NATIONAL LITERACY MONTH

By Caroline Clemmons

November is National Literacy Month. Obviously literacy is important to you or you wouldn’t be reading this. Celebrate literacy by volunteering to help someone learn to read—whether encouraging an adult or tutoring a child. Give yourself a break and curl up with a good book. If you don’t have one handy, please let me recommend any of mine at www.thewildrosepress.com/caroline-clemmons-m-638.html. For those of you with an e-reader, my backlist is now available on Amazon Kindle and Smashwords for 99 cents each. Blatant self-promotion, but I feel compelled.

 Can you remember the first book you read? The first one I read alone—not counting the newspaper comics my dad used to teach me to read—was a small Golden book of prayers. At the time, my mom wasn’t a reader, so she didn’t buy me books. Occasionally she’d let me buy a comic book. My dad read the newspaper and any book he could get his hands on, but didn’t buy books or use the library. I have no idea why. Still, he loved to read and encouraged me to learn at an early age. Probably he tired of me nagging him to read me the funny papers and comic books. At the time, I thought Bugs Bunny was the funniest thing on earth. I was five, okay? (All right, I admit I still like Bugs.)

 Do you remember the first book you chose to read from a library or bookstore? Can you remember the first book you purchased on your own? Mine was a Nancy Drew mystery, but I don’t remember which one. Using my allowance, I bought one book each week at the dime store next to where my mom bought groceries. After I’d combed through the available Nancy Drew books, I moved on to Louisa Mae Alcott and LITTLE WOMEN, LITTLE MEN, and ROSE IN BLOOM. Shopping for and reading those books resurrect fond memories. Fortunately, after that I was old enough to ride the city bus to the county library and check out books for free. Well, not counting bus fare.

I especially have fond memories of reading to our children, even long after they could read themselves. It was a cozy bedtime ritual whose memory I wouldn’t trade for any amount of money. They’re both avid readers now and were good students in school. In fact, one has her PhD in clinical psychology and one her Masters in Library Science.

The ability to read is necessary to excel in any field, even math. If you don’t read well, you don’t even pass the personnel application test—now always given on a computer—necessary to get a job. So, if you don’t read to your children or grandchildren, do yourself and them a lasting favor and start right away.

On to business, my business, that is. My latest romance, HOME SWEET TEXAS HOME, is now available from The Wild Rose Press and is quite a departure for me. Instead of sensual, it’s sweet, which means that there is no consummated sex. Lots of sexual tension exists between the heroine, Courtney Madison, and hero, Derek Corrigan. Plus, it’s set in West Texas near where I grew up. Courtney has a teenaged brother for whom she’s guardian since their mom’s death. Derek is a widower with two young kids. Oh, you see where this is going, don’t you? Maybe. Maybe not. No one dies, no one is kidnapped, but there is a little larceny involved. There’s also humor, pathos, and romance. I’m happy to share that HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME has received excellent reviews. Here’s a blurb:

Courtney Madison has battled poverty her entire twenty-five years but is determined to make a safe and happy home for her teenaged brother Jimmy after the recent death of their mom. Her mom’s illness left Courtney with a mountain of hospital bills, her formerly sweet brother is now cutting class and hanging with a rough crowd, and she’s just learned she’s being downsized in two weeks. Hanging on by the threads of a fraying rope, she learns she’s inherited two million dollars from a kind elderly man she befriended when he was in the hospital across the hall from her mom. She thinks her inheritance in West Texas is the answer to all her prayers--but Courtney learns that while money improves her life, it doesn’t guarantee happiness. This modern Cinderella encounters problems even a fairy godmother couldn’t imagine.

Rancher/entrepeneur Derek Corrigan has incredible instincts for flourishing in the business world. With women, not so much. In fact, his friends bemoan he’s King Midas where money is concerned, but his judgment of women is pathetic--evidenced by his late wife and by the flamboyant woman he’s been escorting of late. His life is devoted to his children. Meg is aged five and Warren is aged eight. Derek suspects the worst of his new neighbor and vows to fight his attraction for her. He knows what women do to him--they always leave and take chunks of his heart with them. He's been there, done that, had the vaccination and is cured. Or is he?


Here’s a short excerpt after Courtney has been injured while stuck in a window, and Derek has taken her home and is sitting with her when Courtney’s brother gets home from school. Jimmy believes he is Courtney’s protector, since he’s the man of their two-person family.

When Jimmy saw his sister in bed, he rushed over. “Sis, what happened? What’s with the towel and the ice packs?” He frowned at Derek. “What’s going on?”

She opened her mouth to explain, but nothing came out.
Derek figured the bizarre situation defied description. He patted Jimmy on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, she’s okay now. We were at the cemetery putting flowers on Sam’s and Maggie’s graves and your sister got trapped in the bathroom.”
Jimmy shook his head. “I don’t understand. How could that hurt her?”
Courtney sighed. “The knob came off in my hand and I couldn’t open the door. So, I climbed out the window.”
Derek held out his hands to indicate the small rectangle. “A small, high window.”
Jimmy looked from his sister to Derek. “I still don’t understand what happened.”
Courtney snapped, “I got stuck, okay?”
Now that he knew her to be okay, the week’s tension suddenly snapped in Derek and he lost his perspective on the whole situation. He grimaced at Jimmy. “She, um…” He coughed to keep a straight face. “When she tried to go out the window, she got stuck with her head and one arm sticking outside and the rest of her inside.” He stood like a bird with a broken wing to imitate Courtney’s position. A grin spread across his face in spite of all his efforts not to smile.
Jimmy gaped at his sister. “Courtney? But she’s always so sensible. She’s never does anything stupid.” He began to smile also.
Both males burst into laughter.
“Listen, if you two are so amused, go into the other room to discuss my apparently hilarious antics and leave me to suffer in peace.” In spite of her strained muscles and injuries, she threw a box of tissues in their direction. “Go on, get out of here. Now.”
Derek glanced over his shoulder before he left.
She’d stuffed a pillow over her ears, to block out their laughter.

Thanks, Anna Kathryn, for hosting me today. I’ll be giving away a pdf. of HOME, SWEET TEXAS HOME to one person who leaves a comment.

Caroline Clemmons writes Romance and Adventure
www.carolineclemmons.com
Visit my blog http://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com
Team blog http://sweetheartsofthewest.blogspot.com