Romance - A Story for Everyone

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul.

I’m writing this post earlier in the month, to be precise almost two weeks before you will see it. At Romancing The Genre, the Genre-istas are sharing “My Most Romantic … ?” and if you start at the beginning of the month with Robin Weaver’s “The Most Romantic Potato” and read through each post until here, you’ll find a wide array of interpretations of the suggested topic.

I talk about “heat levels” in my books, Paty Jager shares the little things that have kept her 38 years of marriage strong and Kristin Wallace includes an excerpt from her soon-to-be released Shellwater Key tale.

One of the things I love about writing and reading romance is there is a story for just about everyone.

If you’ve an interest in history, here are historical romances set in Medieval, Renaissance, Middle Ages, Regency, Victorian, American West --- you name the era and there is, most likely a romantic story set then.

Science? What about scifi? Remember, the science fiction of last century is becoming our reality today.

Suspense? Thrillers? Yes, there are authors who write romantic suspense and thrillers.

And then there are the ones who have fantastic imaginations! They are the writers of fantasy and paranormal romance. The good ones make sure the world they’ve created is sustained through all of the stories set in that place and time.

What I love about Romancing The Genres is our diversity. You can find just about any kind of romance you are interested in here. If you don’t have the time or inclination to check us out every day, you can check our Genre-ista page and scroll down to see who’s who and what we write.

Not only can romances be set in any era, they can take place at any time of the day or night and in any known or unknown country or galaxy.

To me, a good romance touches my heart and leaves me with a sense of satisfaction, even a smile on my lips as I envision the characters I’ve fallen in love with enjoying their future together.

Of course my goal is that when you read my books, you have those same feelings!

For a Free digital copy of Lily sign up for Connections, my newsletter. You’ll be the first to know about upcoming releases and the first to know about specials, contests and appearances.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series on her website.

Follow Judith on Twitter: @JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB!

© 2017 Judith Ashley

Happy New Year!!!

There is a song with the line “another year older and deeper in debt”. I find that a depressing view of a new year so here is my mantra for 2016.

Another year is here and All is right in my world.

Having the view that our life is unfolding as it should is a double-edged sword.

When everything is going well, it is easy to lay claim to what is happening.

When everything is not going well, it is much more difficult to find the bits and pieces that still work; to stay focused on the positive; to still claim our lives and find our way forward.

Having had many disruptions in 2015, I know how hard it is to stay focused on the positive. However, those disruptions and the work I had to do to find and focus on what was still working was well worth it because I’m stronger in my determination to manifest my dreams into my reality in 2016.

Every Monday I’ll be posting a blog on something positive. I’ll invite you to join me on a quest to find ways to interact with other in such a way that our world and the world of others will be a better place.

Please accept my invitation and join me!

Share what you do to move from a negative mindset to a positive one.

Share what you see going on in the world around you.

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, contemporary romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nurture the soul. 

Judith also posts the first Monday of the month at Romancing The Genres.

You can follow Judith on Twitter: JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s website and her Windtree Press author page.

Judith also is on Facebook. Here’s the link. 

Relax On The Road

The big news where I live is that our roads are at capacity and four hundred thousand more people are expected to move here in the next four years and there’s no money for more roads! This news is the backdrop for this weeks post.

Although I no longer put 20K miles on my car each year, I still drive. This last winter another drive cut me off because I wasn’t tail gating the car in front of me.

“Stupid jerk!” “You could have killed me!” I yelled as I braked to keep from rear-ending that car.

This was not the first time I'd yelled at another driver, but it was one of the last. For some reason, I heard myself in a different way this time and realized that the energy I was expending was hurting me. As the other driver went on his way, I didn't really feel better although that spurt of fear had dissipated.

In the ‘90’s during the Balkan War I created a workshop “How To Bring Peace To Our World”. A workshop with only one simple premise. If you want peace in your world, you need to practice peace regardless of what is going on around you. I reminded myself of that workshop. I still believed in the premise even though in that a moment I wasn’t practicing it.

So I’ve changed.

