SUNDAYS WITH SHARON: YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR HAT ON

I've walked past this little store for what I thought was a year. Turns out it's been open for three. Who would have thought this little hat store would thrive in the heart of Wine Country where we have foodies and wine enthusiasts from all over the world descend. But apparently it does. What makes it special is that they custom make their hats. Except or the special ones for the Kentucky Derby, they specialize in making men's hats. I didn't even know there was an industry for this, but I'm not a guy.

Every Easter, my mother would wear the widest brimmed hat she could find. She'd wear it straight on her face, bisecting her large square forehead and covering up her widow's peak someone from one of her father's churches said was the sign of the devil. I always thought she looked like Saturn with its rings. I wasn't into hats or gloves, another thing we wore on Easter and when we went to New York City, where every other person would yell "tourist" as we walked down the street. Made absolutely no difference to my mother, no matter how mortified my little brother and I were. It was a Miss Jean Brody kind of moment, "Come along," and of course we would. I mean, how would we get back to California?



Later I would love the big floppy hats wit huge flowers all over it in my hippie youth, wearing them with granny dresses, platform shoes with real hardwood heels that really hurt when you turned your ankle, peace symbols and the biggest hoop earrings we could manage that wouldn't drag on our shoulders. Wearing a hat was a statement, just like the statement my mother made in church. With that straight brim and her strong brown eyes that could see right through a person, she might as well have worn a holster and a Colt .45. She was aiming for souls. I was so glad to be invisible and only in grammar school, where acting up was still a little on the cute side. I didn't have the taste for conquest. That wouldn't happen until later and then, well, that's another story.

This hat store was enchanting. Hats are very personal things. I became a different character with each little hit I tried on. A small green pointy hat screamed for a clown face and big red nose. The black clutch hats with a veil made me feel like the merry black widow plotting murder and mayhem. And then I came upon the mushroom hats.

Made in the mountains of Transylvania! How perfect for a pre-Halloween post. These hats are actually made from a special mushroom only grown there, and being harvested right now. I'm not sure if this was the birth of the phrase, "I'll eat my hat," but in California you never eat mushrooms without a spirit guide, not to mention an Emergency Room close at hand. They are odd little buttons, but very velvety and look more like imitation mushroom instead of the real thing. But they are the real thing. They even smell like real mushrooms.



 

 

 

I rather liked this one in the end. It wasn't hippie, but had an ancient ancestor there. It was already folded and scrunched, which is more my style than the straight brimmed hat that had to live in a hat box three feet in diameter on a top shelf forever. I can't do the little feather and things the Queen Mum used to wear, but this one seemed to suit me.

So, hat's off to a great little store. As I wear two hats and launch into my 8th SEAL Brotherhood Series book, SEAL's Promise, I'm also promoting my paranormal series The Golden Vampires of Tuscany and The Guardians. Who says you can't wear two hats? I'm rather proud to say I can.

NYT and USA/Today and Amazon Top 100 Best Selling Author Sharon Hamilton’s SEAL Brotherhood series have earned her Amazon author rankings of #1 in Romantic Suspense, Military Romance and Contemporary Romance. Her characters follow a sometimes rocky road to redemption through passion and true love. Her Golden Vampires of Tuscany earned her a #1 Amazon author ranking in Gothic Romance. A lifelong organic vegetable and flower gardener, Sharon and her husband live in the Wine Country of Northern California, where most of her stories take place.

 

sharonhamiltonauthor.com
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SUNDAYS WITH SHARON: Celebration

 

SUNDAYS WITH SHARON

 

I've bought several colorful pieces of artwork over the past year that just make me happy looking at them. I bought this piece to celebrate the completion of another book. I knew when I first saw it, I had to have it. We decided to prominently display it in our living room. It was something that characterizes our family, and our family's history. Since the words on the piece might be too small to see, I thought I'd list them in this post.

IN THIS HOME:

1. We do second chances.
2. We do grace.
3. We do real.
4. We do mistakes.
5. We do I'm sorrys.
6. We do loud, really well.
7. We do hugs.
8. We do family.
9. We do love.

Sometimes I think we spend too much time thinking about the things that didn't go right, when all the great lessons in life come from the things that go a little wrong. Sometimes that go a lot wrong. I've been spending a lot of time writing recently about family, or lack of family, and how that impacts a character in my story. My family is very important to me. And just like everyone's it too is flawed. But yes, I believe in second chances, in being loud, in loving more than disapproving, making mistakes and being sorry.

I just thought I'd keep it simple today. Keep it real.

What about you?

SUNDAYS WITH SHARON: The Princess Story

I was just awarded a tiara by Sabrina York, one of my fellow writers in the highly (and still) successful anthology of all SEALhunks, Hot Alpha SEALs. It was a thank you because one kind reviewer said the person who brought this group together deserved a crown or tiara. I guess that would be me. Well, it started with me, but then the whole group did so much to make this a smashing success, I hardly feel like I deserve it. But I do consider myself somewhat of a princess from time to time. So like they say, "If the boots (I've been to Nashville) fit, wear them. I rather like the way this tiara sits atop my head so I'm claiming it.



 

I had many years selling real estate, as most of you know, and so many stories that will someday get into a book, but one of the funniest ones came to mind when I was unwrapping Sabrina's package. One of my dear Realtor friends from the D.C. area had a game she played with her staff. It got her office meetings off to a great start in the mornings. They had a big bin of hats and each person would choose one and wear it to the office meeting. I think the requirement was that you had to pick one that most closely matched your mood. My friend was always being accused of having a Princess complex, and so she chose the tiara. They had their meeting that day. Her staff puts away the hats and Jane went to her office, picked up her listing file and left for her appointment.

I think she was meeting with a new senator that day. She had a great rapport with the couple, all the while noting they were examining how she was dressed, smiling, including her hair. Jane thought to herself that she must be especially good looking that particular day (and she usually was impeccably dressed), especially her hair. Until she got in her car after the appointment, and, looking in the rear view mirror, she noticed she had never taken her tiara off.



I've done things like this before too, like hold the open house in the wrong house (which became the basis for my Chapter 1 in Accidental SEAL, the audio book is on special), and although I didn't meet a hunky naked SEAL on the bed, I have found naked men sleeping when I was showing houses. A writer can take inspiration from anything, so I combined these two events into one. The pantyhose never happened. Well, only in my dreams!

I've listed property being at the wrong address too, so sure I had an appointment there, insisting they'd forgotten the appointment, don't you know. Because I'm a princess. I'm perfect. Only after writing down the notes and double checking the address finding I'd just listed someone's condo who had never made that appointment with me. I know what you're thinking, "Sharon's dangerous." Well, I was the No. 1 agent for a time north of San Francisco, for the No. 1 company. You don't get there by being squeaky clean.



But when I am confident in myself I can do anything. What about you? Do You have a similar story where you did something you would have never done, had you known you were making a mistake? I was lucky that the couple wanted to move, just like Jane was lucky the senator and his wife had already made up their mind to hire her. Who knows what they thought, but Jane had the confidence to go forward and because of her confidence took their extra scrutiny as a compliment. Had she been fearful an opportunity could be lost. And then there was my friend the Realtor from Utah, a former Miss Utah, USA contestant, who lost her front tooth cap into the client's fountain and had to do the presentation to them practically toothless. Another story for another time.

Having confidence in our writing, our stories, keeps us in good mental health. Writing is a marathon, not a sprint. We have highs and lows. We make mistakes, sometimes really big ones. But in the end, we just keep on plugging along, our butt in the chair. I hope I never stop laughing at myself. I'd love to hear your stories too, if you have one, or have one you've heard.



 

Heavenly Lover Featured on Audible!

[caption id="attachment_1541" align="aligncenter" width="501"] Get your copy today![/caption]

Claire, an unconventional Guardian angel sent to save a sexy Brazilian-born painter from killing himself, discovers Daniel has been preyed upon by a powerful dark angel posing as his best friend and agent.

Although successful in saving Daniel's life, Claire is in danger of losing her own when attraction to her handsome charge blooms into a forbidden love. The dark angel offers her what she's only dared to dream about - an eternity with Daniel.

Will she sacrifice her soul, or sacrifice a lifetime with a man she knows she was created to love?

Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/Romance/Heavenly-Lover-Audiobook/B00MAMB1UO/?tag=sharohamil-20

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Heavenly-Lover-Guardian-Angel-Book/dp/B00MAMF588/?tag=sharohamil-20

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/heavenly-lover-guardian-angel/id905946248?uo=4

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heavenly-lover-sharon-hamilton/1105376181?ean=2940012975034

Book Trailer narrated by JD Hart: http://youtu.be/cECn3i9iQ4g?list=UUzNxtQuHsd8Lq0YtQeAGcjw

SUNDAYS WITH SHARON –The World Keeps Spinning Around

SUNDAYS WITH SHARON

The World Keeps Spinning Around

I’ve told the story how, when I was about 3 or 4, my mother and father moved into a big house in Oakland (the McArthur freeway took the house when it was built), that was ½ acre, but seemed like a whole city block to me. The two-story house had two bedrooms downstairs, where my mom and dad and little brother slept. Upstairs were three other bedrooms and two side attic doors, where I used to worry demons lived. Later we would take on boarders to fill the two gabled bedrooms that looked over the busy street, but my bedroom was at the back and overlooked my mother’s beautiful garden. The view from my writing desk will some day resemble this, as the hill was filled with hydrangeas, roses and lush flowering plants and filled the entire glass pane of the windows there.

