FOLLOWING HIS HEART Nominated for a Readers' Choice Award

I am delighted that my novel FOLLOWING HIS HEART has been nominated in the romance category of Books And Pals Readers' Choice Awards. 

Vote for your favorite books at Books And Pals and you could win an Amazon gift card worth $75. Details on all the nominations and how to vote and win can be found here. The winner can choose a gift card from either the US or UK Amazon Store.


This is a Readers' Choice Award, so I urge all my readers to hop over to Books And Pals to vote.

I wish the best of luck to all the authors who are up for an award!

Thank you for celebrating with me. 

Garlic for Colds and Flu ~ @DonnaFaz

I am away from home, visiting my aunt in sunny Florida. We’ve had a great week together. Yesterday, though, my aunt came down with a cold. Sneezing, coughing, wheezing—it came on fast and it came on strong. Then I, too, began to feel a tickle in my throat and I started coughing. I headed directly to the local grocery store and bought a head of fresh garlic. My aunt thought I was absolutely nuts when I minced up a clove of garlic and swallowed it with water. I minced and swallowed a second clove of garlic before going to bed. This morning I feel fine. The tickle is gone, no congestion, no cough, and I’m breathing easy.

There are many, many websites that recommend garlic for colds and flu. My aunt had never heard of taking garlic for medicinal purposes. (She remains skeptical, and I doubt I will be able to get her to try it.) But I started to wonder if garlic’s powerful healing qualities are widely known. WebMD.com is one website that touts garlic. Have you heard that garlic is good for colds and flu? Do you use it? Do you use other “natural” remedies for the common cold? Please leave your comments below and let’s share the information.

Nutty Chocolate Chip Caramel Squares #recipe

Last year, I found the original recipe for this chocolaty, gooey, nutty, and delectable dessert on the Kraft Foods website. I'd like to thank my friend, Allie, for alerting me to this recipe! As usual, I've done some fiddling with the ingredients, and I offer you the final, decadently rich result. Read through the entire recipe before starting so you can assemble all the necessary ingredients. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 box Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix, 16.5 oz.
1/4 cup evaporated milk, undiluted
1 egg, slightly beaten

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.
2. Stir together the butter, the cake mix, ¼ cup evaporated milk and the egg. Mix until thoroughly combined.
3. Press half the mixture into the bottom of a 13" x 9" baking pan and bake for 15 minutes. This is the crust of the squares. Set aside the remaining half of the cake batter.
4. Now you’ll need:

1 bag Kraft caramels, 14 oz.
1/3 cup evaporated milk, undiluted

5. While crust bakes, unwrap caramels and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Add 1/3 cup evaporated milk and heat in microwave for 3-4 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until caramel is completely melted. Stir until smooth and set aside.

6. Now it's time to assemble. You’ll need:

1 cup walnut pieces
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

7. Sprinkle 1/2 cup nuts and 1/2 cup chocolate chunks on the hot crust. Drizzle melted caramel over the nuts and chocolate chunks, being careful to spread caramel to the edges. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup nuts and 1/2 cup chocolate chunks over the caramel. Drop spoonfuls of the remaining fudge cake batter onto the caramel, pressing into caramel with the back of a spoon.

8. Bake an additional 30 minutes. Cool before cutting into small squares. Let’s hear a MMMmmmm!

Authors! How To Set The Primary or Default Edition on Goodreads

When a reader searches for a book on Goodreads, there is one edition that always appears—the Primary (or Default) Edition. If you update your book's cover and you want the new cover to appear when readers search for your book, you must set the new cover edition as the Primary Edition.

The following directions came from the Goodreads site.

1) Navigate to the book's page. Be sure you have selected the edition you wish to become the default (primary) edition.

2) Click "edit details" below the book's description.

3) On the right side of the page, click "Set this book as the primary edition for this work". It's about midway down the page.

Only Goodreads Authors can set the default edition at this time.