Are you doing something for April Fool’s Day? Do you normally play pranks on April 1? What’s the craziest (harmless) prank you’ve encountered?

Enjoy your silly celebration. I wonder where I can get purple dye anyway.

Today was National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day. That was a little silly, to my way of thinking, so I looked around for another holiday this week. Turns out, Wednesday the 26th is Make Your Own Holiday Day. Now that’s something I can get into.

If I was making my own holiday, I’d re-create Sol Invictus Day. No, not a guy named Solomon or Solly, but the big orange ball in the sky, our very own sun, Sol. This was a holiday that was celebrated by Romans in the second century, and by Christians in the fourth century. Traditionally, it was held on December 25. Yes, that same day that we now know as Christmas. Poor Sol took a backseat. Originally, it was about how the light was finally returning (birth of the sun) after the long winter absence. Those long nights were changing slowly to longer days, and that seemed like a pretty good thing to party over.

And, of course, pagans worshiped the sun before recorded history. Too bad we don’t know what they did exactly, but it might not have been very nice, so it might be just as well.

When you think about it, Sol is the perfect object of worship. Without the sun, we wouldn’t be here. It is the source of all energy, all food, light, warmth, and, of course, vitamin D (heh). Even if you think it was created by an omnipotent God, you have to admit that Sol is strong, powerful, beautiful and fearsome. It doesn’t actually go away, ever, even at night, because its glorious light shines somewhere in the world at all times, and lights up our moon as well.

So, given my options, I’d re-create Sol Invictus Day. I might not “worship” the sun god, but I can definitely say I’d celebrate the sun’s existence.

What holiday would you create?

Oh, I don’t mean I’m from Ireland. Let me ‘splain it to you. Long ago, my mom and dad divorced after a relatively brief marriage. I spent very little of my time with my dad until I was about seven, and at that point we moved away and my dad and I lost touch. It was hurtful at the time, but at seven I didn’t really understand adult behavior.

I asked questions about my father over the next decade, including what my family heritage was on my dad’s side . My mother’s answer was that I was Irish on that side. My maiden name was prevalent in County Cork, and I have red hair and blue eyes, which makes me look typically Irish (as we understood it). So for the longest time, I was Irish.

Then I met up with my dad, thirty-four years later. And we had a talk. Turns out, I’m French-Canadian on that side, not Irish. Seven generations of French-Canadian, dating back to the sixteenth century in France. My dad’s family spoke French at home, not Gaelic. I’ve never been Irish. So all those years of wearing “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirts were for naught. I was a fraud.

I was a little lost, heritage wise, for a while, and my dad passed away. But then I began to embrace my French-Canadian roots, and now I’ve lived in Canada twice as well. According to my bloodlines, we should have moved to Montreal, but Calgary is fine, and we hope to make it permanent. So after several generations of living in the US, my family tree leads me back to my “homeland.”

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day to all the Irish out there, and to those who wanna be Irish, at least for one day per year. Oh, and I still wear green and drink Guinness on Saint Patrick’s Day. After all, I used to be Irish.

I crocheted this “fisherman’s knot” with bamboo fibers.

Crocheting is wonderful, and can be as mindless as a repeating pattern afghan, or as intricate as a Tunisian crochet lace shawl. You can do so many wonderful projects in crochet, and you don’t need many tools. A crochet hook, some yarn, and a pair of scissors (you don’t even need the scissors if you have really sharp teeth). It might be good to have a pattern to work from as well, but if you’re creative, that isn’t absolutely necessary. Reading a pattern was a new experience for me where crochet was concerned. My grandmother taught me some basic stitches, but that was all. I taught myself pattern reading. I now am the proud owner of about 100 crochet patterns. More than I could do in a lifetime, but I never want to be without “the next one” and the next and the next after that.

I’ve also taken classes in crochet methods. I started with Craftsy classes and moved on to other sites’ offerings. I’ve discovered some great teachers along the line. Lily Chin is one of them; I take every class she offers.

Well, enough about my love for yarn and crochet in particular. I wish you a lovely crochet week. If you haven’t given it a try, you might consider it. It’s easy, fun, and portable. I’d miss it if it wasn’t a part of my life.

Thank you for joining me here for Crochet Week. Do come back to visit!

What’s great about this day is that it’s family-friendly. It’s not all about authors and their books, it’s about sharing the fun of reading. Everyone loves a good fairy tale, whether it’s based upon a classic, or something altogether new.

My suggestion is to get yourself two fairy tales: a classic (Google Books is great for those), and a modern (try mine!). You’ll be surprised at how different they can be, even when they have the same premise.

“Tell a Fairy Tale Day” can even be an opportunity for you to make one up yourself! Be creative. I’m sure there’s an event or a moral you’d like to portray in a tale. Don’t hold back.

I hope you enjoy “Tell a Fairy Tale Day”. I know I will!

Today is…you guessed it…Random Acts of Kindness Day. To think, we need a special day for that. It suggests there’s something wrong with society.

Be good to people today (and every day).

