Author Spotlight - Excerpt from "Lone Star Joy"

Thanks so much for supporting Kathleen during her week in the spotlight. Leave a comment today, Saturday and Sunday and one lucky winner will be selected randomly to win an ebook copy of Kathleen's latest release, "Lone Star Joy." Enjoy the excerpt!

Smiles
Moderator Steph

********


Stamos stood over his new housekeeper and frowned. She looked a bit young to him. Hell, if she could get Dillon to sleep every night it would be worth it. He touched her shoulder. The panic in her big hazel eyes surprised him. "It's just me," he assured her.

Joy blinked twice and looked around the room. "What?"

"You must have fallen asleep."

"Oh. Well I want you to know that I never fall asleep in the saddle."

"Honey, as long as you can keep us happy you won't have to worry about the saddle." He knew instantly that he must have said the wrong thing. Her pale face turned bright red.

"George never said. I don't do that. I..." She bit her bottom lip.

"Whoa. What's this about George?"

"He said you were on the up and up with your work release program. He never mentioned me making anyone happy."

"I think we're talking about two different things. Here give me Dillon." Stamos leaned down and took the sleeping baby from her. "Now let's start from the beginning. I'm Stamos Walker and you are?"

Her whole body tensed. "I'm Joy Courtland. I'm the horse wrangler. I'm on the prison work release program."

Stamos softly swore. "George sent you here? You're not the new housekeeper?"

Joy shook her head. "Is there a problem?"

"I don't hire women to work on my ranch. George knows it too."

"If you would just give me a chance." Her bright blue eyes were too big for her thin face. In fact, all of her looked down right thin, except for the glorious chestnut braid that hung down her back. It looked as thick as his wrist.

"Listen, can you hold Dillon while I make a phone call?"

Joy stretched out her arms and took the baby, cuddling him to her. Stamos gave her a curt nod and walked to the phone across the room.

"Well, Dillon, I guess it's back to the women's penitentiary." She looked down at Dillon and sighed. "You sure are a cute one, but I guess it makes no never mind to me." Her braid hung over her shoulder and Dillon grabbed it. "Ouch. You little dickens. Give me my hair back." Dillon held on tighter with both hands this time.

"Well if you don't beat all. You are a handful. Full of piss and vinegar I'd say. Cute as a doodle bug, but a handful." She smiled, as she tried to pry his hands from her hair.

Stamos watched, trying not to laugh. Dillon had pulled his hair a time or two and he knew how much it hurt. This little gal acted like it was all a game. She was good with his son.

He picked up a plastic horse that was Dillon's favorite and tried to entice him with it. "Dill, come on now, let go of the sweet lady's hair."

"Dillon," Joy cajoled, "come play horsey with your daddy." She stared at Stamos. “Maybe if you made horse sounds."

Stamos thought she was a bit daft, but he tried it. Dillon immediately let go of Joy's hair, which she put behind her, and reached for the horse. "I'll be damned. It worked," he said.

"I talked to George." He watched her face close and her body tense. "It doesn't make sense. I run a work release program for non-violent offenders, male non-violent offenders. You don't qualify for either. I don't know what to do with you. I feel bad, but you'll have to go back in the morning. Will I have to worry about you running off ?"

Buy links: Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Lasso-Springs-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B009EJ1ZQQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1348518703&sr=1-1&keywords=lone+Star+joy
My website: www.kathleenballromance.com

Author Spotlight - Kathleen Ball talks about suffering for her craft

When I wrote my first couple of novels, I had ever been near a horse. I bought many books about them. There certainly are many different breeds. Really, what did I know? I'd read tons of westerns but I never really appreciated the relationship between the characters and the horses.

Everyone knows that the horse is a cowboy's best friend, but until you actually have a horse study you with its big brown eyes that you get it. These magnificent creatures each have their own personality. At the stable, they have a pecking order. Some form relationships and follow each other around and there is that one mare that everyone hates to be around. Yes, they can be bossy.
My Daughter-in -law Brittany loves horses. She purchased a rescue horse named Dash. He's chestnut in color and very tall. He looks more like a thoroughbred but he's a quaterhorse. You would think that being the biggest horse, he'd be in the front of the pecking order. Dash didn't seem to know that he was the biggest. Eventually they took a liking to him and he now has many friends including a donkey and two goats.

