Category: Blog Post

MFRW BOOK HOOKS, CONTEMPLATIONS OF A WOMAN TURNING 65 By Pat Garcia #MFRWhooks #BlogHop #FreePromo @patgarcia@bsky.social @rrbc-org.bsky.social @4rwisawriters.bsky.social #amwriting

BLURB

Moving toward her Sixty-fifth birthday, Tessie Blount contemplates the next stage of her life. The death of her last girlfriend has her floundering as she deliberates between wanting to go on living or taking flight as all her friends have done and go up yonder. Not married and with no purpose, she questions the validity of living further until love is offered to her mostunexpectedly. But will she accept it?

EXCERPT

Teach us to number our days,

That we may gain a heart of wisdom

Psalm 90:12 NIV 2011

Tessie Blount did not believe clouds could fall from Heaven, nor that gold was at the end of a rainbow, or that her life had to end at sixty-five… until her best girlfriend, Bob-Ann, crossed over right after her sixty-fifth birthday. As she stood by the gravesite, Tessie wasn’t so sure what she thought anymore. The ache in her heart at the loss of Bob-Ann had robbed her of her peace. She had done everything she could to keep Bob-Ann alive, but her girlfriend had been determined to go up yonder and leave her alone. Tessie had cried bitterly. The first days of aloneness nearly wiped her out. She took one last look at the grave and left the cemetery. Down to earth and by no means flighty, words of consolation given by the Pastor rose in her mind.

‘Death is unavoidable.’

Amen, Reverend! Tessie thought. As far as I know, it is inescapable, but does a person have to go at sixty-five? Can’t we live a full life after that magic retirement number?

Available at all Amazon store

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

https://patgarciaauthor.com/2025/01/06/mfrw-book-hooks-contemplations-of-a-woman-turning-65-by-pat-garcia-mfrwhooks-bloghop-freepromo-patgarciabsky-social-rrbc-org-bsky-social-4rwisawriters-bsky-social-amwriting/

TRULY, I AM THANKFUL By Pat Garcia @patgarcia.bsky.social #Women’sFiction #Romancereader @The IWSG #writingjourney @amwriting @rrbc-org.bsky.social @4rwisawriters.bsky.social #Bloghop @pat_garcia

AS I LOOK BACK

I woke up this morning and looked at the frost covering my window to the sky. Yes, it was and still is cold, but I slept in a warm bed. Sleeping in a warm bed is one of the simple things in life that stirs up gratitude in my heart. It helps me realize that I live, breathe, and get everything I need from somebody much bigger than I, as Paul states in Acts, Chapter 17, verse 24, New International Version (NIV).

Over 2024, I sometimes forgot Him. Due to various problems that confronted me, I saw these problems as impossible to solve. My vision had to be corrected so that I could see Him working in my life for my good. He showed me what I didn’t see. 

My faith is what keeps me walking out my journey. I trust in God who has given me purpose, even when I sometimes don’t understand what He’s doing. He’s always working all things out for my good. 

As I look back over this year, I thank all of you who have read my short stories, especially my latest, THE POWER OF TOUCH. Thank you for your reviews and, most of all, for being readers who appreciate multicultural stories that present the different perspectives of living among the varied cultures we have in the world. 

Truly, I am thankful. 

Have a safe crossover into 2025, be safe, and rejoice because life is worth living.

Shalom shalom,

Pat Garcia

MFRW BOOK HOOKS, TURN THE LIGHT ON By Pat Garcia #MFRWhooks #BlogHop #FreePromo @patgarcia@bsky.social @rrbc-org.bsky.social @4rwisawriters.bsky.social #amwriting

Blurb

Would you ever accept a dinner invitation to meet a stranger who never spoke one word to you during your time together? Would you accept that you could not even sit at the same table with them? How about, you don’t even know their name and you continue this “game” for months? Meet Della Cartwright. A superstar at what she does professionally, but when the tall, mysterious, Italian stranger, Alessio Terracina, enters her world, she begins to question her judgment and everything about her. In this short story which takes place over the course of one day, this otherwise savvy businesswoman is led into making decisions that could jeopardize her professional life and maybe even cost her her freedom. But the greatest danger…just might be to her fragile heart.

Excerpt

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For you are with me. Psalm 23:4 (NKJV)

Della Cartwright sat in Macey Bergstein’s office in Frankfurt, Germany. She balled her hands into fists, flexing them, waiting for Macey, her boss, to express her opinion about the unexplained money transfers in Della’s private bank account. A plane flew over their building, and Della’s eyes followed its path as she gazed out of the window behind Macey. How she could have gotten involved with a man in a counter-terrorist group was puzzling. Downright despicable. Until now, she had made a name for herself as the Foreign Exchange Settlements department’s queen. Everyone in the department acknowledged her magical abilities. Her intuitiveness and her strong sense of discernment had caught errors and even settled deals, which would have cost dealers their jobs if she had not noticed the mistakes. Yet, she had managed to let a man whose name she didn’t even know wrap her in his web.