Here are five things you might do today (in no particular order):

• Give a homeless person a sandwich.
• Babysit for free.
• Send a soldier a thank you card. US Soldiers here. Canadian Soldiers here.
• Do something for an elderly neighbor. (Take his/her dog for a walk. Bake cookies. You’ll think of something!)
• Volunteer at an animal shelter for a day. (You might find you want to do it more often!)

Those are just five ways. There are so many more opportunities to show you care. And don’t make Random Act of Kindness Day only one day a year.

I’m going to send a free book to someone who has commented on my blog sometime in February. Someone I don’t necessarily know. That’s one of my Random Acts of Kindness.

PS: It’s also President’s Day in the States and Alberta Family Day here in Alberta, but I thought Random Acts of Kindness kind of beat those out. Still, I wish you happy holidays!

Romance is in the air!

Here are a few romantic things to inspire you.

1. Candy and flowers. Maybe something equally sweet for him. Does he like pretzels and beer? And those little candy hearts with romantic sayings are always de rigueur.
2. Dinner together. A fancy restaurant would be nice, but sometimes a lush burger is exactly what you both want. Throw in a fun dining atmosphere and you have a dinner date worth having.
3. A picnic in the park. Or, if you’re living in a snowy place, the park might be a little chilly, so why not spread your picnic blanket on the living room floor? Maybe you could build a “fort” out of blankets as well. Be kids for a day! How much fun is that?
4. Read a sexy book together. I recommend Journey’s Valentine (of course).
5. Take a long walk together. Not every place is snowy. If you live in a place where the snow never fell or has melted away, enjoy a little bit of deep breathing outdoors.
6. Light a fire in the fireplace. Or, if you’re like my husband and I, we “light a fire” on our TV with a fireplace DVD. It’s complete with sound, so the pop and crackle of a real log warms up the romance, even if not the room.
7. Dance. You probably both like some music in common, so play your favorite songs and take a turn around the kitchen together. Dancing is an intimate thing.
8. Play footsie under the table, or on the couch together.
9. Cuddle. A good cuddle leads to other things.
10. Kiss.

Just a few ideas on how to get the romance ball rolling and sparkling. I hope your day and night are full of romance, laughter, and love.

Happy Valentines Day!

Prizes for Valentines Day Gift Hop

Here, on Patricia Green Books, I’m giving away a copy of The Winner: Romantek. This book was on the Amazon Top 100, and the Blushing Books Top 50 for a number of weeks when it first came out. Recently, it was also highlighted by CBS Radio as a recommended read. It’s a sci-fi, time-travel, erotic, spanking romance, which is a mouthful, but it honestly wraps all these things together in a tidy parcel. It’s also the first in the Romantek series, the second one will come out in a few months, and a third is in the works.

But that’s not my special Valentines Day release. For Valentines Day, I wrote Journey’s Valentine. It’s a love story about people who overcome some big life challenges — challenges you might relate to — and they come out even more in love than they were at the beginning. They have career vs. family difficulties, gang violence, and domestic discipline issues. Find out how they manage these problems in this novella. Hint: Little candy Valentines hearts play a part.

You can pick up a copy of Journey’s Valentine at Blushing Books (all formats) and Amazon.com.

To be entered to win a copy of The Winner: Romantek, or one of the grand prizes, leave a comment below with your email address. Please, no cut and paste comments. Simply answer this question: name one difficulty the couple has to overcome in Journey’s Valentine. There are 3 possible answers; pick any one. And, really, don’t forget to leave your email address, or we can’t contact you for a prize. One more note: I have had a few prizes moved from the #1 winner to the #2 winner because the #1 winner either had a dead email address or the prize congratulations went in the spam filter. Please check your email carefully after Feb. 15.

Now get to hoppin’! See ya there!

It’s great that Valentines Day is on a Friday this week. If you can’t celebrate that day, Saturday is open for all the romantic fun you can pack into 24 hours.

For my Valentines Day, my husband and I have to work, but the day after, we’ll spend the day together, walking around Calgary, shopping a bit; maybe we’ll take in a movie. It’s all about together time, my friends. Don’t hesitate to demand yours. Life is too short to put it off a year.

Happy Valentines Day on Friday!

It’s also Creative Romance Month. Now that’s a celebration I can really get into. I create romance every day, and share it with you in my books. I’m not alone with those explorations in creative romance. So many other great writers pen their love stories to entertain you. We’re all lucky to have their brilliance at hand when we have some precious time to read.

Here are a few (in no particular order):

• Kathryn R. Blake
• Jenna Jaxon
• Elaine Raco Chase
• Natasha Blackthorne
• Maren Smith
• Cara Bristol
• Celeste Jones
• Patty Devlin
• Maddie Taylor
• Korey Mae Johnson
• PJ Perryman
• Natasha Knight…

I could go on and on. Look them up on Amazon or peruse Blushing Books and have a party for this Creative Romance month.

Another fine February holiday is National Weddings Month. Now, it doesn’t take much to guess why people would choose to get married in February. Hopefully, all these people will have their Happily Ever After endings. Otherwise, I’m afraid Valentine’s Day will be ruined forever for them.

Which brings me to the ultimate February holiday: Valentine’s Day. I’ll have more on that next week.

I hope you all have a wonderful February, with lots of romance and those little candy hearts that say “I Love You.”