Ten Bridal Attire Superstitions–A Groom for Mama Blog Tour

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10 Bridal Attire Supersititions, A Groom for Mama, A Groom for Mama blog tour, Joanne Guidoccio, Power of Ten blog series

It’s day 14 of the blog tour for my sweet romantic comedy A Groom for Mama. I hope you’ve been following along for the chance to win a free copy of the book at various stops on the tour. There’s one more giveaway coming up on the tour. If you’ve missed any posts you can click on the blog tour meme at the top of this post. It will take you the page where you will find the links to all the blog posts from the tour.

 

Today I’m not giving away anything, but I do have an interesting post on Joanne Guidoccio’s Power of Ten blog series about Bridal Attire Superstitions.

 

In my romantic comedy, A Groom for Mama, the minute Mama finds a suitable man for her daughter’s groom, she begins urging the heroine, Allison, to start looking for her wedding dress. So, I thought it would be fun to discuss 10 superstitions about bridal attire. Maybe I can come up with some you’ve never heard before.

 

Did you know…?

White wasn’t always the preferred color for a bride’s dress. To continue reading, click here

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Laughter–the Best Medicine

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A Groom for Mama, Carol Browne, Catherine Castle author, Laughter the best medicine, Sweet romantic comedy

Wikimedia commons

I’m over at Carole Browne’s blog today with another blog tour post. Here’s a tidbit to whet your appetite…

Years ago there used to be a joke column in Reader’s Digest called “Laughter is the Best Medicine.” I remember reading the jokes, some which were hilarious belly shakers. Some just gave you a giggle or two. In Prevention magazine, and other health magazines I subscribe to, I often see laughter trumpeted as a good for depression, unhappiness, and health in general. And I personally use it to ward of things I don’t want to deal with. A snarky, flippant comment goes a long way in helping keep emotions that are running high on a more even keel. In fact, sometimes the only thing that gets us through a tough time is life it a sense of humor.

Yep, we all need humor in our lives, especially my poor heroine Allison.

In my new romantic comedy, A Groom for Mama, Allison is in a race against time To read more click here

 

A Groom for Mama

Mama wants a groom for her daughter, and Mama’s not above using her terminal illness and Cupid’s arrows to get the deed done. But Mama’s groom is the last man Allison wants to wed—her ex.

A Sweet Romantic Comedy by multi-award-winning author Catherine Castle

Available from Amazon

 

Interview with Catherine Castle-Inspiration, Writing, and Humor

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A Groom for Mama, A Groom for Mama blog tour, Carole Ann Moletti, Interview with Catherine Castle, writing humor, writing inspiration

The reviews are starting to come in, and readers agree that A Groom for Mama is a story that tugs on your heartstrings while delivering lots of fun, wit, and humorous moments. I’m thrilled that readers are loving the book! I hope you’ll hop over to Amazon to get your copy soon.

Today I’m over at Carole Ann Moleti’s blog talking about my writing journey, what inspires me, and the humor in my writing. There’s also another excerpt from my sweet, romantic comedy, A Groom for Mama.

Here’s a tidbit from my interview.

Carole: Tell us a little about yourself and your writing

Catherine: Before becoming a romance writer I was a freelance writer for 10 years for a local newspaper. I had no formal training for the job. One day, I just thought, I can write as well as this reporter. Egotistical and naïve, I know, but sometimes that’s what gets us where we need to be. So I studied the paper, tried to come up with an idea to pitch, and with my knees shaking so hard I thought you could hear them knocking, I approached the editor and … To read more of the interview click here

A Groom for Mama by Catherine Castle

One date for every medical test—that’s the deal. Allison, however, gets more than she bargains for. She gets A Groom for Mama.

A Writer’s Garden–Exploring Colonial Gardens with Catherine Castle

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A Groom for Mama, A Writer's Garden, author Catherine Castle, Colonial Garden history, Colonial Williamsburg garden pictures, The Nun and the Narc

Celebrating Colonial Gardens

 

Colonial Williamsburg garden

It’s early September in my neck of the woods, and my garden is overgrown with weeds, thanks to the 1-2 inches of rain we’ve had weekly, an injured back this spring, and my numerous trips this summer. So, since my gardens are not in any semblance of photographic beauty, I thought I’d talk about American Colonial gardens and share some photos I have of the Colonial gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

The Colonial period ranged from 1600 to 1775 and during that time most American Colonial gardens were planted in the style the gardeners were familiar with, which was the European and British gardens they had left behind when they immigrated to America.

