Friday, October 25, 2019

A Few More Trip Photos by Nancy Lee Badger

It is amazing what you will see when you leave your hometown. Well, Raleigh, North Carolina is my adopted town, but it is natural to forget that other places utilize things differently. 

Vermont is one of those places, When I was younger, hubby and I drove around New England and picked up antique milk cans whenever we spotted one in decent shape with its cover. Over the years, I have painted many cans and even sold a few, but most went to family members. I am currently selling one for $125. What did Vermont's Welcome Center do with their's? They painted it green and turned it into an outside ashtray! Horrors!

Here are Daryl Jamieson and I, pictured at the recent NH Highland Games. We are related! Loosely. Daryl is a Native American drummer and a member of the Clan Gunn Society of North America. Hubby and I are also members of Clan Gunn. It is so great to meet up with him every fall in New Hampshire. Find out more about Daryl on Facebook.


I love dogs. Really. Okay, I love cats a little more and miss my muse, Blaze, whenever we travel, but two beautiful and impressively large Irish Wolfhounds walked through the grounds at the NH Highland Games. I can imagine the food bill!


I had not driven over the Kancamagus Highway in New Hampshire in decades and I forgot the lonely splendor of the mountains. Many trees were just turning and their golds and reds dotted the vistas. Incredible.




As an original New Yorker, glancing at the New York skyline while crossing the Hudson River awes me everytime I see it. I am not nor have I ever considered myself a city girl. Give me trees, the ocean, and a cat and I can succeed.




Did I mention I also released a new book this month? Rescuing Christmas is a small-town sweet romance set in rural Vermont. See how visiting Vermont comes back to haunt me! Give it a try.

Buy Links
Amazon        Amazon CAN  

Friday, October 18, 2019

Christmas is Right around the Corner

...and my book was just released! The ebook's special pricing will end soon, so why not download a
copy today?

The basic premise is this...

Vermont is lovely this time of year, but where is the snow?

A Manhattan businessman in a Vermont ditch meets a muddy female firefighter. No snow since November might ruin the town’s annual fire department fundraiser. Can Elinor and Bradley stop their squabbling long enough to Rescue Christmas?


Excerpt

A lone figure stood on the roof where fire spewed toward the sky. 
“Dear Lord!” Bradley had spotted Elinor. She stood encased in smoke, just below the roof’s peak.
A firefighter raced by him, heading in the other direction. “Sean! Elinor is in trouble. Help her!”
Ignoring Bradley’s plea, Sean disappeared beyond the fire truck. Was he coming back?
Bradley was running before he knew he had moved. He grabbed a helmet and a pair of fire-retardant gloves off the back of the firetruck. Racing to the side of the house where flames licked from an upstairs window, he called up to her. “Elinor! Are you all right?”
She didn’t answer and appeared to be bending over, choking on the smoke. He had to save her, but how? Cinders spewed from the open window, and he tripped over something laying in the grass. “A ladder! Hold on. I’m coming!”
He slapped the helmet on his head, then pulled on the gloves. Seizing the heavy aluminum ladder, he struggled with its weight, but managed to prop it against the house. It barely reached the roofline where he had last seen Elinor.
“Elinor! Walk to the ladder!”
Could she hear him? The smoke was choking him, but he would not leave without her. Elinor must not have spotted it, so he slipped his glasses in his coat pocket and raced up the ladder. The helmet slipped sideways and the gloves were cumbersome, but Elinor’s safety was paramount.
Reaching the top, heavy smoke drifted into his eyes and throat and his cough must have caught her attention. The flames from a hole in the roof had been replaced with smoke, so she jumped over the hole and grabbed the top of the tall ladder.

“What are you doing up here?” she asked. 




Great news! Today I found out that the PRINT version 
is now available at Amazon! 
ISBN 978-1697443608  Amazon PRINT

Friday, October 11, 2019

Nancy Lee Badger Presents Author Donna Steele


My friend and writing buddy recently returned from a trip that has fueled her stories with the characters and lovely landscape of Budapest and beyond. Take it away, Donna Steele!

Thanks, Nancy. Budapest Fairy Tale, the fourth book in the Conall Clan series, is now available. Marcel’s story takes us to Europe to continue clean-up of the previous Alpha’s scandals and maybe rock his world.