I learned how to wash and brush Dash. He'd head butt me and put his head over my shoulder. It was time to learn to ride, not Dash though. Brittany rode Dash and I rode Pina Colada a much shorter white horse. I was fine with short.
We went trail riding. It took me a while to get Pina to go. I didn't want to hurt her but I guess I didn’t kick her sides hard enough. Finally, we were on our way. I was excited and nervous. We didn't get very far before Pina decided to stop and eat. The tall grass enticed her. Brittany yelled to pull her head up. I tried but again I didn't want to hurt her. She knew-- I know Pina knew I was a new rider. Eventually she was off following DashMy son Steven was riding behind me, and his horse decided it would be fun to keep biting Pina. Brittany kept telling me to let go of the saddle horn and just hold the reins. Well I could do both at once and there was no way I was going to let go. The woods and lake were beautiful.

I thoroughly enjoyed the outing. We headed back and I thought I'm going to do this next weekend. We got back to the horse trailer. To get on the horse there are steps. Getting down you're on your own. No hunky cowboy showed up to lift me down.

Brittany held the reins and explained what I was supposed to do. I swung my right leg around and I guess I was supposed to take the left foot out of the stirrup and gently and gracefully slide down. That didn't happen. I didn't take my left foot out of the stirrup and if it hadn't been for Brittany, I would have been flat on my back under Pina.
Dash, Brittany, Colt and Steven

I pulled my hip. Six weeks before it healed. The nice weather is starting here in Texas and I can't wait to go horseback riding.


Callie's Heart - April 2012
Texas Haven- July 2012
Ryelee's Cowboy -August 2012
http://www.kathleenballromance.com

Author Spotlight - Character interview with Joy & Callie

Welcome ladies I'm so glad you could be here.

Callie-- No problem I love spending time with Joy.
Joy-- I heard we'll be talking about men. You can count me in.

I have met both of your husbands and I must say I'm impressed.

Joy-- Tall, dark and handsome. That's my Stamos.
Callie-- Mine's a tall drink of water. Brown hair with blue eyes. If you want impressed you need to see him with his shirt off.
Joy-- Stamos has an awesome build too.


Callie how did you meet Garrett?

Callie-- I've known Garrett forever. He was always there for me growing up. We've had a few bumps in the road. We married to save my ranch. I thought it was a real marriage but Garrett thought he was just helping out. Took me a while but I lassoed that Cowboy.

Sounds romantic.

Callie-- not really, I'm the best roper in the county. He tore my heart out and stomped on it a few times. We're happy now.

That's good to hear. Joy how did you meet Stamos?

Joy-- I met him when I arrived at his ranch for the prison work release program. He thought I was the nanny and handed me his son, Dillon.

And it was love?

Joy--Oh heck no. He didn't trust me. I was convicted of stabbing my stepmother. The problem was his release program was for non--violent males. I didn't fit that description.

But then it turned to love?

Joy--Not at first there was a little busy body named Bailey who tried to come between us. Then Stamos married me so I wasn't thrown back into prison.

Callie-- speaking of Bailey-- she tried to steal my husband too. She knows better than to tangle with us.

I'm sure. How are Stamos and Garrett as fathers?

Callie-- I couldn't have asked for a better father for my twins.

Joy-- Does my heart good when I watch Stamos. He's a good Dad.
Callie-- Me, Joy and our new friend Storm leave the kids with the men and have a ladies night at least once a month. You'll meet Storm in February.

Where do you usually go for ladies night.

Joy-- Lasso Springs is a small town. We usually go to the whiskey barrel. The whole incident with Callie has been forgotten.

Incident?

Callie-- I was mad at Garrett so I went to the whiskey barrel and let men dance with me for shots. I was having a good time, but Garrett came, threw me over his shoulder and took me home.

Sounds like he's very macho

Joy-- laughs. They think they are, but we have them tamed.
Callie-- of course they don't realize it. We can usually get our own way.
Joy-- They are rugged cowboys, and they look intimidating on the outside but they are sweethearts inside.

Do you believe in a happy ending?

Callie-- I'm living mine
Joy-- Me too. When Stamos has his arms around me I know I'm home.

Thank you ladies. It was so nice to meet you.