These gardens tended to be square, rectangular, or pie-shaped beds framed on the outer edges with tree saplings Plantings were enclosed with hedges or picket fences to protect them from animals and damaging winds. Sometimes the beds were ground level, other times they were raised. Walkways of soil, gravel or crushed clamshells surrounded the beds. A larger, central walkway led to a focal point in the garden, which was often a well, a stone feature, or a bench, or topiary as seen below.

Topiary in Colonial Williamsburg garden

The size of a garden reflected the size of the household and the wealth of the home’s owners. Poorer colonists didn’t have the time or the resources to create the lavish gardens of the rich. Their gardens would mainly been simple kitchen gardens, located adjacent to the home for easy accessibility, and filled with plants they needed to survive. Here’s an example of what an average kitchen garden might have looked like.

Gantz early American kitchen garden

 

Kitchen gardens of wealthy and poorer colonists would have both held medicinal and seasoning herbs mixed in with the fruits and vegetables. A typical kitchen garden might have included: squash, cucumbers, cabbage, beans, peas, melons, lettuce, carrots, radishes, and peppers. Medicinal herbs could have included horehound, which was a popular remedy for asthma and coughs, and Angelica, which was used for colds and bronchial problems. Winter savory was used as an antiseptic and to relieve the pain of bee stings. Oregano was popular for toothaches and headaches. Other medicinal and cooking herbs included: sage, calendula, hyssop, lady’s mantle, nasturtium, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lavender, bee balm, and mint.

Note the difference between the example above of what a kitchen garden of a poorer colonist might have looked like and that of the governor of Williamsburg, pictured below. This kitchen garden is a tiered garden on the hillside behind the exterior kitchen building of the palace compound. Wouldn’t you love to have this garden on your hillside?

Colonial Williamsburg governor’s kitchen garden

Aside from the necessary kitchen gardens of all the colonists, ornate gardens, that served no economical function, were popular among the wealthy. I have to admit it was great fun to stroll in these gardens and imagine myself as a wealthy colonist in my sweeping gown and wide-brimmed hat taking an evening constitutional in the cool of the garden trees.

Williamsburg Governor’s Palace garden

My garden, in its early years after planting, looked nothing like the carefully laid out, symmetrical expanses of the Williamsburg Governor’s Palace. It was, and still is, cottage-like in its composition. I will admit, though, that like the wealthy colonial gardeners of yesteryear, I tried to design my garden for looks first.

It has, however, taken on a life of its own, less constructed than when I planted it, but just as full of those pesky weeds I’ve been fighting for fourteen years. As I age, I envy the tidy Colonial beds I love to visit, but I’m thinking more and more of filling my raised beds with gravel and lining them with big pots that I don’t have to bend to work in.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this stroll through Colonial Williamsburg’s gardens. What about you? What kind of garden do you have?

 

About the Gardener/Author:

Catherine CastleCatherine Castle has been writing and gardening all her life. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. Besides writing, Catherine loves traveling with her husband, singing, and attending theatre. In the winter she loves to quilt and has a lot of UFOs (unfinished objects) in her sewing case. In the summer her favorite place to be is in her garden. She’s passionate about gardening and even won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club.

Her debut inspiration romantic suspense, The Nun and the Narc, from Soul Mate Publishing was an ACFW Genesis Finalist, a 2014 EPIC finalist, and the winner of the 2014 Beverly Hills Book Award and the 2014 RONE Award. Her newest book, a contemporary, romantic comedy with a touch of drama, entitled A Groom For Mama, is now out from Soul Mate Publishing and available at Amazon. You can follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, Facebook or here through her blog Romance for the Ages

A Groom for Mama

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

 

 

A Groom for Mama Giveaway on Today’s Blog Tour Post

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A Groom for Mama, A Groom for Mama blog tour, A Groom for Mama excerpt, Catherine Castle author, free ebook offer, giveaway, June Foster, Lillian Duncan, nuptials

Today, at Lillian Duncan’s blog, Tiaras and Tennis Shoes-Celebrating Life, Love, Laughter and Books you’ll have a chance to read another excerpt from my sweet romantic comedy, A Groom for Mama, and I’m offering another free copy of the Ebook to one lucky commenter. If you want more on the book, and me, you can hop over to June Foster’s blog to see The Question Every Author Wants to Answer with, “Yes!”