Shalom shalom,

Pat Garcia

http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com

LET HIS BANNER OVER ME BE LOVE By Pat Garcia @patgarcia.bsky.social social, #MFRWHooks @rrbc-org.bsky.social @4rwisawriters.bsky.social

Blurb

It doesn’t take Chance Mancini long to accept that she’s allowed herself to fall in love with Gavino Mancini, a man much younger than she. To make matters worse, after their marriage, he’s led her into a lifestyle she has come to love. He is her, Sir.

All is well until she finds out she can’t give him a family, and insecurity about their relationship haunts her. 

Chance runs away, only to be terrorized every night in her sleep by her dreams. Three years later, Gavino Mancini enters her life again to repossess what belongs to him––her heart and her body.

EXCERPT

Chance gasped when Gavino Mancini came out into the open. Shock reverberated through her body. Overcome with guilt about the way she had left him; her eyes trailed their way down from his face to his neck. Once upon a time, she had delighted in planting kisses on the tanned column of his neck between his ear and shoulder. Instinctively, she bowed her head in the presentation pose he had taught her. She shivered as she remembered how she loved standing on her tippy toes to kiss his shoulders, his neck, and his chin, after he had given her permission to touch him. He would then reach out and pull her close to him and lift her up so that she could reach his mouth and drape his body with hers. At night, those same shoulders became her pillow after he finished making love to her. She would fall into a deep sleep listening as he whispered repeatedly, I love you.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Shalom shalom

THE POWER OF TOUCH By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia #amwriting #MFRWHooks

The Power of Touch is a multicultural/interracial short story. The story centers around Aniyah, an African-American woman who finally leaves the orphanage she is raised in and moves to Cologne, a city in Germany, where she has the opportunity to study at the University about the effects of music on people who are deaf.

She has finally finished her studies successfully and is waiting at the train station to catch her train when she sees a man walking into the same train station, and she feels that he wants to hurt himself.

The Power Of Touch is a love story that transcends barriers and brings hope to people who have given up on life. 

Book Cover by Olga Godim

Blurb:

Stationed within an International Explosive Ordinance Team (EOD) in Germany for six years, Gianluca Abate has never anticipated that unexpected incidences could throw his life off balance. He didn’t think there was a situation that could touch him so closely until the day he experienced an explosive blast underwater. His life spirals downward, and he loses all hope of ever being normal again. At a train station, he is waiting for a train to come to end it all and is so involved in what he is about to carry out that he doesn’t see the woman running toward him who is about to change the trajectory of his destiny forever.

EXCERPT: Aniyah paused before the sizeable glassed-in train terminal, observing the people who crossed the pedestrian walk to enter. As always, she forgot to eat her ice cream as she watched the people, and it melted and streamed like a tiny river over her cone.

She licked her cone enthusiastically, trying to catch the drips before they reached her hand. She painted pictures of everyone crossing the path as she licked. She loved that she could look out from the second level of the modernized station. People fascinated her, and she dissected the world they were living in by contemplating the emotions she saw written on their faces, especially in their eyes. Her gaze went to a man with wavy black hair. He walked stiffly as if he were a robot. He lifted his head suddenly and glanced straight up into her eyes. Aniyah discerned a hopeless look she had seen many times from children in the orphanage who had hoped to be adopted but never were. By their eyes, she could tell when they had given up. Some let life pull them along and got more bitter daily; others gave up entirely and left the world forever. She lost sight of the man when he walked under the canopy that led to the entrance below, but something wasn’t right about him. 

You may find the paperback and Kindle versions on all Amazon Outlets worldwide (amazon.com)

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

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Truly, I Am Thankful @pat_garcia

This week has started out with surprises. I woke up Monday morning lying in bed, talking to God; my mobile rang. It was my sister and her husband from Tennessee. To say it was nice hearing their voices at 6:45 in the morning is an understatement. Their phone call showered me with love, and I lay there thanking God for my family. As we were talking, my doorbell rang. 

Who could be ringing my doorbell at 6:55 in the morning?

I thought I was hearing things. When I ended my call, the doorbell rang again. I jumped out of my bed to run down the stairs to see who it was, and a man was standing before my door with work clothes on. 

The first thing I did was to calm down because I was sure he had the wrong house. 

When I tipped my door open, I said, “Yes, may I help you?” 

“We’ve come to repair the damage in your basement,” he answered. 

I didn’t roll my eyes or ask him if he knew what time it was or say I didn’t know they were coming and that no one had notified me. I just told him to wait a minute, and I would go downstairs and let them in.