I had a bunk bed, and liked to take turns sleeping on the top bunk and then the bottom. At the bottom I would make a fort with other blankets, or sheer nightgowns I’d steal from my mother’s room. I pretended I was in a harem many long afternoons. The view of the green foliage was huge from the lower bunk.

The top bunk gave me sort of a sense of security, as I could look down on everything and feel I guess a little safer from pirates or gremlins or other such things as might frequent the attic spaces. One of the things I’d look down on would be the little table in the middle of the room that held my record player.

I think I was 3 when I was given this RCA record player, along with some sets of .45 records, Snow White and Cinderella being my favorites. I liked Snow White because of the handsome prince that awoke her from the witches curse. Cinderella I related to because I was alone up in the top part of the house, and I could easily feel how Cinderella used to sit and dream about her Prince Charming coming to rescue her.



I was given other books as well, including some Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales, and other Mother Goose things, Little Red Riding Hood and The Gingerbred Man. When I was to turn the page, there would be some sign, like little Gus the mouse saying “Gus Gus Gus Gus Gus,” for Cinderella.

I was told by my father to only touch the little red button, only put 3 or 4 records on the turnstile, and only then to adjust the volume button on the side. I think my Little Red Riding Hood records were bright red, others were turquoise, but most of them were standard black .45s.

It didn’t matter how many times I played these albums and listened to the narration, I would cry at all the right places, and get angry with others, or jump for joy. I think I became addicted to romance and the Happily Ever After way back then when I was 3. The beauty of the spoken word or a story I loved came to me and filled me with wonder, hope and the clear sense of a beautiful, loving destiny. I just knew the Happily Ever After was going to be my story some day.

These are cherished moments. My storyteller and favorite pirate prince, J.D. Hart, send me this YouTube video of the exact copy of my record player. Listen and enjoy. And then listen to his narration, my grownup version of that little attic room, where I get to don my headsets, listen, cry at the sad parts and jump for joy at all the happy ones, just like those days many years ago.

Except now I get to share them with you.

Record Player


Click here to watch  the Cinderella-Gus Gus Clip

 

Hot Alpha SEALs is getting #HOTREVIEWS

Hot Alpha SEALs is getting #HOTREVIEWS

Ever since Hot Alpha SEALs released on July 22, it's been a hot read and a hot buy!  It's even a featured book bundle on IBooks!  The reviews coming in are great, and I wanted to share them with you all:

About Hot Alpha SEALs: Military Romance Mega-Set

Sharon Hamilton, Anne Elizabeth, Cat Johnson, Cindy Dees, Cristin Harber, Delilah Devlin, Elle James, Gennita Low, J.M. Madden, Sabrina York,  Teresa Reasor,  P.T. Michelle

Summary:

12 New York Times, USA Today or Award-winning bestselling Hot Alpha Authors bring you this Military Romance Megaset for your reading pleasure:

THE KISS OF A SEAL by Award-winning Author Anne Elizabeth -- Jessa Grainger's world is rocked by the kiss of a SEAL, SO-1 Link Tyler. It wouldn't be a problem for an ordinary person, but being a Navy Consultant working on the Amphibious Base as well as being engaged to a SWCC man make the situation very sticky.

NIGHT WITH A SEAL (Hot SEALS #1) by New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Cat Johnson --When navigating military red tape begins to present more challenges than the enemy, it makes SEAL Jon Rudnick question his future. So does Alison Cressly, the one woman he can't get out of his head.

HOT BAYOU SEAL by Award-winning author Cindy Dees -- SEAL Ford Alambeaux is a busted up SEAL on his way out of the teams. Trina Zarkos is being tossed out of SEAL training like every other female candidate...until they're thrown together on a way off-book mission to see if she can play with the big boys or not.

DELTA: RETRIBUTION by USA Today bestselling author Cristin Harber -- Fallen Navy SEAL and Titan Group's Delta recruit Trace Reeves wants nothing more than a one-night stand to forget that his twin brother was killed-in-action. But when his one-time fling becomes his high value target, the lines blur between her rescue mission and saving himself.

WATCH OVER ME (An Uncharted SEAL story) by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Delilah Devlin -- Deke Warrick's unsanctioned detail is to keep tabs on a congressman's niece while she vacations in the Caribbean. He's determined to keep his distance, from the beautiful Nicky Martir--until she's snatched from their hotel room.

SEAL'S OBSESSION (A Take No Prisoners story) by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Elle James -- Mission: Halt pirate activities off the coast of Honduras. SEAL TEAM 10's Jack Fischer goes undercover as a deck hand on a medical boat where he finds himself falling for the dedicated Dr. Natalie Rhoades.

