Please welcome my guest, Romance Author Susabelle Kelmer.
Susabelle is a wife and mother living at the base of the Rocky Mountains in Northern Colorado. She believes in romance, second chances, and the magic of moonlight. When she isn't writing, she works with students with disabilities in the college environment.
Susabelle's tagline is Love is Everything.
Summer is Here!
I want to thank Katherine Grey for hosting me on her blog
today. I’m so excited to talk about my
debut novel with The Wild Rose Press. Fairest of the Faire published on June
5th (more on that later). Today, I’d
love to talk to you about a Rocky Mountain Summer!
I live just east of the foothills of the Rockies in Northern
Colorado. Summer doesn’t get here until
late, and it comes in slow, like someone trying to step into cold water. First a toe goes in, then is pulled back out
and we shiver. Then another try with the
toe, and maybe the whole foot. Then back
out as the chill returns. It snows
through May and sometimes into June. The
ground never really warms up the way it does in the Midwest where I come
from. Gardening is a dice game.
But then everything blooms: the tulips and daffodils, the
poppies in reds and oranges, the irises of every possible color. My dianthus always come back in a burst of
color, as if they had not died down to nothing over the winter. And then the peonies bloom. The smell is heavenly, the huge blooms open
up like triple-petaled roses. They grow
particularly well here, although the three in my yard are too young to do
so. The cemetery near my house has
hundreds of them – nearly every grave has one or two planted on it.
Up in the mountains this time of year, the wildflowers are
beginning to bloom. Columbine, purple
lattice, bluebells, wild roses, Indian Paintbrush, elephant heads, and plenty
more I don’t know the names of. Open
fields are crowded with yellows and whites, and ever damp space of ditch next
to the mountain roads are like rainbows.
The season is short, and the flowers have to take advantage of the time
they do have. It amazes me to see them.
There may be no other vegetation, especially above the tree line, but
the flowers are there.
Those precious few months of summer mean we are gardening
hard, trying to get our vegetables to harvest before the hard freeze comes,
before the snow. Tomatoes and peppers
can barely make it. Cold weather veggies
like kohlrabi, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, beets, turnips, and parsnips love
it and do well. Summer squash can grow
as fast as weeds because of our dry heat, but winter squash often do not
produce until just before our first hard freeze. But still, we try, because that’s what
gardeners do. Often, we say to one
another, “Well, there’s always next year!”
I love all of the seasons here, even if some of them are
short. Spring comes and goes in a month,
and autumn bursts out in bright yellow when our Aspen trees turn, but only
lasts a couple of months. Snow by
Halloween is common. Right now, though,
I’m looking forward to summer barbecues, concerts in the park, hikes in the
green valleys, bike rides on the greenways, and evenings sitting on the outside
patio at one of our many local restaurants, enjoying the late sunsets.
What do you most like about summer? Answer in the comments!
Katherine here. Check out Susabelle's new contemporary romance. The excerpt is below.
Blurb:
Schoolteacher Connie Meyers is suddenly a young
widow, her husband killed in a horrific car accident. Heartbroken to find out
he had gambled away everything they had, she moves to her sister-in-law's Midwest home to rebuild her life. A trip to the local
Renaissance Faire with her nieces leads to a summer job as a costumed
storyteller.
Avowed bad boy and fair performer Gage Youngblood is
infatuated with Connie at first sight. Despite his deliberately commitment-free
life, and Connie's don't-touch-me attitude, he soon has her in his arms,
realizing quickly she is also in his heart.
When she is threatened by her late husband's bookie,
he steps into the role of protector, his fate forever sealed with hers.
Excerpt:
“Who said anything about a relationship?” he
said, standing up so he could tower over her again. “I’m just trying to have a
little fun. You know, fun?”
If he’d been an animal, she was sure he’d have
had hair raised on the back of his neck, he seemed so angry, and it struck her
painfully. She hadn’t wanted to anger him or hurt him. She turned away from him
and closed her eyes to tamp down the tears she knew would come if she let them.
She crossed her arms over her chest, to hold in the pain. Being tired made her
much too vulnerable.
“Yes,” she finally said. “I know about fun. Life
isn’t always fun, though.”
“Princess.” His voice was soft, tender. “I won’t
hurt you. It’s not in my plan.”
Despite herself, she felt the shivers of desire
race down from her shoulders, down her arms and legs, and back up to that
secret, soft place at her core. She bowed her head and gritted her teeth,
hoping for the feeling to go away.
“And what is your plan, Gage?”
“It’s a simple plan. I want you to feel good. I
want to feel good, too.”
Available
NOW at the following links:
You can learn more about Susabelle by following her on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter or by checking out her website and blog.
Website – http://www.susabelle.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SusabelleKelmer
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/susabelle
Email:
susabelle.kelmer@gmail.com
Wonderful description of the weather and seasons here in the Rockies. It's a challenging environment but when the weather is nice here it is spectacular. Happy summer and pray for no hail.
ReplyDeleteMary, you are so right. I love the weather here, even when it is weird. And luckily, for whatever reason, we rarely get hail in Longmont!
DeleteWe have some kinds of flowers growing year round here in Florida, but we can't grow peonies. My Grandmother lived in Indiana and had peonies along one side of her house. I loved those huge blooms. Besides my Grandma, they're what I miss most about that old house.
ReplyDeleteThey are my favorite flower, because they bloom right around my birthday in May in the Midwest where I grew up. They seem to grow even better here, which surprises me. One of my coworkers is from England, she says they are very big there, that all the yards have them.
DeleteSusabelle, gardening is my escape, my haven. Yet, summer days are hot and long her in the Sacramento, CA. I tend to move slow during these months and consider this my time to mentally hibernate. ;) Now winter...ahh...I become alive and emerge with so much energy. You have painted a lovely picture of your flowers. I can even smell them. As always, I'm wishing you all the best with your new release.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary! I love to garden, as it, too, is my escape. I have a lovely perennial garden that I keep fussing with (lilies, Snow-on-the-Mountain, dianthus), and a shade garden with hostas and coral bells and some other plant I cannot ever remember the name of - starts with an M. And then there are the veggies...We should be able to start harvesting soon, starting with squash and beans. But it was a long, cold spring, with too much moisture. So everything is delayed.
DeleteWhen we moved from Minnesota to coastal California two years ago, I had to adjust everything I knew about gardening. Nearly every plant was new to me, and gardening in a perpetual drought is a challenge. However, I've come to adore the Mexican sage, Kangaroo paws, and lavender in my yard. Congratulations on your new release and many sales to you!
ReplyDeleteHi Alison,
DeleteI'm very jealous. I live in upstate NY and have a very hard time growing lavender. It either doesn't come up at all or it withers and dies before it "blossoms." I've pretty much given up on it. Thanks for stopping by.
As a recent transplant to Alaska I haven't quite figured out much gardening up here. Thank goodness there are lots of wildflowers blooming right now.:)
ReplyDeleteHi Angelina,
DeleteI can't imagine how hard it must be to garden in Alaska. I love wildflowers. I bought a seed packet last year and planted them in the front yard. I haven't seen anything yet, but it's been really rainy this summer so far.
Colorado is so beautiful. I used to live in Durango.
ReplyDeleteHi Debra,
DeleteI've never been to Colorado but I've heard the Rocky Mountain area is something to see and should be on my "must visit" list. Thank you for stopping by.
Susabelle, you describe your mountains so beautifully. We used to vacation somewhere in Colorado every summer, usually a couple of weeks in a campground (sleeping in a tent). We jeeped many of the high mountain backroad passes and collected a jillion memories of our youth.
ReplyDelete