*****

Callie's Heart - April 2012
Texas Haven- July 2012
Ryelee's Cowboy -August 2012
http://www.kathleenballromance.com

Author Spotlight - Kathleen Ball talks about her journey into writing

I've been writing a little over three years. I wrote my first book and immediately sent it off to all kinds of contests. I didn't know anything about writing, but I felt that my story was good. I was so sure that people would love my book.

Reality set in. I got my contest feedback. It was a RWA contest and their judges usually will tell you what is wrong with the first 20 pages-- or whatever the rules of the contest dictate. I was stunned. I placed third from the bottom and one of the judges suggested that writing wasn't for me.

It was very upsetting to say the least. I put it away and began my next book. I eventually grew curious to see what was so wrong with my novel. My main problem was point of view. I'd never heard of it. In fact, there are a lot of writing rules that I didn't know about. I wish I had known them. Each time I learned another important one I would reedit my books.

It wasn't until I wrote Callie's Heart that I even had a handle on most of the rules. Meanwhile I was trying to get an agent and couldn't understand why they weren't interested. My books were on Textnovel.com and they were all award winners. I still had a lot to learn.

Passive sentences were a big problem so I went in and rewrote them all. After that, I found out that dialogue tags were not being used anymore. I learned a lot from other authors that I had met on Facebook. Most of us were unpublished and I would watch. A lot of the time people would say that they had to take out  "as" or  "that". There were always tips to be found. Many bloggers post tips for writers.

Meanwhile I was submitting my manuscript. Desert Breeze Publishing wanted Callie's Heart and the other two in the series. Lone Star Joy and Stetson's Storm. I thank them, it's been such a positive experience.

Of course my novels have had to be edited. The best thing about the editors is that they don't just say change it, they explain why it is wrong and offer suggestions. I've heard of writers that fight with their editors. I haven't had that happen. I value their experience and advice. I've put the skills I learned from them, and use them in the novels that I'm writing.

I love that I am constantly learning. My nemesis is the comma. I tried to get a movement going to eliminate the comma. People really love their commas. I have studied the comma and feel that I have a better grasp of them.

My advice is to know the rules of your genre. Enter a few contests that provide feedback, and be willing to take advice.

Callie's Heart - April 2012
Texas Haven- July 2012
Ryelee's Cowboy -August 2012
http://www.kathleenballromance.com  

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Kathleen Ball

STEPH: I don't know much about "Lone Star Joy." What's it about?

KATHLEEN: Lone Star Joy is a Contemporary Western Romance. It's book two of the Lasso Springs Series. Callie's Heart is Book one.

Sexy, Cowboy, Stamos Walker has a choice, either marry Joy Courtland or send her back to jail. Joy is a convicted murderer but Stamos believes she is innocent in every way.

 
STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

KATHLEEN: It took me about three months to write.

STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

KATHLEEN: You can learn a lot by reading books and researching on the internet. I'd never been around horses so I learned how to ride a horse. It was fun.

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

KATHLEEN:

I love the cover. It's another piece of art by Gwen Phifer. It embodies Joy's need and desire to be free.

STEPH: Joy is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weakness?

KATHLEEN: Joy's strengths are what she learned in prison, keep you back to the wall, your head down, be aware of your surroundings, and always be ready to fight for your life. Her weakness is that she believes that the only one you can count on is yourself.

STEPH: What does Stamos find appealing about her?

KATHLEEN: A former FBI agent, Stamos admires her resilience. He understands her tough exterior. I love when he continues to find the softness inside of her. The little things, singing to his baby, having animals flock to her.

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

KATHLEEN: I always believe that love can conquer all. Of course, there are obstacles to overcome but in the end, the journey is well worth it.

STEPH: As a writer, where do you draw inspiration from?

KATHLEEN: I've always been a reader. I can remember my sister calling me a bookworm. I always had a book with me. I discovered the world of romance after I had my son. I was hooked. I'd read a book a day. I love all types of romance but the Cowboys won me over. I really don't know where the inspiration comes from. While writing one book-- the idea for another just forms.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

KATHLEEN: I have a kindle fire-- I don't leave home without it. It's full of books. A lot from Desert Breeze Authors.

