We promised ourselves this year we’d try to give more “experiences” than “things” as gifts.

Organizing/coordinating/finding something to do that will be a fun experience for everyone invited can be challenging, but we scored big time when I bought tickets for “BEAUTIFUL—the Carole King musical” at Roger Rockas Dinner Theatre in Fresno for our daughter-in-law’s birthday.

Happily, Sarah is a huge fan of Carole King’s music. She said she practically wore out her “Tapestry” CD when she was in high school. I loved it, too. Here’s a song straight out of Paul and my history: “It’s Too Late, Baby”.

Given three of us experienced a bout of flu before our scheduled show date, it was something of a miracle we managed to make it to the matinee, but we did! And the entire performance was delightful. So many songs that helped tell the story of Carole King’s life…and in some ways reflected the stories of our own lives, loves, and losses.

After the show, we strolled around a classic Fresno neighborhood called the Tower District. The architecture spoke to us and the whole vibe made us happy.

Since Jon Paul and Sarah also opted to gift “experiences” this year for Christmas, they’d arranged for us to dine at a Brazilian restaurent called Texas de Brazil. The waiters dressed in guacho pants and high boots, and they carried swords filled with tender cuts of meat for us to sample: numerous beef choices, chicken, pork, lamb and saugage. Its salad bar was bigger than my kitchen. The choices were a little overwhelming but quite tasty and fun. We realized after we sat there stuffed to the gills that nobody mentioned work the entire meal. That’s a first for my contractor men.😉

Next up is a movie party for March birthday boy JP.

And….I’m super happy to share this fun news from Tule Publishing:

MONTANA BLUEPRINT FOR LOVE will be a BookBub featured DEAL: FREE on March 30.

Follow me here to get the alert and links to the vendor of your choice: www.bookbub.com/authors/debra-salonen

PS: Here’s an AI version of my Montana Blueprint for Love blurb. It’s not something I plan to use, but I thought you might get a kick out of seeing it. Some good turns-of-phrase…some curious…how does one bury something beneath a foundation, metaphorically speaking?😉

Here’s the buy link, but I can’t promise the price will drop until Sunday.

And here’s a NEW RELEASE from my writer friend Katherine Shay.

BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE
Wounded Heroes: The Redemption Series
By Kathryn Shay

They bombed his church and took away his faith. Who was he without it?

After a long years of study, Caleb Shepherd realized his dream of becoming a minister. He was helping people and doing God’s work. When somebody bombs his church, he loses it all, even his wife. He returns to his hometown where his little sister welcomes him. But he struggles with depression constantly and the last thing he wants is romance in his life. Until he meets sleek, sophisticated and sexy Gemma Kendrick, a renowned psychologist in town.

Grab BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE at the retailer of your choice HERE!

It’s full-on SPRING in “Debland.” You know what that means: mowing and weed-whacking, repeat, repeat.😉

And, believe it or not, I’m almost done with the first draft of the first book in a new mystery/romance series.

Hope all is well in “yourland,”

Happy reading!
Deb