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The Milford-Haven Novels, Novellas & Novelettes have now won more than 60 book awards!
Prequel Novella
Novelette
#1 Artist AdventureNovella
#2 Artist AdventureNovella
#3 Artist AdventureNovel One of the Pentalogy
Novel Two of the Pentalogy
Novel Three of the Pentalogy
Novel Four of the Pentalogy
Holiday Novelette
Holiday Novelette
Holiday Novelette
PEARLS OF WISDOM
Category Archives: Women’s Fiction
Whales’ Tales by the Dock of the Bay
Writing is tough. It takes hours, weeks, months, years of solitude and focus. It requires “killing your darlings”—a writer-term for throwing out your favorite passages. It means wrestling with characters, struggling with storylines and remembering why the heck you’re putting yourself through all this torment in the first place. Then there are days when writing is just plain fun. For me, this often occurs when I get do a research field trip. I’m not entirely stupid about this—I choose favorite locations where my story just happens to take place. So I got to spend today in Morro Bay, one of the most delightful spots along California’s gorgeous Central Coast.… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, AHA Moments, Art and Entertainment, Authors, Authors on Talk Shows, Book Clubs, Book Marketing, Books, California, Coastal regions, community and transformation, Connecting through books, e-books by Mara Purl, eco-location, Ecology, Environment, Finding treasures of the heart in books, Heart, Heart and head connection in books, Journalism, Love of Books, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Marine Mammals, Marketing, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, Music, Novel series, Nurturing the soul, Opening up to New Worlds, Personal Essays, saving whales, Small Town Fiction, Soap Opera Fiction, Songwriters, Sperm whales, synchronicity, Whales, When Whales Watch by Mara Purl, Wildlife, Women authors, Women's Fiction
Tagged author Mara Purl, California coast, Greenpeace International, Milford Haven, novel series by Mara Purl, save the whales, sperm whales, The Milford-Haven Books, transformative fiction, whales, women's fiction
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Uni-Tea of Head and Heart
Every journey has its especially sparkling moments, and for my Winter Western States Book Tour, this was it. Elegance and style, generosity and community, connections with old friends and new—a unifying experience for all. The setting—a historic home in the mountain canyons of Santa Barbara; the time—Valentine’s weekend; the opportunity—helping others.
I had the privilege of working with a superb charity in co-creating a fund-raiser/ friend-raiser author tea. This is truly my favorite kind of event because of its synergy—which makes it a win-win-win: for the charity, for the guests, and for the author. In this case, there’s a fourth winner: the community of Santa Barbara, which benefits so directly from the services this charity provides.… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, Art and Entertainment, Bellekeep Books, Book Clubs, Book Marketing, Books, California, Connecting through books, energy, familial history, Finding treasures of the heart in books, Heart, Integrating lifes purpose through art, joy, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, Novel series, Nurturing the soul, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Santa Barbara, synchronicity, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, What the Heart Knows by Mara Purl
Tagged Gratitude, marcia reed, prosperity, The Milford-Haven Books, transformative fiction, Unit y of head and heart, Unity Shoppe, What the Heart Knows, women's fiction, women's fiction novels, www.marapurl.com
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Happy New Orbit!
What kicks off the new year celebrated so avidly around the globe is a gift given by the universe itself—a new orbit. In fact, my character Cornelius Smith and my friend Laurance Doyle —both of whom are astronomers—give this as their annual greeting. “Happy New Orbit!” Makes me smile every time.
Fresh starts . . . a clean slate . . . infinite possibilities. . . . The precious sense that all things are new again is valued throughout the world. Some of us want almost everything to change; some of us probably want a few things to change. And most of us desire a sense of progress so we create a theme or a list to help us establish the landmarks of transformation.… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, Art and Entertainment, Books, Coastal regions, E-Books, Heart, Heart and head connection in books, joy, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, Newsletters, When Hummers Dream by Mara Purl, womens literature
Tagged clean slate, infinite possibilities, laurance doyle, new orbit
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The Magic of Christmas Boxes
Much as I adore Christmas, I love Boxing Day almost as much. First, it’s a Christmas-extender, just like the 23rd is—a date I refer to as Christmas-Eve-Eve.