STEPH: Fun question: Do you have an autumn traditions you like to share?  Pie Baking? Hayrides? Bonfires? Yankee Candle scents

KATHLEEN: First is the pumpkin coffee at Starbucks. I make pumpkin bread and we have baked apples and cider. It's funny I sit here writing, and it's hot out. I live in Texas. I lived most of my life in New York and I miss the vivid array of colors of the changing leaves. I miss the crisp cool air. But I have to say, driving out of my subdivision and seeing cattle is amazing.

FIND KATHLEEN AT:

kathleenballromance.com

buy links--http://www.amazon.com/Lasso-Springs-Book-Two-ebook/dp/B009EJ1ZQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1348326349&sr=8-1&keywords=lone+star+joy

http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-346/Lasso-Springs-Book-Two-cln-/Detail.bok 

Author Spotlight - Excerpt from "Breaking Point" by Delores Goodrick Beggs

Thanks so much for supporting Delores during her spotlight week. Leave a comment on the blog today, Saturday, and Sunday and on Monday I'll pick a name randomly to receive a PDF copy of her book. Don't forget to leave your email so we can get ahold of you if you win. Enjoy the excerpt!

Moderator Steph

*******

"Good colt. I'm Stemson Arroyo Smith, by the way."

Each crisp word shot a thrill of pleasure through her. Her eyes widened, and she smiled. He didn't drawl the way Tennyson's cowboy friends did. Cultured, she thought, and with a deep voice she could hear well.
"He needs work, a lot of work."

"A little at a time will do it. He's young yet."

"The house is over there." She nodded in Tennyson’s direction, drinking in the wonderful experience of not having to tilt her head in order to hear him.

Stemson made no move to leave.

Mauranie ground her teeth and clenched her fists, staring at him. She glanced past him to where Tennyson stood pressed against the veranda rail, her body rigid again, a grimace on her face.

"My sister sometimes keeps her suitors cooling their heels. I warn you, yours will be a long wait if you remain here. Tennyson’s hand-made boots have never seen the inside of a corral." Mauranie turned her back to Stemson and clicked the colt into motion.

"My business is with Mauranie Wells." His deep voice caused her to pause and turn back to better catch his words. "I daresay it’s you? Scott Ringer at the feed store in Mescal Flats told me your sister is a blonde. So you see, I am, after all, where I should be."

Warmth started in the core of her being and spread to engulf her. At the same time, uncertainty struck her. Had she heard him right? This nice man had come to see her? She well knew how her poor hearing sometimes tripped her up. She tensed. She had to check if she'd heard him right. She drew Showman to a stop and led him to the pole fence where the stranger stood.

"Me? What can I do to help you?" She scanned the crinkled corners of his silvered eyes, letting her gaze drop down smooth cheeks darkening with new afternoon shadow. Her tight muscles relaxed. She lifted her gaze and stared into the smile of those silvery-blue eyes.

***

You can find Delores at:http://www.goodrickbeggs.wordpress.com/

Author Spotlight - A Smorgasbord of Words by: Delores Goodrick Beggs

I have observed over and again how people react in different ways to items they come into contact with, make selections from the smorgasbord of life of those offerings they most enjoy to return to for satisfaction time and again.

For me the dish I continually craved and pigged out on when possible was books.

It started when I was a preschooler. My older sister played school with her friend and the two of them sparred, vying to see which one could first teach their younger preschool sister how to read. My sister never knew what a gift she gave me with all that personal reading coaching.

My mother had a set of 1912 - 1920's James Oliver Curwood novels that were given to her by her Aunt Irma. These books were passed on to me and I still thumb through those worn pages from time to time. I never tire of them, Back to God's Country, especially. One day my sister took me home after another day of playing school with her friend. I picked up one of my mother's Curwood novels and discovered I could read the words. I couldn't put it down. Isat on the floor in front of the bookcase and read all four Curwood books almost nonstop in just a few days. Curwood's books and later Zane Grey's series of Western novels, hooked me on reading for life. I have read all of the Zane Grey Western novels, and still have my favorite, Wildfire. My brother has the rest of the set.

When I began to write my own first Western Historical, Breaking Point, I went back and reread Curwood and Zane Grey because I wanted to write my stories the way I saw theirs - smooth, clear prose that journeyed up hills and down valleys across the pages and kept me reading, entranced, unable to put them down. Now my Western Historical series is being published.

I wonder, does my prose come across clear and journey up hills and down? The jury is still out.