I bought a reminder. Named her “Silver” and usually she is hanging from my passenger visor when I drive. (Right now our temperatures are so high, I know my car’s interior gets to over 100 degrees so she sits near my front door and reminds me of my promise to myself as I go out to my car).

What does she remind me about?

My yelling comes from my fear and it does not serve me Also, I’ve no idea what is happening in that other driver’s life. Is she rushing to work worried about being fired for being late? Is he rushing home because an emergency? Or it could be nothing like these examples. It could be the driver is just frustrated with his or her life and taking it out while driving. Maybe here, in the fast car or big truck or alone this is the way the driver feels in control or works off disappointment with other parts of life.

That day I realized it really makes no difference what's going on for the other driver. I was sending more negative energy into the world. The question I asked myself "Am I making the world, my world a better place?"

"No."

What I was doing was adding more fear, more anger, more upset, more frustrated energy to the world which was the opposite of what I wanted.

Those road-rage-type-drivers are still out there. But as they whip around me, cut in so close I’m slamming on my brakes to keep from hitting them I’m no longer yelling at them. I take a deep breath and concentrate on sending them 'safe trip energy'.

Here are a couple more tips to relax on the road:

1. Keep a safe distance between you and the cars in front of you.

2. Let other cars merge, oh just let that big semi-truck in too, at an on ramp.

3. When in the city, let a car in from a side street or parking lot.

4. When someone drives in an unsafe fashion, send them “be safe energy”.

5. Add an extra ten minutes or more to your estimated travel time. The worst that will happen is you’ll be a little early!

6. If possible schedule appointments and errands at non-rush hour times. If that’s not possible, find some way to stay calm and in the present as you idle on the freeway. (I look for red-tailed hawks and the occasional bald eagle).

What do you do to stay relaxed on the road? I’m always interested in adding to my repertoire!

Judith is on the senior teaching faculty of The William Glasser Institute. She is also the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nurture the soul. Hunter the fifth book in the series is now available at major e-retailers and here.

Learn more about The Sacred Women’s Circle series here.
Check out Judith’s Windtree Press Author Page. 
Judith also blogs on the first Friday of the month at Romancing The Genres.

Follow Judith on Twitter: judithashley19

An Unexpected Gift

Another tip to try out!

Take a $5.00 bill with you as you travel through your day. Use it to surprise someone.

While I've not actually done the $5.00 bill idea, I have purchased the groceries for the person in front of me who is on food stamps several times. By many people's standards I'm not rich or wealthy but I do have money for food without food stamps. I've never truly gone hungry because I didn't have food in the house or available to me. When possible, I ask the checker to not mention I was the one who paid. The stunned look on the faces of these people does not make me smile because what I did was not hard. It took no special effort. I didn't sacrifice anything. Some of them have tears in their eyes as they look around trying to figure out who did this for them.

What do you do to add an unexpected gift to someone's day?

I'm one of the senior faculty for The William Glasser Institute and after taking a couple of years off from teaching, I'd scheduled a Basic Intensive Training. At the end of the last day, there was a knock on my door. A local florist handed me a bouquet of flowers. Terri Allen, the Northwest Region's US Board representative was the sender. So unexpected and so very appreciated! Guess who regularly schedules training?

Who has given you an unexpected gift?

As you travel through your day, look for ways to spread compassion with cash. It doesn't have to be a stranger although for me that adds to my experience. A flower for a special person in your life? A specialty chocolate bar?

I'm fully aware that for some people spending $5.00 on someone else isn't an option. That doesn't mean you can't add that unexpected gift to another person's day. We've already explored the power of a smile, the power of saying 'thank you' and the power of really listening. And, none of those actions cost a penny.

Share your ideas here!

Judith is the author of The Sacred Women's Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nourish the soul. Hunter, the fifth book in the series is now available.

Learn more about The Sacred Women's Circle series here.

Check out Judith's author page at Windtree Press.

Follow Judith on Twitter @judithashley19

Judith blogs at Romancing The Genres the first Monday of each month.

Time Flies When...

The old adage "Time Flies When You're Having Fun" is alive and well in my life right now.

If you've been following Romancing The Genres, you know we've just launched a sister site Romance From The Genre-istas. RFTG offers Free Reads For Your Enjoyment. Saturday we went live with seven short (less than 1500 words) stories with Valentine's Day theme.

Getting ready took time. We (Sarah Raplee and I) had to create a new blog site; order cards; schedule the posts; set up links so readers can more easily move around; and write our own Flash Fiction.

I can hardly believe it has been more than a month since I last posted here. But obviously it has because my last post is dated January 5th and today is February 15th!

My Intention is to write a short post more frequently - but that didn't happen.

What did happen is that My Intention to see Romance From The Genre-istas launch took precedence. That happens in life - it isn't that we failed, it's that we succeeded in something else.

The next step is to stop, assess, and move forward either putting the initial intention on the shelf or polishing it up and acting on it.

Check back in and see how I do!

Read more about my writing at www.JudithAshleyRomance.com

The Perfect Christmas Tree

Happy New Year!!!

As I waited for the clock to strike 9 p.m. (I live on the West Coast so cheated by celebrating at 9 p.m. my time while watching the crystal ball drop in Times Square, New York City) a wave of light and lightness washed over me leaving a sense of calm joy.

Will I have challenges in 2012? Of course.
Will I have doubts in 2012? Probably
Will I meet every goal I set for myself? No

I've had an Intention for some time now (two years on 01/17) that my life is easier and it takes less effort to experience joy and happiness. That is an Intention that has been manifesting for some time now.

No, every day is not 100% but every day does have its moments of joy, moments of happiness.

One of the things I'm involved with is Romancing The Genres group blog. I'm one of the co-founders along with Sarah McDermed. In January 2011 we came up with the idea of a group blog. On May 1, 2011 we launched RTG. And this week we most likely will hit 14K (right, 14,000) page views.

I'm inviting you to stop by Romancing The Genres (see, I learned to easily and effortlessly embed a link) and see my post. Look at the pictures (I popped those in as well as these with nary a problem in sight). Click around and read other Genre-ista's post. I'm encouraging you to check out Sarah's. (another embeded link). If you look at the right side of the page, scrolling down until you see our February Guests - I did that also. Click on Guest Page and you can see my work in September and October.

One year ago I had no idea how to do any of this.

Here I am with Gimi and Connie, my Intention Sisters. Each week we talk on the phone, encouraging and supporting each other. Each day we send Intention Energy to each other. Acheiving anything is  easier when someone is there to support us. What is amazing is how important these daily and weekly practices are to me. They are written on my calendar and I take them into consideration as I look at other things I need/want to accomplish. My time with these women is a priority and I can look back over the year and see what

I've accomplished, what I've manifested because of their encouragement, support and their holding my Intentions on my behalf.

Check out my website www.JudithAshleyRomance.com I updated it in November and you can read the revised "In the Beginning" (Chapter One) of "The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl"; see what I've been up to, etc.

My wish for you in 2012 is that you find people who will support and encourage you as you manifest your dreams into your reality.

Starting Again...

Some of you may be reading Intentions and Synchonicities for the first time because you clicked on the link at Romancing The Genres. Yes, I'm a two blog writer! What do these two blogs have in common? Me!

Romancing The Genres is my writer blog. Sarah Raplee McDermed and I came up with the idea for a group blog and made it happen. We launched on May 1, 2011 and have had over 8000 page views since then. The 21 Genre-istas are from 9 states and New Zealand. Some are published authors and some are yet-to-be published authors but we've all completed at least one manuscript. (No, just finishing a manuscript does not get you published). You can read more about my writing on the blog (I post the first Friday of every month) or at my website.

Intentions and Synchronicities is my personal blog. I've been remiss at keeping up regular posts but am 'starting again'. At I&S I blog about things that interest me, share how Intentions and Synchronicities play a role in my life and invite you to join a discussion about these topics. I've friends who share these ideas and one of the things we're talking about is one or more of them joining me on this blog. Look for a post from Michele Lauren in the near future.

How do you influence events in your life? How does synchronicity play a part in your life? How do your beliefs in how the world works affect your Intentions and your perception of Synchronicity? Those questions and other topics will be discussed or ruminated about on this blog. I'd love it if you'd join me.