SCARY MOVIES 4 - The Ones Where We Rooted for the Monster! + A GIVEAWAY

These movies fall into two distinct categories. Either we felt the script was so bad or the characters so dumb that we wanted the creature to pleeease eat them all and put us out of our misery --- or we found ourselves sympathizing with the bad guy and wanting him to escape, win, or find love!
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MAUREEN – “Bram Stoker's Dracula. To me, It's a love story.” ~ Maureen Bonatch, maureenbonatch.com
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ANGELA – “As a horror movie fangirl, I would be remiss if I didn't throw things back to the classic Universal Monsters here. "Frankenstein" and "The Bride of Frankenstein" are brilliant works of art that make viewers ask, "Who really is the monster - us or him?" I would say we are. Boris Karloff is perfect in the role, and there are some iconic scenes from both movies most people recognize for a reason.

"By the end of the movie, I'm cheering for Frankenstein's monster to escape the angry pitchfork-carrying townspeople because, doggone it, he's not really the bad guy!" ~ Angela Campbell, www.angelacampbellonline.com
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LINDA - "GODZILLA!" ~ Linda Mooney, lindamooney.com
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JODY - "King Kong, of course! He’s everyone’s hero! I did watch King Kong - Skull Island with my kids since it had Loki, I mean Tom Hiddleston, in it, and they 'stan' Loki, and we all rooted for King Kong together." ~ Jody Wallace, jodywallace.com
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NICOLE - "For me, this would be Cabin in the Woods. Because Bradley Whitford's character was trying to save in the world even as what he was doing meant very bad things for the main characters. And I found the way he cheered for his personal favourite monster (the seashell) rather endearing. Maybe it's because I liked him so much as Josh on The West Wing... ~ Nicole Luiken, nicoleluiken.com 
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PG - "Creature From the Black Lagoon. Another of the movies I used to watch with my grandmother late at night. The monster was clearly the hero, as far as I was concerned. The poor thing." ~ PG Forte, pgforte.com
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Dani - "I think the best movie monsters make us feel empathy for them. Every version of King Kong ever made breaks my heart. I was so glad when the Skull Island movie finally allowed the great ape to survive and live free! 

"My family will tell you that I'm a lot less soft-hearted when it comes to the human characters in some horror movies. When you see this many things going horribly, dangerously wrong in your new house (eg. "The Amityville Horror" and "Poltergeist"), why would you STAY THERE? Worse, why make your KIDS stay there?

"Of course, if characters made only sensible decisions, it would be really tough to create a full-length movie, LOL." ~ Dani Harper, daniharper.com
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CINDY - "This to me is any horror film where the characters a) split up or b) run back into the damn house. As the old Eddie Murphy sketch lampooning Amityville Horror said, "Nice house. Too bad we can't stay." And OMG, Death Becomes Her. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" ~ Cindy Spencer Pape, www.cindyspencerpape.com
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SHAWNA - "There was a version of Dracula--I think it was the one that came out in 1979, because when I saw it it was on network television and I want to say it was maybe four or five years later. I was probably in my early teens, just starting to develop a strong appreciation for the opposite sex. 

"The Dracula in the movie was darkly romantic and seductive, and his Lucy seemed rather more willing than not. I remember rooting for them to escape together. That movie might well be responsible for my predilection for well-dressed, dark, and dangerous (at least in my fantasy life!" ~ Shawna Reppert, www.shawna-reppert.com
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UPDATE - The contest is over and we have winners! 

1. BEVERLY wins an ebook from Jody Wallace - Catalyst: Cat Ship (Obsidian Rim Book 8) 

2. LOUISE wins her choice of one ebook from Dani Harper

3. GLENDA wins a deluxe canvas tote bag from Dani Harper

4. SHERRY wins her choice of one ebook from Linda Mooney

5. MARTHA wins her choice of one Audiobook from Linda Mooney

6. ANNE wins the grand prize, a $35 Amazon Gift eCard from all the authors at HERE BE MAGIC

We have the contact information for everyone and winners will receive emails within a couple of days.

THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by our Scary Movie blogs. We had a lot of fun putting them together!

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SCARY MOVIES 3 - The Ones We Wish We Hadn't Seen! + A GIVEAWAY

Some are dumb. Some are frightening. And some are disturbing enough to leave a mark...