Breaking Point was released by Desert Breeze Publishing on May 11, 2012.

Author Spotlight - The Inspiration of Horses by Delores Goodrick Beggs

I wrote some of my first published short stories sitting on a California mountaintop while I watched Moonrise, my part Appaloosa mare that I'd trained, play in the exercise corral at the hilltop stables that was situated so high a hazy snow cloud once hovered close enough overhead that I reached up into it and felt my hand grow icy and watched it disappear, the only time I have touched a cloud.

Moonrise was a feisty mare with personality plus, and always did something unexpected. She was never what you'd call a tame, broke horse. She was perfectly capable of ignoring a command if I neglected to make it the correct way I'd trained her since she was a young, unbroken filly. She gloried in keeping me on my booted toes as well as providing inspiration for my stories.

One time I remember well was the day the exercise corral had a number of tumbleweeds rolling about in the wind. She began to nudge at them with her nose, and then picked one up in her mouth, carried it close to where I sat somewhat sheltered from the blowing gusts, and dropped it. She cantered away after another rolling bush, caught it in her muzzle, and brought it over to pile on the first one she'd dropped. She repeated that until she'd piled four tumbleweeds in a neat stack while I watched her play with them.

In my 1989 short story Aestart and the Shadowfolk, part of a published collection of my skyhorse stories, Aestart the skyhorse saved the heroine from the swarming Shadowfolk by covering her with dried brush in a similar manner as how I'd observed Moonrise pile tumbleweeds that day.

Moonrise was also a part of one of the most special events in my life. My daughter and I were riding at the stables late one afternoon, I on Moonrise and her on her big bay, Beau, which she kept at the stables also. We rode around the barn to overlook the exercise corral,and watch the city lights come on far below, savoring the end of another nice ride together. We turned the horses around to go put them up just in time to see a huge, milk-white moon rise over the barn roof. We halted our horses and stared watching it climb on up into the sky, glorying in the specialness of experiencing the moon rise together.

Author Spotlight - Unexpected Moments by Delores Goodrick Beggs

Perhaps there are persons who sail through life without any unexpected moments, but I have never known one. My experience has been the persons I have known have been working to minimize issues occurring in their lives and in spite of their efforts found they were still challenged by unexpected moments they could do nothing to change.

Such a happening occurs in my debut historical romance novel Breaking Point, when the heroine Mauranie Wells, who has been in conflict with her younger sister Tennyson, finds a breaking point comes where she is backed into a corner and has no choice but to let Tennyson go and experience life for herself.

The sisters were left orphans when their parents were killed in a horse and wagon crash.
As a result, Mauranie, who has a hearing disability, is thrust suddenly into the role of adult and runs the ranch in an effort to make a living for them from their Wells Double Bar ranch, their father's legacy to them.

Sometimes coming of age happens when a young woman finds herself at an unexpected moment in a sudden point of time where she must utilize the lessons she neglected to take advantage of before, and this is what happens to Mauranie's sister Tennyson, who comes to realize growing up involves more on her part than a constant stream of new gowns and partying with bad boy Jasper Greon.

But life holds unexpected moments, in the form of lessons for everyone. Mauranie has
something to learn also, a new understanding of her sister, when she agrees to cowboy banker Stemson Arroyo Smith's impromptu invitation to attend the town dance, and hastily stitches together a gown for herself from her dead mother's wardrobe so she can to wear it to the event.

Author Spotlight - Q&A with Delores Goodrick Beggs

STEPH: I don't know much about "Breaking Point." What's it about?

DELORES: Breaking Point is about sisters Mauranie and Tennyson Wells, whose tastes are totally different. Mauranie wants to move their horse ranch forward to a paying proposition in order to support them both. But Tennyson lives for the bright lights of town life. Mauranie has always taken a back seat to her social sister, preferring that because of her poor hearing. She is happily shocked when banker-cowboy Stemson Arroyo Smith rides into the Wells Double Bar one day, and does the unthinkable. He passes by her petite, beautiful sister on the veranda, and stops his horse at the corral where Mauranie is working the black colt Showman. He wants to speak with her, not her sister?

STEPH: How long did it take you to write?

