Armistice Day became a US holiday– when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

In 1953, a shoe store owner from Emporia Kansas had the idea to expand the Armistice Day celebration to all veterans, not just those who served in WWI. He began to campaign to turn Armistice Day into “all” Veteran’s Day. The Emporia, KS Chamber of Commerce took up the cause and area merchants and the Board of Education began closing their doors on November 11 to honor all veterans. With the help of US Representative Dwight Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress and on May 26, 1954 President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law.

On November 8, 1954, Congress amended the act, replacing “armistice” with Veterans. It has been known as Veteran’s Day ever since.