DANI - "So much for being an adult --- I slept with the light on for three nights in a row after watching "28 DAYS LATER" in 2003!" 
~ Dani Harper, daniharper.com
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ANGELA – “I love horror movies, so this is hard for me -- I even get enjoyment out of the bad ones! I mentioned last week that John Carpenter's “HALLOWEEN” (1978) is one of my all-time favorite movies and that I have only been able to watch the Rob Zombie remakes once, so I am picking the Rob Zombie "HALLOWEEN" and "HALLOWEEN 2" as movies I wish I had never seen. 

"They tried too hard to take the mystery out of why Michael Myers was a psycho, and plus, they really honed in a "white trash" stereotype that was no fun to watch. I know those versions have their fans, but I think half of the fear that came from the original film was the not knowing why Michael Myers ran around killing people. Know what I mean?" 
~ Angela Campbell, www.angelacampbellonline.com
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LINDA - "Oh, there are several. At the head of the list is “THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE”, followed closely by “THE EXORCIST”." 
~ Linda Mooney, lindamooney.com
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JODY - "I could have lived without seeing "I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE" as well as "FACES OF DEATH" (more hijinks at my fancy neighbor’s house who had cable TV!) "FACES OF DEATH" wasn’t a movie, per se, so much as a collection of blood and death real-life videos in the 80s before YouTube existed. "I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE", of course, is more horrific violence against women, and I don’t care if she gets even, I just don’t ever need to SEE that." 
~ Jody Wallace, jodywallace.com
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MAUREEN – “NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. I live on Elm Street- Enough said. I slept with the light on for at least a week after this. Also "PARANORMAL ACTIVITY". I watched until the end to make sure that it was a movie and not real, lol!” 
~ Maureen Bonatch, maureenbonatch.com
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PG - "Oh, there's no contest. I didn't even actually see this one, but Clockwork Orange is my go-to for movies (and books) that are too disturbing to sit through." 
~ PG Forte, pgforte.com
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SHAWNA - "I didn't even have to see the movie. . .the trailer was enough. It came out when I was about 10. I think it was called Silent Screams. There was something about a thing--demon, ghost, I have no idea--coming out of a mirror at night if you looked into it, or got too close. As you can tell, I'm a bit fuzzy on the details after all these years. Still, to this day I never look directly into a dark mirror if I can help it." ~ Shawna Reppert, www.shawna-reppert.com
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CINDY - "Anything involving snakes. It's a ridiculous phobia for someone who studied herpetology in grad school, but the friend sitting next to me for Raiders of the Lost Ark went home with bruises on his arm. Even the trailers for Snakes on a Plane were too much." ~ Cindy Spencer Paper, www.cindyspencerpape.com
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UPDATE - The contest is over and we have winners! 

1. BEVERLY wins an ebook from Jody Wallace - Catalyst: Cat Ship (Obsidian Rim Book 8) 

2. LOUISE wins her choice of one ebook from Dani Harper

3. GLENDA wins a deluxe canvas tote bag from Dani Harper

4. SHERRY wins her choice of one ebook from Linda Mooney

5. MARTHA wins her choice of one Audiobook from Linda Mooney

6. ANNE wins the grand prize, a $35 Amazon Gift eCard from all the authors at HERE BE MAGIC

We have the contact information for everyone and winners will receive emails within a couple of days.

THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by our Scary Movie blogs. We had a lot of fun putting them together!

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SCARY MOVIES 2 - The Ones We Love to Watch Again and Again! + A GIVEAWAY

We might have seen them a dozen times or more. We might even own our own copy. But when these flicks appear on the TV, resistance is futile...
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JODY - "The only scary movie I’ve watched more than once is TREMORS and I will watch Kevin Bacon in all of his 6 graboid degrees any time that movie is on! It’s one of my favorite movies of all time, especially the acting role Reba McIntyre, yes that Reba, has in the movie. I haven’t shown my kids yet because they do NOT like scary movies, but now I’m feeling the urge for a re-watch." 
~ Jody Wallace, jodywallace.com
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LINDA - "Is it wrong to love a zombie Christmas movie? My fave is “Anna and the Apocalypse”. And it’s a musical!" 
~ Linda Mooney, lindamooney.com
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DANI - "When my kids were teenagers, Halloween was a whole season at our house! Punctuated by every Simpsons Treehouse of Horror episode ever made, there was a looong list of movies to be watched, including famous franchises like Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. 