DELORES: Mauranie became my best friend for about a year's worth of long evenings at home after my day job, evenings spent listening to her tell her story in my head as I typed it. Like Mauranie, I have a hearing disability and television in those days, without captions, held no appeal for me. Radio was just noise. My children, two sons and a daughter, led busy lives and were seldom at home evenings.

STEPH: How much research did you have to do?

DELORES:My memory was loaded with what Mauranie did with the horses because I grew up with horses and ponies. My father owned his own acreages and himself built the house we lived in and the outbuilding, so most of the information I needed was there to draw upon. The actual research I did was to determine what kind of writing I wanted to tell the story in. Earlier in my life I read my mother's old favorite books by James Oliver Curwood - she passed that set of books on to me - and the entire set of Zane Grey novels, of which I still have "Wildfire," my favorite one. My brother has the rest of the set. My father read western paperbacks constantly, and when he finished one I read it. I grew up reading western after western, and I knew I wanted to write that kind of stories.

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

DELORES: I feel the cover is perfect. It so reminds me of my days riding Snowball, and my heroine Mauranie Wells grew up working horses with her father. She is at home breaking and training her horse of promise, Showman, just as the woman on the cover looks natural, with a fine seat on her horse, including feet in the proper position for what the horse is doing.

STEPH: Mauranie is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weakness?

DELORES: Mauranie knows what she is doing. She has adapted over the years while growing up, learned from her father how to handle and work horses, and to solve, or at least minimize, problems. She had that strength to fall back upon when she and her sister Tennyson suddenly became orphans.

Her weakness is her younger sister Tennyson. Tennyson grew up used to socializing in town with their mother and Mauranie tries to allow her younger sister to continue her own socializing way of life until their banked funds mysteriously disappear and money becomes an issue between them. She still continued to put Tennyson's unreasonable demands first, even when foreclosure on the ranch loomed, and she'd promised herself to finally say no.

STEPH: What does Stemson find appealing about her?

DELORES: They have much in common, their love and knowledge of horses, sibling issues, and neither spends much time on the social scene. Stemson takes advantage of an unexpected opportunity to get to know Mauranie better after he meets her, and is delighted when Mauranie accepts his impromptu invitation, even though she qualifies it that she isn't into "improper."

STEPH: What is the theme of the novel?

DELORES: Families are forever. Even when her own family has problems, Mauranie Wells goes the extra mile to reunite a mother with her two children, and hero Stemson, is moved to take his own younger sister under his care.

STEPH: As a writer, where do you draw inspiration from?

DELORES: Relaxation. My story ideas pop into my mind when I am totally concentrating on something else. Gardening among my clover plants, working a puzzle, cooking... all are fertile ground for my mind to interrupt with a new story idea. Even a real life experience can unexpectedly bloom into a story idea later in a moment of relaxation. This happened after I trimmed the tree back from between my driveway and my neighbor's. I stood in weeds and brush to lop the branches short. I moved to a new position and stepped in a nail that went completely through my foot and out the top of my tennis shoe. I was home alone and on my own. The nail had been driven through a board hidden among the brush and the only way to get free was to stand my other foot on the long end of the board and pull my foot back off it. At a later time this experience turned into my 1991 published short story "Sweetgum," about a tree gone wild on a people.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, which one?

DELORES: Yes. I have had a Kindle (2nd generation) for a while and I read all books on it! I have it set exactly the size I want to read without my glasses, and it is SO quick and easy to search by author name, then select to download from Amazon. I am hooked on ebooks!

STEPH: Fun question: What are your plans for Memorial Day?

DELORES: I will be reminiscing about my beloved parents and spreading more clover seeds in my containers. When I was a small child, my father taught me the art of finding 4-leaf clovers and the Irish luck of his family. I know this is going to sound strange, but in 1998 I had a surreal experience. I was thinking about him while I alked in a park near my California home. I looked down at the grass beside the walk, and spied a 4-leaf clover. A few steps further, another...when I finished my walk I had a whole bunch of 4-leafers in my hand. Later I started growing my own clover, and have found numerous 4-leaf clovers in my own gardens. I was privileged last spring to show one of my granddaughters how to find 4-leaf clovers and she came up with a handful of her own. I was delighted to discover she, too had the touch. I work each spring at enlargement of my Lucky Clover Garden, a memorial to my father and my heritage.

You can find Delores at: http://goodrickbeggs.wordpress.com