Category Archives: Small Town Fiction

Blog Tour Visit #14: A Latte and Some Words

Certain things just go together: spaghetti and tomato sauce; summer and cricket song; December and pine-scented candles. Lattes and words are like that. For we writer-types, one often leads to the other. That’s how it was this Sunday, being a guest on A Latte and Some Words.

I’ve been known to seek out cafes—during their off hours preferably—and create a mini-office, a bubble where time doesn’t pass at the usual pace, the rest of my to-do list is missing, and a space opens that I can fill with my creative surge. These days, I grab my netbook and head to the nearest Starbucks, where the latte is superb, the atmosphere designed for the likes of anyone needing a personal bubble in a public space all of which encourages the Muse to pull up a chair at my table.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #11: A Traveler’s Library

Imagine a magical portal, a room of polished wood and gleaming windows, each of which frames an exotic view: Florence to the right, Kyoto the left, Kenya over your shoulder, the northern lights arcing upward to the ceiling.

Such were the images conjured by the very name “A Traveler’s Library.” And the beautiful website doesn’t disappoint. There are plenty of websites for researching and booking trips. But this is a site to cause dreams, then help fulfill them.

Vera Marie Badertscher founded her beautiful website in January 2009. Why? “I love to read and I love to travel,” she explained.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #9: Entertainment Examiner

A lot is offered these days in the way of entertainment: a plethora of films, television shows, podcasts and, of course, books. How are we to wade our way through the ocean of offerings to discover something really good?

Mike Parker answers this question on a daily basis for his 7 million followers as Entertainment Editor for Entertainment Examiner. I’m his blog guest today, so that means I made the cut. Whew! An honor! It turns out he liked When Hummers Dream. Timely, too, because we found out today my new e-book has just slipped into the best-seller ranks for Amazon free e-books.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #8: Art Biz Blog

“Art for art’s sake” is a phrase that derives from the nineteenth century French expression “L’art pour l’art”—meaning that the intrinsic value of art is the art itself, separate from any utilitarian function. Wikipedia goes on to explain a connection to “inner-directed” or “self-motivated” individuals.

Artists—and I use the term both specifically to mean those who create fine art with their hands, as well as those who practice and live by other art forms such as acting or composing or writing—most certainly have to be self-directed. For one thing, no one in their right mind would recommend the life of an artist to anyone who could happily do something else.… Read more

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Blog Tour Visit #4: Flip Flops & FABS

One of the most appealing blog sites I’ve seen is one created by Kathy Holmes, www.FlipFlopsAndFabs.blogspot.com. Maybe it’s the big hat. Or perhaps it’s the big blue umbrella facing the ocean. I wanted to go there, and knew right away Kathy would be a kindred spirit.

Sure enough, we’re both California Babes, though Kathy now calls Las Vegas home. (You can take the woman out of California, but you can’t take the California out of the woman.) We share a big love for many regions of California, and take with us wherever we go a sense of what I call the “edge-thinking” that makes us independent and creative.… Read more

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A Hummer Hovers Near Your E-Reader

Hummingbirds are pure magic. Part helicopter, part jewel, they fly across thousands of miles from their winter homes to become an integral part of our summer. Their trilling songs and aerial ballets are a spice as sweet as the nectar they sip.

As far as I’m concerned, E-Readers are pure magic too. Now, instead of attempting to lug four books per flight, I carry one slim volume which inexplicably contains scores of titles, with no meaningful limit to how many volumes I can download.

Magic converges with magic for me today, as my first E-Book flies off the pages. When Hummers Dream is a short story that immediately precedes book one of my novel series, What the Heart Knows.Read more

Posted in Author Mara Purl on Blog Tour, Bellekeep Books, Bellekeep Books by Mara Purl, Blog tour of author Mara Purl, Blog Tours, Book covers by artist Mary Helsaple, book covers painted by artists, Books, Business, Cambria, Connecting through books, Creativity, Current Event, current events, E-Books, e-books by Mara Purl, Escapism through romance novels, Fictitious town of Milford-Haven, flow of life, head and heart connection, head and heart connection, Heart, inspiring through fiction novels, Integrating lifes purpose through art, Intuition, Love, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Mara Purl, Mara Purl, Mara Purl Romance novels, Mara Purl using new marketing methods for Books, Marketing, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, mission and core purpose in life, new methods of marketing books, Novel series, Novels for Romance Junkies, Of Baby Boomer Women, of lives through books, Painting, Publishing, Re-Build your Life, Romance novel readers, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Romance Novels for romance junkies, Romantic fiction, romantic novel storylines, self-growth, Small Presses, Small Town Fiction, Transformation, transformation through AHA moments, Travel, Uncategorized, Using watercolor images for book covers, Virtual Book Tours, Virtual Book Tours, What the Heart Knows, When Hummers Dream by Mara Purl, When Hummers Dream e-book, Women and Romance Novels, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Blog Tour Visit #3: Romance Junkies

What fun to be featured today as a guest of Www.RomanceJunkies.com. Though they chose a tongue-in-cheek name, their elegant site reveals a multitude of cross-connected authors and readers actively engaged in every aspect of Romance Fiction.

Founded in 2003 by Kat Brown, the site now has 60 reviewers, scores of author links, ten categories, and 2,500 loyal followers who communicate with one another on a regular basis through forums, and 1 million hits per month.

A key part of the site is the Romance Junkies Blog, where I’m the featured guest today, www.RomanceJunkies.com/RJBlog/?p=1150, as are my new books When Hummers Dream (free e-book this month) and What the Heart Knows (hardcover next month).… Read more

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Love Coastal Flights

Seeing a coastline from the air suggests a metaphor of seeing the border between head and heart, logic and emotion.
Posted in air travel, Books, California, careers, Coastal regions, Connecting through books, Creativity, Fictitious town of Milford-Haven, flow of life, head and heart connection, head and heart connection, Heart, Journaling, Logical Thinking, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, of lives through books, Opening up to New Worlds, Pat Methany, Personal Essays, Power of the universe, Publishing, Re-Build your Life, relationships, Romantic fiction, Small Town Fiction, Songwriters, Transformation, Travel, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Father Love

Men who wear their hearts on their sleeves are stronger than they may appear.
Posted in Acting, Associated Press, Audio Drama, Books, careers, Connecting through books, Creativity, current events, Heart, inspiring through fiction novels, Integrating lifes purpose through art, Japan, Journalism, Love, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Men wearing hearts on sleeves, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, musician-singer-songwriter, of lives through books, Personal Essays, Publishing, relationships, screenwriting and acting, self-growth, Small Town Fiction, Soap Opera Fiction, synchronicity, Transformation, Travel, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, Women's Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment