Kelley's Realm of Writing

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday, June 22, 2015

Monday Musings: AZ Sunset pics #8

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday, June 15, 2015

Monday Musings: AZ Cloud Formation pics #8

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday, April 27, 2015

Monday Musings: AZ Cloud formation pics # 7

An eerie light makes the cloud look dark and forbidding.

The sunset turns ordinary clouds into something ethereal.

Clouds bathed in golden light.

Clouds hovering in the brilliance of the setting sun.

Red and gold fills the sky.

Golden waves.

In an instant gold turns to pink.

Deep colors contrast with the soft warmer hues.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author
Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly
http://www.kelleyheckart.com
http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/CelticChick
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday, April 20, 2015

Monday Musings: Signs of spring in Lake Havasu City, AZ

Hummingbird enjoys the warm weather.

This roadrunner suddenly jumped up on the wall while I was trying to photograph a lizard. I’m pretty sure he was hunting the lizard and didn’t see me. I think I saved the lizard’s life because I frightened the roadrunner as much as he frightened me--he left as fast as he appeared, I barely captured this shot.

A beautiful cactus bloom—such beauty among such dangerous thorns.

Palo Verde tree in full bloom.

Loki enjoying the nice spring weather.

My first sighting of Godzilla, the desert iguana—maybe. I’m not quite sure if this is Godzilla or his mate, or possibly his offspring. This lizard didn’t look quite as big as Godzilla.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Friday, November 07, 2014

Favorite Friday

Favorite song—Hallelujah

This song has such an emotional melody. The first time I heard it was on American Idol. At the time I was working on the first book of my Dark Goddess trilogy and didn’t have any plans to write a trilogy until I heard this song. While listening to Hallelujah, I had this image of a king who first triumphs on the battlefield for many years and then as an older king, he is defeated. Kings rise and kings fall. Inspired, I decided to use this for my story, turning one book into three, and it fit the history of what happened to that particular king.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday, November 03, 2014

Monday Musings: AZ Sunset pics #4

I like the color differences in this sunset—light blue, white clouds, black clouds and orange.

A fire ball emerges from the cloud bank.

Looking through my Arizona desert plant.

The soft edges of the cloud layer resembles fire.

Another sunset viewed through my Arizona desert plant.

This striking sunset painted the sky deep, dazzling shades of red.

One layer of white cloud hangs above the orange-red sunset.

The sky looks like it’s on fire.

This is the same sunset as above with intensifying rays of sunlight shooting up toward the heavens.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Welcome JoAnne Meyers to my blog, a gifted author, poet, and artist.

JoAnne will be giving away 2 print copies of one of her books to 2 lucky winners. All you have to do is leave a comment.

“Poems About Life, Love, and Everything in Between” is a poetry collection that provides a glimpse into the heart, mind and soul, of its author JoAnne Myers. It is a heartwarming read, written with love and respect for others. Some poems were written in times of sorrow, other poems were written in times of joyous celebration. Life if like that.

Painting by JoAnne, Cliffside View

SOULFUL THOUGHTS

My sun dried hands clutch my heart of dreams.

I look beyond my longing,

forsaking lustful means.

Consumed by sins of desires,

I escape insanity by releasing unblemished charms.

Soothing my sweet youthful soul,

I reject the lust, but still hold on.

Without dwelling on material things,

I release soulful thoughts within.

* * * *

Painting by JoAnne, Path to Heaven

LIFE’S PRECIOUS THINGS

Tears of a child, is a knife through the heart.

They try so hard, with all their might.

With tender minds and a soft touch,

their innocent love is never enough.

Through the years, and past the pain,

pride and hope is their greatest gain.

The smile of a child and the joy they bring,

is one of life’s most precious things.

* * * *

This collection of personal poems is available at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore/1478734760.html.

These poems were inspired by JoAnne’s love for nature, God, veterans, family and friendships, it is a heartwarming read written with love and respect for others.

JoAnne will be awarding two winners a print copy of one of her unique and page turning books for commenting. The choices are: Poems About Life, Love, and Everything in Between, Murder Most Foul-a detective/mystery, Wicked Intentions-a paranormal anthology, or Loves, Myths, and Monsters-a fantasy anthology.

Soon available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble and other book distributors.

Painting by JoAnne, Up a Tree

Author Bio:

I have been a long-time resident of southeastern Ohio, and worked in the blue-collar industry most of my life. Besides having several novels under my belt, I canvas paint.