"But I have some personal favorites of my own that I never get tired of. One of my top favs is CONSTANTINE featuring Keanu Reeves as the demon hunter, John Constantine." 
~ Dani Harper, daniharper.com
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ANGELA - "John Carpenter's “Halloween” (1978) is one of my all-time favorite movies, so of course, I have to watch it every October (although I watch it other times of the year too if I'm in the mood). I even binge the sequels, including the ones that are terrible, although I have only been able to watch the Rob Zombie remakes once. Same with the 2018 film. I just did not like those. The original, though, is one my entire family used to watch every Halloween (yeah, we were weird). 

"For me, it’s part nostalgia to watch it, but also, it still manages to give me the creeps a little bit. And Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode is the perfect Final Girl role model -- you know, in case you ever come face to face with a maniac serial killer." 
~ Angela Campbell, www.angelacampbellonline.com
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PG - "I'm not sure this counts as a "scary" movie, but it's weird, bloody and violent and yet I've watched it several times--although not anytime recently. Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia is just...strange. It's almost comedic. I'm not sure if it's a genuinely bad movie, or if it's "badness" is a work of genius." 
~ PG Forte, pgforte.com
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MAUREEN – “I can't pass up The Shining, Constantine or The Silence of the Lambs and other oldies-but-goodies if I see that they're on.” 
~ Maureen Bonatch, maureenbonatch.com
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SHAWNA - "I rarely have time to re-watch movies, but I've seen Crimson Peak three times and plan to watch it again this Halloween. Not only does it boast Tom Hiddleston in period clothing (though this would be reason enough) but it is a beautiful example of the gothic horror genre, with just the slightest hint of steampunk." ~ Shawna Reppert, www.shawna-reppert.com

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CINDY - "I'm actually not a big fan of horror, though I love suspense and paranormal. My favorite has to be Rocky Horror Picture Show just for the sheer cult classicism of it all. Oh--and I almost forgot Nightmare before Christmas." ~ Cindy Spencer Paper, www.cindyspencerpape.com 
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UPDATE - The contest is over and we have winners! 

1. BEVERLY wins an ebook from Jody Wallace - Catalyst: Cat Ship (Obsidian Rim Book 8) 

2. LOUISE wins her choice of one ebook from Dani Harper

3. GLENDA wins a deluxe canvas tote bag from Dani Harper

4. SHERRY wins her choice of one ebook from Linda Mooney

5. MARTHA wins her choice of one Audiobook from Linda Mooney

6. ANNE wins the grand prize, a $35 Amazon Gift eCard from all the authors at HERE BE MAGIC

We have the contact information for everyone and winners will receive emails within a couple of days.

THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by our Scary Movie blogs. We had a lot of fun putting them together!

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SCARY MOVIES 1 - The Ones That Terrified Us as Kids! + A GIVEAWAY

With Halloween on the way, the Here Be Magic gang got talking about horror movies - both the fun and the frightening. Of course we had to share, so we've come up with a four-part "Scary Movies" series for October. Welcome to our first installment!

And since it's not Halloween without treats, be sure to enter our month-long giveaway at the end of this post!

LINDA - "I didn’t get to watch scary movies at home when I was young, but when my family would go to my grandparents’ house, on Saturday afternoons, a local TV station would show those old-timey black and white movies from the 50s. My first horror movie was “Dracula” with Bela Lugosi, and it terrified me. I even remember it to this day, especially the scene where the camera moved into a close-up of his mesmerizing eyes." 

~ Linda Mooney, lindamooney.com

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DANI - "When you're little, a movie doesn't have to be from the horror genre to scare the bejeebers out of you. My husband was traumatized by the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz" when he was three! 

As for me, I had nightmares for years from the disembodied face in the magic mirror in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". To this day, I have an aversion to masks. 

When I was eight or nine, TV airings of old movies like Invaders from Mars (1953) and Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) scared me silly!" 

~ Dani Harper, daniharper.com

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MAUREEN - “I can't remember anything about the movie but "This House Possessed" always comes up in my memory as one that scared me. That, and the move, "Magic". I used to want a ventriloquist doll until that - now I'm freaked out by them!” 

~ Maureen Bonatch, www.maureenbonatch.com 

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ANGELA – “I was the youngest child with three older brothers, so I received an early education in horror movies at a ridiculously young age. The brother I was closest to was 18 years older than me, and he had his own place. Some weekends, I would spend the night with him, and we would rent and watch movies. He loved zombie movies, but they terrified me. The original “Dawn of the Dead” traumatized me to no end. 