Then I ran upstairs thinking, “God, you sure know how to surprise me.

This was God’s gift and way of showing me He’s got humor. 

So, I quickly dressed and canceled breakfast with a dear friend I treasured very much. I went downstairs to let the men in my basement so they could repair my office.

Some of you know that my office is in my basement. I have been out of it since May 2nd of this year because of the floods we had in my area. I had fallen into deep despair because my office is where I write. The world that I’ve built for the characters I write for is in my office, and I love it.

I will be able to move back into it over the weekend. To say that I am thankful is again an understatement, so I’ll say that God is good, and my heart is filled with gratitude to see a new year. Without God, I am nothing. 

Many thanks to all of you who reached out to me on the first day of my new year. All of you are so amazing, and I will do my best as a writer, or whatever else I am called to be, to be true to the One who knows all and is overall and created all and to keep finding God’s life for my will. To God be the glory, Amen.

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

TRULY, I AM THANKFUL @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RWISA_RRBC @TheIWSG #Writingjourney #RomanceReader @amwriting @Tweets4RWISA

Cover by Olga Godim

I woke up this morning with expectancy. Usually, I only look at my iPhone to see the messages and emails I receive after eleven, but this morning was particular, and I did. I have taken a small step in my writing and publishing career. My first paperback, THE POWER OF TOUCH, came out as a paperback and is on Amazon Worldwide. 

I read the announcement I received from Amazon, telling me it was up, and I wept tears of joy and spoke soft words of thankfulness. No one knows how difficult it was for me to overcome the fears within me except those close to me and the ONE who watches over me night and day. 

I am indeed genuinely thankful. 

Shalom shalom

Pat Garcia

COVER REVEAL & PRE-ORDER UNTIL JULY 26, BECAUSE NO ONE NOTICED By C. Lee McKenzie

Five juniors at Las Animas High have a long history together. They love, dislike, or tolerate each other depending on the day. Occupied with class assignments, career choices, family disharmony, and the usual teen turbulence, none of them thinks seriously of the danger lurking in their near future or how fragile and temporary life is.

Inspired by real-life tragedy, the story unfolds in alternating points of view as the characters explore the resilience of their hearts and their ability to rebuild their lives after a shattering tragedy.

NEW RELEASE! THE POWER OF TOUCH: A STORY OF REDEEMING LOVE, By Pat Garcia @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG @RRBC_RWISA @Tweets4RWISA @TheIWSG #IWSG #amwriting

Cover by Olga Godim

BLURB

Stationed within an International Explosive Ordinance Team (EOD) in Germany for six years, Gianluca Abate has never anticipated that unexpected incidences could throw his life off balance. He didn’t think there was a situation that could touch him so closely until the day he experienced an explosive blast underwater. His life spirals downward, and he loses all hope of ever being normal again. At a train station, he is waiting for a train to come to end it all and is so involved in what he is about to carry out that he doesn’t see the woman running toward him who is about to change the trajectory of his destiny forever.

Available at all AMAZON Stores

TRULY, I AM THANKFUL @pat_garcia @RRBC_ORG #amwriting #reading #thankfulness

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1Thessalonians 5:17, English Standard Version

I am in a dilemma at the moment. Things are happening around me that I don’t understand. It could be that I am just coming off of a 30-Day Blogging Challenge with the Rave Reviews Book Club, and I have become sensitive, or I am tired.

It is at times when I have gone beyond my energy supply and I am running on reserved strength that gratitude is not an easy path for me to walk. It means taking my anger, frustration, disappointment, annoyance, or whatever I might be feeling and taking a stroll down memory lane to look at some of the good things I have experienced, like the successful completion of the RRBC 30-Day Blogging Challenge. Or it might be just peering at my garden and noticing that Daniel and Joshua, my cherry trees, have blossomed since yesterday.

I cannot stop the things that bring upheaval into my life. Most of the time, such incidents catch me on my blindside. But I can choose how I react to them. The choice is always mine. I have learned that this is how I reinforce my vision. As one of my favorite mentors, Viktor Frankel, said in Man In Search Of Meaning, at the beginning of his book, “detachment is granted to the outsider, but he is too far removed to make any statements of real value. (Frankel was writing about his time in the concentration camp.) Only the man inside knows. His judgments may not be objective; his evaluations may be out of proportion. This is inevitable. But an attempt must be made to avoid any personal bias.”

Therefore, the strength within me gives me the willpower to detach myself from my emotions and see anything coming at me differently. Thus, as I beheld Daniel and Joshua, my sentiments slowly turned to a deep sense of thankfulness, and my heart was amazed again at God’s faithfulness to me. Truly, I am thankful.

Shalom shalom,


Pat Garcia