When not busy with hobbies or working outside the home, I spend time with relatives, my dog Jasmine, and volunteer my time within the community. I am a member of the International Women’s Writing Guild, Savvy Authors, Coffee Time Romance, Paranormal Romance Guild, True Romance Studios, National Writers Association, the Hocking Hill's Arts and Craftsmen Association, The Hocking County Historical Society and Museum, and the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center. I believe in family values and following your dreams. My original canvas paintings, can be found at: http://www.booksandpaintingsbyjoanne.com

Other books by Jo Anne:

"TWISTED LOVE," a true-crime anthology

"MURDER MOST FOUL" a detective/mystery anthology

"LOVES', MYTHS' AND MONSTERS'," a fantasy anthology

"THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY," a biography true-crime

“WICKED INTENTIONS” a paranormal anthology

“FLAGITIOUS,” a detective/mystery anthology available in September

Email: joannemyers@frontier.com

Amazon Author Page: http://amazon.com/author/joannemyers

Facebook Author Page: http://facebook.com/authorpage.joannemyers

Website: Books and Paintings by JoAnne

Monday, April 28, 2014

Musing Mondays: My inspiration for writing historical fantasy romance

I was kind of a strange kid, especially for a girl. I didn’t dream of being a princess getting rescued by a prince. I wanted to be able to take care of myself. My favorite things weren’t dolls or frilly dresses, but swords and forests filled with supernatural creatures like vampires, werewolves and shapeshifting faeries and gods. When I was introduced to myths and characters like Artemis the Huntress, Morrigan the Battle Goddess and the real life, fierce Celtic queen, Boudica, I had found what I was looking for. There are no helpless princesses in this group of females.

My first look into the fascinating world of mythology was in English class when the subject was Greek mythology. I still have my well-worn copy of Edith Hamilton’s Mythology of Greek and Norse myths. I was hooked. Later I became fascinated with the ancient Celts and their myths, most notably King Arthur, the Welsh tales of the Mabinogion and the Irish myths of the Tuatha de Danaan and the Fianna.

My fascination with the ancient Celts has to do with their connection to the faery realm and their mysterious nature—since they were an oral society we really don’t know much about them, but archeological evidence points to a superior society. I like filling in the missing pieces, much like a jigsaw puzzle, and bring to life these long ago, magical places and people that fill our imagination.

All of this inspired me to write historical fantasy. I feel a connection to little known time periods—ancient on up to the Dark Ages, time periods that abound in myth when magic was a real possibility. I can mix my love of the supernatural and mythology with my other love for obscure history and it seems like a natural fit. Otherworldly creatures fit perfectly with time periods that are surrounded in myth and mystery. And when modern life gets too complicated, I look forward to escaping into the places I’ve created.

Kelley’s Links:

Website: http://www.kelleyheckart.com

Blog: http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/CelticChick

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Kelley’s Book Shelf/Buy Links: http://kelleyheckart.com/BookShelf.html

Monday, February 10, 2014

Arizona cloud formations

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Monday, January 20, 2014

I’m obsessed with clouds

Whenever I see clouds forming in the sky, I grab my camera and run outside. I love the way clouds form different patterns—nature’s artwork. My favorite clouds have differing layers of color reflecting off the sunlight. Sunrise and sunset are the best times for unusual cloud patterns. Thunderstorms offer up some really interesting, menacing shapes.

I just took this one with a moon sliver hanging between the pink wispy clouds at sunset.

We don’t have too many cloudy days here where I live in Arizona. Most days are clear blue skies, but that makes it even more special when the clouds do gather. Once I notice a beautiful cloudy, colored sunrise or sunset, I have to hurry outside with my camera because the colors change in seconds. I’ve missed some great shots because I took too long to get outside.

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kelley-Heckart/111838455604

Wednesday, January 01, 2014

A new year, a new outlook

Yeah, a new year! I want to be hopeful that 2014 will be a better year than the previous five years, but my pessimistic self won’t allow me to get too excited. I suppose this new year can’t be worse than what we went through after 2008. And things seem to be improving for me (and my husband) but we aren’t out of the black hole yet.

It seems life cannot be planned. Everything that has happened to me in the last thirteen years has been an unpleasant surprise. My life did not turn out the way I had wanted it to be. Some good has come out of these changes, but also some very bad things as well.

Writing saved me from myself, kept me from losing my sanity. Finding an outlet for my frustration, pain and anger was the good that came of my life changes.

The bad, well the bad is something I try to forget. I guess things end up working out somehow, though I’m still struggling a lot with accepting my fate. It’s terrifying not being able to do the things I used to do, to be a different person. But I am lucky to have a husband and a family that understands and sticks by me.

I just hope 2014 is the year that I can finally stop worrying, but then do we ever stop worrying about the future? For what lies in the future, but the unknowable and the inevitable fate of all mortals?

Perhaps the best way to deal with life changes is to think of life as one long, unpredictable adventure and live in the moment. That seems to be the way to live life. Maybe if I had done that all along, I wouldn’t be so bothered by the unexpected.

I didn’t want to make any New Year’s resolutions because I never keep them, but I decided to make a resolution for 2014—to live in the moment.

Happy New Year!

My dogs—living in the moment

Kelley Heckart, Historical fantasy romance author

Captivating...Sensual...Otherworldly