At Last Meet Gabriella and Sophia

Judith is the author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual practices that nourish the soul and celebrates the journey from relationship to romance.

Drum roll!!!! Meet Gabriella Maria Moncrief and Sophia Camila Denton Stewart.

Gabriella: Chaos and Symmetry

Crawling out of the gutter to build a life off the streets takes stamina, courage and guts. Gabriella knows it takes even more because no matter how far away you’ve crawled, the gutter still clings to you.

How do you heal from childhood abuse? How can you accept love when you see yourself as unlovable?

Wow!!! What I had to learn to bring Gabriella’s spiritual path into focus in this book. I detail my journey in “Gabriella’s Sacred Geometry.”

I’m also indebted to Mikhaela Asheena who spent time talking to me about sacred geometry. Check out her amazing Sacred Geometry Patterns here!

Sophia: Every Ending Is A Beginning

Having loved and lost once in her life, Sophia guards her heart. But even though Cam is surrounded in darkness, she sees a glimmer of light and she is attracted to him.

When you’ve personal knowledge of the pain of the death of a loved one, how do you put your heart on the line again?

Ever heard of the ‘blue bird of happiness’? Sophia’s personal totem is the blue bird. Happiness seems beyond her when a longtime friend dies. Nothing brings her the joy she so easily manifested even a few months earlier.

Sophia might follow the Wheel of Life but that is much different than risking her heart in a relationship with someone whose very profession courts death. Is NOW enough? My thoughts on writing Sophia and Now.

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I’ve been asked if I have a favorite character or story. At one point my answer was the one I was working on. With all seven of the original series available in digital and print and I look back on the stories of The Circle, I can honestly say “No, I don’t have a favorite.”

However I do have favorite scenes in each book, favorite bits of dialogue, favorite threads or maybe even themes. But those are topics for another day — or not.

Turning the tables, I’m asking you:

Which is your favorite and why? 

What speaks to you about the lives of these women?

And, I’m encouraging you to share your thoughts here and in a review at your favorite e-retailer?

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

Follow Judith on Twitter: @JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB!

#Peace Matters - Part 3

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

#Peace Matters and YOU

I've added pictures of what, to me are peaceful scenes at the Oregon Coast, the the text of my January 2016 post. I also added two additional pictures (my drum and a spruce cone) that can serve as a focus point in meditating. Even if you do not meditate, spending a few minutes (or more) looking at a peaceful, calm, quiet scene or object can relieve stress.

How do you, a single individual, impact the violence in the world?

I won’t tell you it’s easy, but it is simple.

Live a life of peace.

That means giving up revenge for a wrong no matter how grievous. (It does not mean you do not call the police, press charges, or testify in court).

That means staying peaceful in mind and spirit when someone cuts in front of you while driving or scares you half-to-death because of some antic while on the road. No cussing, shaking of fist in the air much less “doing it back”. (You can call 911 if you can give a description of the car and driver.)

I’ve been working on this one this past year. My success is not quite 100% but close. I have my driving conscience in the form of this snowy owl that hangs from my passenger side visor. And I choose to say a quiet prayer for the safety of that driver. Why? Because if that driver is safe, the others of us on the road are more likely to be safe also. And because I do believe that all behavior is purposeful. There is something happening in that driver’s life such that how he or she is driving makes sense.

It also means finding ways past disagreements that are not resolvable (it does take two people to find common ground and put the disagreement in the past).

I’ve stewed for years over my neighbor’s unwillingness to take care of her hedge. When I made a commitment to live a life of peace, including peaceful thoughts, I knew I had to do something about the hedge which had grown over one-half of my carport roof. It cost me over $300 to have my neighbor’s laurel hedge cut back from my property but I no longer stew over the *!X)# hedge.

Stress is the underlying cause of many of our health problems so it makes sense to figure out how to reduce and eliminate as much as we can.

Here are some questions I ask myself:

What do I control?

What can I do about what I control?

How do I let go of what I cannot control?

I’m not saying it is easy to find our answers.

But the process is simple.



Take care of what we do have control over.
Let go of what we cannot and do not control.
These are the keys to living a peaceful life.

What do you do to minimize stress in your life so you live a more peaceful life? You never know when an idea or practice you share can help someone else find their own answers so don't be shy!

Judith also posts the first Monday of the month at Romancing TheGenres.

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.