The SEAL (a Sex, Lies & Spies novella) by USA Today bestselling author Gennita Low -- Mari Lords is tasked by her father to steal the seal that is an important clue in a round-the-world treasure hunt called The Game. When her opportunity comes during a party, she finds another kind of SEAL, Angel Marcello.

UNBREAKABLE SEAL by USA Today bestselling author J.M. Madden -- Maxwell Tate fights against a psychotic dream world, until he no longer knows what's real. Lacey Adams knows she can't save all of her cases, but can she salvage the unbreakable SEAL?

MISTER BLACK A Billionaire SEAL Story, Part 1 (In the Shadows) by Award-winning author P.T. Michelle --He is Black: a deadly enforcer and masterful seducer. I am Red: a justice bleeder and willing participant. When our secrets converge in a passionate encounter, stepping out of the shadows just might be worth the risk.

STONE HARD SEAL by Award-winning author Sabrina York --When Ryder "Stone" Maddox's meets Lily Wilson--a senator's daughter who is definitely off-limits--he's determined to keep his distance, despite her irresistible allure. But Lily has plans of her own...to put his heart of stone to the test.

SEAL'S PROMISE by New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Sharon Hamilton --Navy SEAL T.J. Talbot, SEAL Team 3's bad boy, makes a deathbed promise to protect and care for his fallen buddy's wife and child. The only problem is, she hates him.

BREAKING TIES (a SEAL Team Heartbreakers story) by bestselling author Teresa Reasor -- Navy SEAL Oliver Shaker is blindsided when he learns that not only does his wife, Selena, have a life-threatening illness, but she's also pregnant, stretching their marriage to the breaking point.

This amazing bundle is only 99 Cents, Buy your copy now!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Ibooks

 

Goodreads Reviews for Hot Alpha SEALs

Reviews from Goodreads.com

Sundays with Sharon: Back Home

Sundays with Sharon

Back Home

 

So good to be back home. Life is full. I’m loving the fullness of it. I’m loving the special place I get to occupy. Love the stories I get to tell.

While waiting for my new iPhone on Friday, I met a man from Hong Kong (who bought us all cappuccinos while we waited) who told us some fascinating details of his life. I met another woman who grew up in Boston. I met a couple from South Africa who happened to be touring the wine country on vacation and decided to spend one day of it waiting for a phone.

Thursday night I spoke at the Petaluma Writer’s Forum. Carolyn and Jackie took me to dinner beforehand, making me feel like a real rock star. In the audience I saw old friends and met new ones. I saw faces of people I hadn’t seen in several years, who just came out to hear me speak, which surprised me. I remember critiquing with some of them, listening to them guest read or discussing plot and story and writing journey with them. My son took some videos we’d like to use snippets of in the future.

On Friday I got a Navy SEAL coin from my friend Anne. Taking it with the Trident card she sent me to the framer’s Monday to have mounted and saved, next to the Plank I got from the Navy SEAL/UDT Museum in Florida. Can’t wait to go back there next month and say Hi. Pay homage to the souls remembered there. Cry a little, take more pictures and see what’s new, and yes, probably make another donation.

Saturday I met with four friends in San Jose, working on a project to bring a popular writer’s course to the Bay Area. I’d not been to the Wagon Wheel Saloon before, and enjoyed the pictures of the “brothel” in the back. The coins in the case were priceless. I’ve now found a new passion when I go antiquing. Something new to go look for: brothel coins and pictures.

I’m also letting a new story take hold of me, as I finish SEAL’s Promise. This one is about an older couple, a secondchance story, about finding love after the death of a spouse. I’d gotten the idea some time ago when I discovered, by accident, an old friend of mine from college had built a new house, and I turned this into a bed and breakfast inn, relocating it to the Oregon coast. I’m not forcing this story, just writing tidbits as they come to me. Like I discussed at lunch on Saturday, I’m enjoying a little bit of a slow down to enjoy being home, and letting the stories come to me organically, instead of forcing them. Writing what I love and not worrying about anything I don’t.

Which is why I love being an Indie writer. I get to do the things I want to do. I get to let the fullness of the emotions take me away to places I don’t go on a regular basis. Actually watch TV for the first time in about 3 weeks last night. Got caught up in 4 episodes of Outlander. Okay, now I have to re-read that series. Again. Maybe I can get past book 6 this time…

Here’s a poem my heroine composed, which is how I’m kind of thinking of my hero, who is coming to me from the fog. I’m getting in touch with what he thinks and feels, what excites him, what possibilities he has in his personality. How the two of them play off each other as they fall in love. I love writing this part of a love story, how they get together. Trust me, they do get together!

Thank you for stopping by today!  I wish you all a wonderful week to come.

Sharon Hamilton