December 26th is Boxing Day with a wonderful tradition of its own. Observed in the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it started as a day following Christmas when aristocrats, tasked with the welfare of those who worked on their estates, delivered boxes of food and gifts. In South Africa, the occasion evolved into the renamed Day of Goodwill in 1994, and in Ireland it’s called St. Stephen’s Day. The European tradition of giving gifts and money to those in need dates back to the Middle Ages.… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, Art and Entertainment, Book covers by artist Mary Helsaple, book covers painted by artists, Books, California, Creativity, e-books by Mara Purl, familial history, Finding treasures of the heart in books, Gifts, Heart, Heart and head connection in books, Japan, joy, Love of Books, Milford Haven, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, Santa Barbara, What the Heart Knows, Women authors, womens literature
Tagged christmas box, christmas eve, european tradition, family memories, giving gifts, storage boxes
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Women, Books & Jewelry
I’ve known for a long time that there’s a connection between women and jewelry. In fact, that’s probably a connection I made at about age three. Was that when I first admired Mommy’s shiny baubles? Hmm. I think by then, I was actually asking for baubles of my own.
One of the earliest pieces to grace my collection was my very first charm bracelet. How I loved its shiny silver trinkets with their magical moving parts! Each time my parents took me someplace special, a new charm was added, until from every single link dangled a treasured memento: the Rockettes kicked up their legs all in a row; five candles poked through a birthday cake with pink enamel icing; a split oval twisted to become a heart.… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, Art and Entertainment, authors and entertainment world, Bellekeep Books, Book covers by artist Mary Helsaple, book covers painted by artists, Books, California, Cambria, Connecting through books, Cover art for books, E-Books, e-books by Mara Purl, familial history, Finding treasures of the heart in books, Gifts, Gratitude, Heart, Heart and head connection in books, Integrating lifes purpose through art, involvement in issues near and dear to heart, joy, Mara Purl, Mara Purl Romance novels, Milford Haven, Nurturing the soul, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Santa Barbara, What the Heart Knows, What the Heart Knows by Mara Purl, women and romance novels, Women authors, womens literature, writing romance novels
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A Season of Possibility
Over the course of this first December weekend, at an opulent gathering of friends, we went around the table answering the question, “what’s the significance of Christmas to you?” We all acknowledged the spiritual import of the holiday, and because this was an international gathering, there was acknowledgment from widely divergent religious paradigms.
But we came back around the table again to touch upon that which we could only identify as the “spirit” of this time of year. For some, this is a time to focus more intently upon family and close friends, to offer the gifts of time and food, to open our homes, be they large or small, to experience something cozy and comforting, something timeless needing to be captured at least to the extent of celebrating it.… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, Art and Entertainment, Baby Boomers, Books, California, Cambria, Coastal regions, Connecting through books, Creativity, life's purpose, Santa Barbara, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, Women authors, womens literature
Tagged Women's Fiction; Possibility; Santa
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Thanksgiving Fully Present
There are three things I love about Thanksgiving: the future, the past, and the present.
I think as a child I probably loved Thanksgiving because of the future—it meant Christmas was coming soon! It was also a holiday I anticipated with great joy because it meant we’d go visit Grandma Dorothy. She married my step-grandfather late in life—but just in time for my sister and me to adore her. The house she shared with “Daddy Bob” was a classic New England cottage in Waterbury, Connecticut. Cape-Cod-Blue with white trim, it stood erect despite the steep street that seemed to slice under it.… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, Author Mara Purl on Blog Tour, authors and entertainment world, Bellekeep Books, Bellekeep Books by Mara Purl, Blog tour of author Mara Purl, Blog Tours, Blogging, Books, Business, careers, Community, community and transformation, Connecting through blogs, Connecting through books, Creativity, Current Event, familial history, family history and genealogy, Family values, Finding treasures of the heart in books, flow of life, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Gratitude, head and heart connection, head and heart connection, Heart, Heart and head connection in books, heart of an artist, history, Integrating lifes purpose through art, involvement in issues near and dear to heart, joy, life's purpose, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Marketing, Milford Haven, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, mission and core purpose in life, Nurturing the soul, of lives through books, Opening up to New Worlds, Personal Essays, physical and emotional process of creating art, Power of the universe, power of the universe, Publishing, Re-Build your Life, relationships, romantic novel storylines, self-growth, Small Town Fiction, sychronicity of life, Transformation, Travel, Uncategorized, Virtual Book Tours, What the Heart Knows, women and romance novels, Women and Romance Novels, Women authors, Women's Fiction, womens literature, Writing, writing romance novels
Tagged Advance Reader Copies of What the Heart Knows, author Mara Purl, children, children and stories, children dressing for Thanksgiving, classic New England cottages, Creativity, deep reflection, food in shelters, grandparents, Gratitude, gratitude lists, heart, imagine, inspiring day of the year, joy and thanksgiving, living being fully present, Mara Purl thanks readers, multi-culturalism, native hosts of Thanksgiving, relationships, serving others, sheer gratitude, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving of the past, three things about future past present, tradition and country, uniting heart and head, Waterbury Connecticut, What the Heart Knows, working hard, www.marapurl.com
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Mile High Tea
You’ve heard of “Pie in the Sky”—an idiom to convey that which is so unlikely that we shouldn’t count on it, a kind of fool’s gold, a dream only a Pollyanna would dare to dream.
