@sloanebcollins Nature to Soothe My Soul #backtonature #PlottingPrincesses #amwriting #MFRWorg

About twice a year, I start getting itchy, twitchy, and b…er, witchy, and I know it’s time to get away from the city of concrete and back into nature.  I’m a country girl at heart, and I need the trees, mountains, lakes, oceans, and wildlife to keep me going.  There is such beauty on God’s earth, and so much that we still haven’t explored.  I once wrote a book for the Scrapbooking industry, and it’s all about reflecting on God’s wonders.  Alas, the publisher folded before it was published, but I pull it out every so often to reread it and remember how important it is to me to be in nature.

Last week my husband and I packed up the car, left notes for the kitty-sitters, and headed to Colorado for a week.  We drove straight through and reached Colorado Springs about six a.m.  We started our vacation with a lovely breakfast with my author friend Jennie Marts <waving at Jennie> and her husband.  We had a great time, and I’m so glad we had the time with them.

After stuffing ourselves with toffee pancakes (!!), we headed toward Mount Evans.  We followed the winding curves, stopping along the way to snap pictures of bighorn sheep, small lakes, and anything

that caught our eye.  If you’ve never been there, but plan to go, be warned of scary-narrow, winding roads that drop off into nothing except grass and rocks.  I think my heart was in my throat most of the way up…and back down.  We reached the top, but it was socked in with clouds and fog, snowing, very crowded, and I was dizzy from the altitude, so we stayed long enough to snap a picture to prove we had reached the top at 14,130 feet.

@SylviaMcDaniel: A Ring From The Past?

Most people have two reactions when you talk about family reunions. It’s either they can’t wait to be with all the people they’re related to or they groan and say I try to avoid at all costs. Most of the time the people who enjoy these reunions are older folks, parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles who I personally think want to show off their families.

This year I traveled to Alamosa Colorado for the Sartain family reunion. This was my grandfather’s family, and I had visited several of the relatives when I was a kid, but I’d never attended their reunion. The people were lovely, the weather was fantastic and the food delicious.

I met my cousin that had gotten me in trouble when I was nine years old when we crossed the river to climb the sand dunes in Alamosa. My mother had strictly forbidden me to get in the water, as I had pneumonia. But hey, how often does a kid get a chance to climb sand dunes.

But the neatest part of the reunion was going out to my great-grandparents homestead. The land is set way back off the main highway, and the house is gone. The views were incredible, and I couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they still owned the land. About ten of us walked all over the area that once belonged to my great-grandparents, searching for anything that might have been theirs. I found a glass bottle, a snuff can and some broken bits of china. As we walked along, I stared at the muddy ground, and saw a silver band in the dirt, half hidden by a bush.

The Wanted Bride

What if you found out five minutes before you were to walk down the aisle, that your best-friend is pregnant by your fiancé? Everyone is seated in the church, the music is playing and then your best friend turns to you and says, she’s pregnant. What would you do? In my new book, The Wanted Bride, Valerie Burrows runs out the door jumps into the fiancé’s vintage Corvette to escape. Except the car breaks down in downtown Dallas.  I won’t tell you how Valerie reacts, but there is a reason this book is called The Wanted Bride.  It’s what everyone feels like doing on a really bad day, but doesn’t. Except Valerie has reached the end of her limits and she gets her revenge. If you like sassy heroines and tales of women who change, then you’ll enjoy The Wanted Bride.  Here’s an excerpt.