"There was one movie called “Mortuary” (1983) that I could not finish.  I started crying, made him turn it off, and begged him to let me sleep on the floor of his room. All I remember is a creepy dude in a black robe with a zombie-like white face kept popping out of the dark and killing people in horrifying ways. 

"While I’ve gotten over my fear of zombie movies, my brother still teases me about that one movie that terrified me. “What was it called?” he always asks. “Mortuary,” I grumble. While I’m sure if I watched it today I would probably laugh at how utterly cheesy it is, but that terrified 10-year-old girl who still lives inside me won’t allow me to watch it. Nope. Not gonna happen.” 

~ Angela Campbell, www.angelacampbellonline.com

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JODY - "I don’t remember many scary movies from when I was small but I remember as a young teenager SOMEHOW stumbling across a movie called INCUBUS – probably thanks to one of my fancy friends who had cable TV. It horrified me! Was pretty much sexual violence against women from beginning to end with this sort of sick perverse overlay of horror and one of those creepy open endings. DO NOT RECOMMEND." 

~ Jody Wallace, jodywallace.com 

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CINDY - "The song Pink Elephants on Parade from Dumbo scared the crap out of me as a little kid!" 

~ Cindy Spencer Pape, www.cindyspencerpape.com

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NICOLE - "Okay, this was a TV show, not a movie. The science fiction show Space 1999 used to scare me as a kid. If something really tense was happening, I couldn't bear to watch so I'd run down the hallway. But then I had to find out what happened so I'd run back. 

"The funny thing is, one of my kids does a similar thing. If she reaches a tense part of a book, she gets up to pace." 

~ Nicole Luiken, nicoleluiken.com 

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SHAWNA - "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder version) thoroughly freaked me out when I was about 5. My aunt who was babysitting had to turn it off after the little girl blew up like a blueberry balloon and floated off, so I never did see all the kids getting restored at the end. 

"I was 21 before my then-husband got me to sit down and watch it through, and at that point I thoroughly enjoyed it." 

~ Shawna Reppert, www.shawna-reppert.com

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UPDATE - The contest is over and we have WINNERS! 

1. BEVERLY wins an ebook from Jody Wallace - Catalyst: Cat Ship (Obsidian Rim Book 8) 

2. LOUISE wins her choice of one ebook from Dani Harper

3. GLENDA wins a deluxe canvas tote bag from Dani Harper

4. SHERRY wins her choice of one ebook from Linda Mooney

5. MARTHA wins her choice of one Audiobook from Linda Mooney

6. ANNE wins the grand prize, a $35 Amazon Gift eCard from all the authors at HERE BE MAGIC

We have the contact information for everyone and winners will receive emails within the first week of November.

THANK YOU to everyone who stopped by our Scary Movie blogs. We had a lot of fun putting them together!

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HERE BE NEWS for July 1, 2019

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Monday, June 24 - 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the gang at Here Be Magic.

Tuesday, June 25 -
“A TALE OF TWO STORIES” – How does a non-multi-tasker find herself writing two books at once? Author PG Forte explains on Here Be Magic!

Wednesday, June 26 -
“HOW DO YOU SHELVE YOUR BOOKS?” – By genre, by author, or with the latest purchase on the top of the pile? Author Linda Mooney asks the question – and reveals her own bookshelf!

Thursday, June 27 -
“SUMMERTIME READS” – A novella by Cindy Spencer Pape is helping raise the temperature in a hot new anthology. 

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HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME

Sultry temperatures.
Passionate couples.
Unbelievable desire.

Cindy Spencer Pape's novella, "NAILED" is helping to raise the temperature in this new collection.

Check it out on Amazon

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WRITERS and their FURRY ASSISTANTS - #takeyourpettoworkweek

Did you know it's "Take Your Pet To Work Week®"?
First celebrated in 1999, TYPTWW runs from Monday, June 17 to Friday, June 21 this year.

But many writers get to celebrate it EVERY day!  Our furry companions often take it upon themselves to become part of the creative process.

Read on to meet some of the "assistants" to the authors at Here Be Magic...

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Scruff keeps Maureen Bonatch 
in her writing chair!

MAUREEN - "Scruff appointed himself as my writing assistant from the moment he was adopted.

Initially he believed his job was  to challenge me to find time to write while chasing a puppy who tried to eat the push pins that fell from my writing boards.