Well, if Pie-In-The-Sky describes what can’t come true, perhaps “Mile High Tea” should be the new descriptor for what can. Why? Because anything Judith Briles touches actually does turn to gold. Judith was my hostess this past weekend for a gorgeous, elaborate and delightful tea at the lovely home where she and her husband, poet and editor John Maling, love to entertain.
So what do I mean by “gold”?… Read more
Posted in about issues of the heart, Art and Entertainment, Artists, Author Mara Purl on Blog Tour, authors and entertainment world, Authors and Publishers Services, Authors on Talk Shows, Baby Boomer women, Baby Boomers and Empty Nest Women, Bellekeep Books, Bellekeep Books by Mara Purl, Book Editing, Book Marketing, Books, Books for Baby Boomers, Business, Business Coaching for Artists, careers, Collaboration with other writers, Colorado, Community, Connecting through books, Creativity, Current Event, current events, E-Books, Editing manuscripts for good writing, Editors, energy, Escapism through romance novels, Fictitious town of Milford-Haven, Finding treasures of the heart in books, flow of life, Gifts, Gratitude, head and heart connection, head and heart connection, Heart, Heart and head connection in books, heart of an artist, history, Innovative marketing, Innovative marketing, inspiring through fiction novels, Integrating lifes purpose through art, Intuition, involvement in issues near and dear to heart, joy, Life in Baby Boomer years for Women, life's purpose, Logical Thinking, Love, Love of Books, Magical moments, Mara Purl, Mara Purl, Mara Purl Romance novels, Mara Purl using new marketing methods for Books, Marketing, Milford Haven, Milford-Haven Novels & Stories, mission and core purpose in life, Motivation and inspiration for Baby Boomer careers, new methods of marketing books, Novel series, Novels for Romance Junkies, Nurturing the soul, Of Baby Boomer Women, of lives through books, Opening up to New Worlds, physical and emotional process of creating art, Possibili-Teas in Colorado and New York, Power of the universe, power of the universe, power of the universe, Power of Universe, Presidents of publishing trade organizations, Publishing, Re-Build your Life, relationships, Romance novel readers, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Romance Novels by Mara Purl, Romantic fiction, romantic novel storylines, Science, self-growth, Skill sets, Small Presses, Small Town Fiction, Soap Opera Fiction, sychronicity of life, synchronicity, synchronicity, Teas with author Mara Purl, Transformation, Travel, Uncategorized, What the Heart Knows, What the Heart Knows by Mara Purl, When Hummers Dream by Mara Purl, women and romance novels, Women and Romance Novels, Women authors, Women's Fiction, womens literature, Writing, writing romance novels
Tagged adventures of Mitford Haven novels, author and speaker Judith Briles, author Mara Purl, author services at Author U, author services of Judith Briles, Author U, business partners, Fiction, fools gold, fulfilling callings in life, gifts of the heart, good books published well, heart, Judith Briles, Judith Briles and the power of the Word, Judith Briles inspiring others to publish, Mara Purl inspiring others to publish, Mile High Tea in Mile High City, Mile High Tea with Judith Briles and Mara Purl, Pie in the Sky, poel and editor John Maling, Pollyanna dreams, possibilities in publishing, publishing opportunities, science and art of Judith Briles, steeping tea with Mara Purl and Judith Briles, strategies and solutions by Judith Briles, Suze Orman, The Milford-Haven Books, the power of the word, women's fiction, women's fiction novels, www.marapurl.com
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