Dawn Baca

Creating Ripples on Every Page

Things To Be Thankful For

Posted on Nov 28, 2019 by Dawn Baca   Comments Off on Things To Be Thankful For | Posted in Books · Family & Friends · Travels & Adventures

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone,

For more than the first decade of our marriage, we held all annual holidays at our house filled with friends and family and all the crazy shenanigans that come with it. The annual holiday’s changed a few years back, and we no longer host them. Now with everyone grown and scattered we’ve taken the opportunity to go on more adventures.

We’ve always enjoyed going to different places and trying new things, and as each year passes we create new traditions. Are any of you planning on going on an adventure for the holidays? Traveling to visit distant relatives? Or go on a long-awaited vacation?

Travels and Adventures: 

Thanksgiving is still a great gathering of friends and family for us, we just do it in Mexico now. San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez in Baja Mexico is a magical place for us. The weather is beautiful, the people are great, and the food is amazing. We’ve met so many American and Canadian ex-pats while visiting that we don’t feel so out of place. Some live there full time, while others visit often for extended stays.

All Things Writing:

I’ve updated my website to add a page to purchase copies of my signed paperbacks. A perfect gift for the holidays.

Writing all the words has been such a struggle in the last few months. I started the year off so strong, making massive strides to breaking my personal records. And then, well things got complicated and stressful and I couldn’t find the words. They just completely disappeared. It wasn’t writer’s block, it was simply being so massively overwhelmed, and unable to put it all together. Pulling the last remaining words to finish the story was gut-wrenching and oddly cathartic at the same time. I really poured my soul into these character’s experiences.

Now with my third book in this series almost back from the editors, I thought now would be a good time to give you a small taste of what I’ve been working on…

~~~

His Heart’s Promise

The stifling fog rolled in, blanketing everything, leaving no visible light. It was like walking through a tunnel, no beginning, no end. Silent, solemn, devoid of emotion. There were no sensory impressions.

A cocoon of soundless mist surrounded Sophie. It swallowed her, bathing her in suffocating silence. Unable to move, as a sense of dread permeated her every cell. A sharp chill clawed through her bones, slicing its way clear through to her heart, leaving agony so overwhelming it stole her ability to utter a sound.

An intense sensation of falling consumed her. Her stomach pitched and she lurched. She reached out for him, her hand trembling, desperate for her love, but her fingers landed on cold, lonely sheets. Her heart froze as the reality sank in.

He was gone.

Lost to her forever.

Despair flooded her. Peace shattered, the shards raining down around her as she screamed his name.

“Shh. Sweetheart, it’s okay. I’m right here,” Claude said.

Whipping toward his voice, she blinked bringing the dark room into dim focus. “Oh, Claude,” she cried.

He reached out and wrapped his arms tight around her as tears dripped down her cheeks and onto his bare chest.

Sweat trickled down her back, soaking into her silk nightgown adding discomfort to the lingering fear. The inky darkness of the room reminded her too much of the smothering fog, setting her nerves even more on edge. Her head throbbed as she tried to wrap her mind around the dream. The nightmare had come again.

It swooped in, seized her heaving lungs, and lodged her breath in her throat while her heartbeat pounded heavy in her ears. Gulping in air, she focused on her breathing, trying to calm her queasy stomach.

She never knew where it came from. Some deep unconscious threat to her happiness brewed within. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but deep down to her core, she knew without a doubt, that something was just not right.

Sophie clung to him as hot tears rolled down her temple soaking into her hair next to her ear. Being held in his arms soothed her rattled soul. She so desperately wanted to chalk these horrid dreams up to pre-wedding jitters.

He caressed the back of her head, pulling the hair matted to the side of her face away as he comforted her. The gentle strokes lulled her into relaxing and she sank further into him.

“Talk to me mon amour. What has you so scared?” His hands caressed her arms, moving up and down, rubbing away the gooseflesh that pebbled her skin.

Sophie gulped back the tears. “There are these dreams where I reach for you and you’re not there.”

“But that is not unreasonable, we don’t spend every night together.” His tone was dismissive as he patted her back.

Non…” she paused, taking a deep breath. It filled her sore lungs, with needle-like pricks. “It’s hard to explain, but I sense that it’s more than just that.”

“Oh Soph, you worry too much. It’s the wedding. You have to take a break from it. All this stress is not healthy.”

His unenthusiastic response stopped Sophie short. The words died on her lips. There was no point protesting. If she couldn’t make sense of the doom she felt brewing within, how could she make him understand.

~~~

The cover is well hopefully it will be done by the time we are ready to launch the book! My inability to find that spark, that feeling of completeness that comes from finding the “right one” just added to the overall stress of this particular book. Sometimes I wonder how it got to be so complicated because I don’t remember the first two being this difficult.

Promos: 

November 25 – January 06

https://books.bookfunnel.com/heartsandflowers/uraoofvkbu

 

December 01 – December 31

https://books.bookfunnel.com/talktomeaboutlove/5tkzgblpva

 

Book Recommendations:

November’s suggestions are:

J.P. BARNABY – Saving Hannah – https://amzn.to/2RuJVoK
LYNN CAHOON – Guidebook to Murder (A Tourist Trap Mystery 1) – https://amzn.to/2VnZzkZ
BEVERLY JENKINS – Rebel (Women Who Dare) – https://amzn.to/2MzMFgb
TESSA DARE – The Wallflower Wager: Girl Meets Duke – https://amzn.to/31bCnIg

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