Blurb
When Marcel begins his tenure as Territory Alpha to clean up after Eric Davis’ devastating reign, he heads to Europe to oversee the dismantling of Eric’s holdings there. While in Budapest he makes a life changing discovery and learns what Lou, Brent and Wesley Conall already know
Jacquelyn has been in hiding for a long time, escaping what her corrupt Alpha wanted for her, but now that could come to an end, if she can still believe in Fairy Tales . . .
Excerpt
Jacquelyn Caron entered the bedroom and immediately her shoulders slumped. Once again, Adah had disappeared. How the hell did she get away this time? She was human and should be no match for Jacquelyn.
She would have laughed at herself for thinking this would be an easy job, if she didn’t have to face tracking the old lady down again.
How did that woman manage to get past her? It was beginning to feel like a contest, and Jacquelyn was losing.
Jacquelyn had her scent locked already from previous incidents. She began her search, hoping Adah hadn’t actually left the house this time.
That hope was dashed, after she was unable to find the woman anywhere. The cold weather should have kept her from walking far, so she must have called for a car. Jacquelyn had only been in the kitchen a few minutes. Adah had planned her escape carefully. Merde!
She stepped outside. Yes, Adah’s scent ended just down from the stoop. What a handful that woman could be! After nearly a year Jacquelyn had learned to adapt, however the irascible old biddy was tenacious when she wanted something. Even though Jacquelyn needed this job and the anonymity it offered, she had also grown fond of the woman, and was concerned about her. She needed to find her. Where would she go?
Jacquelyn hurried back to Adah’s bedroom. What had she been stewing on this morning?
There were papers spread out on the petite escritoire in her bedroom. Jacquelyn took a seat at the desk and began shuffling through them. She’d been looking at photos of the painting that had been stolen from her family all those years ago.
That damn painting! Adah was obsessed with it and had been like a bloodhound tracking it down, finally finding the thing. Her attempt to retrieve it had been brushed aside by the current owner. Jacquelyn had seen the man only once. She’d been stunned to realize he was a shifter and a strong Alpha. He’d treated the old woman like dirt beneath his feet. He knew Jacquelyn was shifter as well, and yet he neither acknowledged her nor responded to her automatic salute to an Alpha. He basically ignored her presence, acting as if she wasn’t standing there behind Adah.
Gods, she couldn’t be planning to confront him again, could she?
Jacquelyn jumped to her feet and raced to her used Mini Cooper. She knew the way to his estate. It was a place to start. She didn’t feel confident that the Alpha wouldn’t harm the elderly woman. Something tainted about that particular Alpha raised her hackles.






More about the Author

Women Strong Enough For Love 
Donna writes science fiction, paranormal and small-town romances about women coming into their strength and having the courage to find and accept love.
Now that she has retired from going into an office every day, she created an
office at home and writes full time. Talk about living the dream!
She was the girl at the party who was yearning for the quiet corner and a book to read (go Rory Gilmore!) and has been writing in her head since she learned to read. Getting those stories down on paper (or in her laptop) has been more fun than she ever imagined it could be.
The possibilities of science fiction have always drawn her, and she’s read them all, there just needed to be a little more romance in them. She finally got up the courage to write them herself and is delighted to be able to share these stories with you.

She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter of RWA and the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers. She can be reached at:




Friday, October 4, 2019

Scottish Games...what a Trip!

Doormat at the entrance to a clan's tent

I just returned from my annual road trip from Raleigh, NC to Lincoln, NH. What a blast! Every year I worry that this 2,000+ mile round-trip is getting harder and harder, but the NH Highland Games and Festival is quite a party! Here are several photos I took:


Honored Band: Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

The beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire

In case you want to investigate what Scottish festivals entail, here are some upcoming events you might consider. I have also added several of my favorites (or soon to be favorites as I expand my trips):


2019
Oct. 5-6: Scotland County Highland Games, Laurinburg, NC
Oct 11-19: Celtic Colours Festival, Cape Breton, NovaScotia
Oct 12: Indianapolis Scottish Highland Games, Indiana
Oct. 18-20: Stone Mountain Highland Games, Georgia
Oct. 26-27: Central Virginia Celtic Festival and Games, Richmond, VA
Nov. 2: Charleston Scottish Games, Charleston, SC
2020
March 14-15: St. Augustine Celtic Music and Heritage Festival, Florida  
Feb. 1: Sarasota Celtic Music Festival, Florida
April 17-19: Loch Norman Highland games, Huntersville,NC
July 9-12: Grandfather Mountain Highland Games,  Linville, NC
Sept. 18-20: New Hampshire Highland Games and Festival, Lincoln, NH


Teaching them young!

This is a FRACTION of the hundreds of events around the United states and Canada, Most event websites will help you find hotels and let you buy advance tickets. Kilts and bagpipes are optional!

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Another Giveaway Saluting...KILTS and ART!

My latest release, Heaven-sent Highlander, takes place mainly in present-day North Carolina, centering at and around the fictitious Raleigh Museum of Art. This is the second book in my Warrior in Bronze series. I based my stories at the actual North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA), but my unlikely hero is from another time. Alex sensed he died in a bloody battle on the fields of Culloden, in Scotland.

Since I just returned from the New Hampshire Highland Games, a huge Scottish festival that spans three days with dozens of kilted marching bands, hunky athletes, dainty dancers, Scottish food, and so much more, I decided to make up a prize that incorporates three worlds: Scotland, North Carolina, and New Hampshire!




Here is what this prize includes:
33 pg Scotland, Essential Guide/Map
Brochure describing NCMA
NCMA Museum Park Map (164 acres!)
Upcoming NYC Tartan Day Parade 2020 postcard
Upcoming Braemar Gathering 2020 postcard
Crayola Classic Modeling Clay pk/8
Pocket Notebook & Pen
Bookmark: Heaven-sent Highlander
Bookmark: Rescuing Christmas (Oct. 15)
My Business Card
ButterSCOTCH Candy
Honey from New Hampshire
*an international winner will receive an ebook from Nancy's back list
As always, no purchase necessary.

Hurry! Winner will be drawn October 12th

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Canadian Band