Having More Than One Passion – Guest Post by Terri Rochenski, Author of Alone No More

Having more than one passion … I don’t have enough time!

Being a stay at home mommy to three little kids is a demanding job. Yes – a J.O.B., and while I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, it affords very little ‘me’ time for my own hobbies. Don’t get me wrong. I love coloring, playing Lala Loopsies, and crawling around on the floor pretending to be a kitty, but having an escape from the real world is a necessary lovey.

The problem other than finding time (that’s a whole other story)?

I have two such passions. I pick up my pen to write, or I don my gardening gloves and head outside when the weather is nice which in New England this time of year IT IS NOT.

I never know which passion will take control, either. If a sudden, unexpected quiet moment (like right now!!!) happens to come my way, I get all giddy like my girls over a bag of gummy bears. I do a quickie desire search to see which passion is screeching loudest.

The winter months fill me with longing for warmer weather, so I’m more apt grab my gardening books or start lurking around homesteading blogs and online seed catalogues. Geek much??? Some days I need a true escape – to a romantic landscape with a happily ever after, or fantasy world with make believe creatures who can conjure magic.

The best days are the long summer ones where I can sit outside (assuming my garden is done being watered) and enjoy the fruits of my labor WHILE writing and the kids are enjoying their kiddie pool or sand box. Yeah. I’m ready for those days again when they’re totally absorbed in their own passions, thus ignoring MOM for a little while. Oh yes. Can’t wait.

I love my passions, but I guess that’s why they called passions, huh? Couldn’t choose one over the other that’s for sure.

How ‘bout you? Have more than one of your own? How do you decide which will take precedence?

Alone No More

Blurb:

Dismissed from her job as a scullery maid and cast aside by her lover, pregnant Cara Morland has no choice but to return to her father’s farm. While lies of widowhood keep her from disgrace, Cara is faced with a local landowner’s unwanted attentions. Without the social status to do much more than avoid the vile man, she loses hope of ever finding happiness.

A friendship based on mutual loneliness blossoms between Cara and James Elliot, a young farm hand hired by her father. He offers his protection, and one shared kiss reveals his heart, but propriety and her feigned grieving period hinders what they both desire.

When Cara’s stalker learns the truth of her circumstances, he gives her an ultimatum—submit to his possession or he’ll ruin her second chance at love with James.

Excerpt:

Reminding myself to breathe in the soil-scented air, I held my chin high as I rounded a blackthorn hedge. Our three-room cottage came into view. It being a Monday, white sheets and clothing waved in the sunlight peeking through the low clouds.

Papa followed his oxen-pulled harrow in the field to my left, his back to me. Mama knelt in the fenced-in kitchen garden on the opposite side of the house.

Pulse thundering, my chest tightened and I swallowed down rising nausea.

Papa reached the far end of the field and turned the oxen. He halted the beast and raised a hand above his eyes. I waved, forcing my lips to turn upward as he hurried across the field. “Cara!”

Mama’s head whipped up. She pushed to her feet, brushing dirt from her hands. Moving much slower than Papa, she exited the garden and strode down the lane.

Papa reached me first and stopped short of touching me. “What are you doing home, child?”

“S…Sir Linton relieved me of my duties.”

His dark brow furrowed, wrinkling the skin around the cornflower blue eyes I had inherited. “What happened, lass?”

I glanced over his shoulder at Mama and clutched the sack in front of my stomach.

Lips pursed and brown eyes blazing, Mama tucked her arms beneath her ample bosom. “Cara.” She greeted me with no warmth. No open arms.

You can buy Alone No More at:

 Amazon.com   |  The Wild Rose Press | All Romance eBooks

Bio: Terri started writing stories in the 8th grade, when a little gnome whispered in her brain. Gundi’s Great Adventure never hit the best seller list, but it started a long love affair with storytelling.

Today she enjoys an escape to Middle Earth during the rare ‘me’ moments her three young children allow. When not playing toys, picking them back up, or kissing boo-boos, she can be found sprawled on the couch with a book or pencil in hand, and toothpicks propping her eyelids open.

You can find Terri at:

Website  | Blog  | Facebook  | Twitter  | Goodreads