To whet your appetite, here’s a snippet of the post at Tiaras and Tennis Shoes-Celebrating Life, Love, Laughter and Books.

Celebrating Life, Love, Laughter and Nuptials

There’s nothing more joyous than a wedding. The excitement of getting the engagement ring; finding the perfect wedding dress; choosing a venue; spending all that money; and of course, the bliss of two people, hopefully deep in love, starting a new life, full of happiness, expectation, and promise.

Unless, there’s a third and a fourth person in that mix—say a meddling Mama and an ex-boyfriend that you haven’t been able to forget. Then things can start to get a bit complicated. To read more and get entered for a free book, click here…

When a Play Becomes a Book–Blog Tour for A Groom for Mama

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A Groom for Mama, A Groom for Mama blog tour, Catherine Castle author, Rose Allen McCauley, When a Play Becomes a Book

When a Play Becomes a Book

By Catherine Castle

 

It’s day 3 of my blog tour for my sweet romantic comedy, A Groom for Mama, and I’m over at Rose Allen McCauley’s Stories from Small Towns with Big Hearts blog talking about where I got the idea for A Groom for Mama.

Don’t forget to play the dating game I set up on my Pick a Date and Win an Ebook post on release day for a chance to win a free Ebook of A Groom for Mama. You can click here to get a chance to win between now and September 12. Winners will be announced on Tuesday September 12, at noon. So play soon.

And now, on to today’s blog tour post at Rose Allen McCauley’s blog site.

Readers often want to know where we writers get our ideas. They are everywhere. Sometimes you even borrow from yourself. Take my newest book A Groom for Mama—it’s not an original idea, at least to me.

In 2003 my husband and I were into writing plays. We were part of a drama group at our large church and had been participating in drama as actors and as playwrights, when my hubby heard an announcement on our local radio advertising a contest for radio plays.

You may not be old enough to remember radios plays, but we are. They were a great source of entertainment filled with sound effects. Actors had nothing but their voices and sound effects with which to tell the story. That’s quite a challenge. Additionally, our church had recently presented a musical that had some musical and theatrical clips from radio advertising and dramas. My husband got to play The Shadow in one of the clips. Radio was on our minds. So, when we heard about the contest, my husband and I decided to write a radio play and enter it. To read more click here…

 

Wednesday Writers–Pick a Date and Win an eBook from Catherine Castle

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A Groom for Mama, author Catherine Castle, Book excerpt from A Groom for Mama, Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, clean romance, disasterous dates, ebook giveaway, romantic comedy, Sweet romance

Welcome to Wednesday Writers!

I’m departing a bit from the usual Wednesday Writers posts because today is release day for A Groom for Mama, Catherine Castle’s sweet romantic comedy with a touch of drama, from Soul Mate Publishing.

Normally, you’d see a post about some aspect of the book—but today, since this is my website and it’s such a special occasion, I’m celebrating the book’s release by offering a free eBook to the commenter who picks the correct bad date my heroine, Allison Walters, got stuck with from the list of disastrous dates below. If more than one commenter chooses the correct date, the winner will be chosen randomly from those answering correctly. I hope you’ll join in the fun and let your friends know about the giveaway as well. Please leave your email, written as janedoe(at)myserver(dot)com (to deter internet robots), and insure I can reach you if you are the winner. All readers commenting will be eligible to be in the drawing, but if your name is drawn and I cannot find your email, I will have to draw again.

Winners will be announced on Tuesday, September 12, 2017.

If you haven’t heard about the story yet, here’s a brief blurb.

 

A Groom for Mama

by Catherine Castle

 Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

 he last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

 A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

And now for the date challenge. Which of the disastrous dates listed below did Allison get stuck with?

• Birdwatching for the black-throated blue warbler
• Illegal bungee jumping from a skyscraper and subsequent arrest
• Karaoke in a downtown dive bar with a date who can’t sing
• Spelunking for bats in crawl-on-your-belly shallow cave
• A wresting match with Balderdash and Balls
• A SAVE THE WHALES protest rally
• A lecture on the physics of the collapse of the WTC towers

Do you know which date is the real one for Allison? Be sure to leave your choice in a comment for a chance at the free eBook, A Groom for Mama.

And now for a peek at the book:

Excerpt from A Groom for Mama

By Catherine Castle

With a sweep of his hand, Jack spread the photos out on the table in front of Allison and Beverly. “Here’s a few I just grabbed from the database. Any of them interesting?” He studied Allison’s reaction. She didn’t bat an eyelash as she scanned the men’s pictures. Then, without warning, she scooped them up and shoved them at him.

“I told Mama I wasn’t going to do this. It’s a stupid idea.”

“I’ll admit it’s not the ‘some enchanted evening, see a stranger across the room’ romantic way to find a husband, but it’s not totally unacceptable. Several of the couples my company has brought together have married.”

“And lived happily ever after?” she retorted.

“It’s a new company, Allison. I don’t have the stats yet.” He pushed the photos across the table. “Just take a peek. What harm can it do?”

Beverly grabbed the photo of a particularly handsome man. “How about this one? His coloring complements yours. You’d have beautiful children.”

Mama!” Allison snatched the photo away. “We’re not going to discuss my possible, yet unlikely, progeny in front of Jack.”

A flash of Allison kissing this guy flew through his head. He grabbed the photo from her. “He’s not your type anyway.”

“And just how do you know?” she asked.

“I dated you, remember? You ditched me for some suave, corporate hotshot. At least it’s what you said.”

“Allison!” Beverly exclaimed. “You never told me that.”

Allison shot him a fierce scowl. “I’m not comfortable discussing my love life with you, Mama. Besides, what’s done and over with should be buried . . . in the past.” She picked up another photo. “What about him? Or him and him?” She pointed to two nerdy-looking fellows. “They seem corporate.”

Mama leaned over and checked out the pictures Allison had indicated. “Too ugly,” she said. “He’s got to be handsome. Like Jack. I want to know my grandbabies will be as beautiful as you two.”

He grinned. “Thanks for the compliment, but I know I’m not your daughter’s type.” He laid a sheet of paper on the counter. “Fill this out. Then I can get a better idea of what you want in a husband.”

“I don’t want—”

“I know,” he interjected. “But, for your mom’s sake, just pretend you do.”

 

Want to read more? Check out A Groom for Mama on Amazon.

 

For more fun posts about the book, check out the month-long A Groom for Mama blog tour Catherine will be having by going to the blog tour page on this website.  Follow daily for new insights into the book and more chances to win your own eBook of A Groom for Mama.

About the Author:

Multi-award-winning author Catherine Castle has been writing all her life. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. Besides writing, Catherine loves traveling with her husband, singing, and attending theatre. In the winter she loves to quilt and has a lot of UFOs (unfinished objects) in her sewing case. In the summer her favorite place to be is in her garden. She’s passionate about gardening and even won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club.

Her debut inspiration romantic suspense, The Nun and the Narc, from Soul Mate Publishing was an ACFW Genesis Finalist, a 2014 EPIC finalist, and the winner of the 2014 Beverly Hills Book Award and the 2014 RONE Award. Her most recent release, A Groom for Mama, is a sweet romantic comedy from Soul Mate Publishing. Both books are available on Amazon.

Social Media links for Catherine:

Catherine’s website: https://catherinecastle1.wordpress.com/

Catherine’s blog: https://catherinecastle1.wordpress.com/blog/

Catherine’s Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/author/catherinecastle

Catherine’s Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7085414.Catherine_Castle

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorCCastle   @AuthorCCastle

Facebook: https://facebook.com/catherinecastleauthor

Stitches Thru Time: http://stitchesthrutime.bogspot.com/

SMP authors blog site:   http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/