Now he often lays behind my chair to make sure I don't try to escape and I get the words on the page."  ~ Maureen L. Bonatch

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Linda Mooney's writing buddies

LINDA - "This is Bo and Rusty, and their help in my writing took me a while to understand. You see, they frequently need to go outside to potty.

"At first, I was slightly irritated with them for this “constant” interruption, until I realized that (1) I needed to get my butt out of chair and my eyes off the screen every now and then, and (2) my going outside to throw the ball was beneficial to both of us.

"They’re my writing buddies, I love them dearly, and Bo also makes an excellent foot warmer in the winter months." ~ Linda Mooney

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Cloud proves cats make great supervisors 

NICOLE - "Cloud keeps me company while I write from home, sometimes supervising from her perch behind me, sometimes giving me an excuse to get up and stretch my legs as I obey her imperious commands to be let in or out. ~ Nicole Luiken

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Cindy Spencer Pape's canine brigade

CINDY - "We sit in judgement of your efforts. Also we will bark at the letter carrier or demand to go out right when your words are flowing best. Because we are 300 pounds of DOG on your couch." ~ Cindy Spencer Pape

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PG Forte's pals take her happiness seriously

PG - "Because I work from home, every week is Take Your Pet To Work Week. Here they are, patiently waiting for me to stop working and give them a treat or take them for a walk (they’re not allowed outside unmonitored anymore because of their high prey drives and total lack of intelligence when it comes to skunks—yeah, don’t ask).

"If it’s nighttime, the big one will try and make me go to bed whenever he’s tired because, apparently, he can’t sleep until he knows I’m tucked safely away.

"I suppose you could say that making sure I take regular breaks for exercise and food, and that I don’t stay up all night contributes to my health, which counts as contributing to my writing?  Yeah. It’s a stretch. But they make me happy, and that definitely counts." ~ PG Forte

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DANI - "I’ve always had a pug or two to supervise my fiction-writing career. Scooby was my Official Muse for every word of my very first novel, and five more books after that. His favorite place was wedged beside me on the couch, acting as a furry armrest as I typed on my laptop. He always preferred to watch the screen — I think he was proofing!

"Currently, my writing assistant is Toby, who feels it’s his sworn duty to cram into my lap while I write (and that’s where he is right now as I type this.) I often have to move his chubby little chin off my keyboard…

Tux and Toby are Dani's current assistants

"I’m also helped by Tux, a boxer-pitbull cross who believes himself to be 100% pug. Apparently he’s decided that my writing career has advanced to the point that I now require a bodyguard... Accordingly, he defends me from the garbage truck, the UPS van, and the evil squirrel in the backyard." ~ Dani Harper

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More About TAKE YOUR PET TO WORK WEEK – 

The idea is credited to Pet Sitters International. The purpose is to draw attention to the many benefits of pets as companions and to encourage adoptions from shelters and rescue organizations. It is traditionally celebrated the week after Father’s Day. 

Take Your Pet To Work Week®, Take Your Dog to Work Day® and Take Your Cat To Work Day® are trademarked by PSI.

HERE BE NEWS for June 3, 2019

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In Case You Missed It:

Monday, May 27 - 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the gang at Here Be Magic.

Tuesday, May 28 -
“THE ONCE AND FUTURE STEAMPUNK AUTHOR?” – Cindy Spencer Paper talks about her ongoing love affair with “the only genre where you can toss romance, mystery, history, science fiction, adventure, horror, fantasy and just about everything else, into a pot, stir, and pour out a story.”

Wednesday, May 29 -
“CROSSOVERS AND EASTER EGGS” – They’re well known in the movies. Author Linda Mooney talks about hiding them in her newest books!

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New Release:
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Going To The Chapel
An Oberon/LA Love Lessons Crossover Novella 
by PG Forte

Gabby and Derek went from being friends to being lovers. Now, they're waiting for their "big day". But will it be the wedding of their dreams? Or a bride's worst nightmare?
 

A quick trip to Gabby's hometown turns into the wedding from hell when Gabby and Derek are plagued by hailstorms, lost reservations, voracious goats, angry bees and enough family drama to fill a barn.

Guess it's true what they say, "The course of true love never did run smooth." But can the happy couple hold it all together, or will their Big Day turn into a Big Mess?

​

***A different version of this book was previously released as part of the Sapphire Falls Kindle World program.***

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Going-Chapel-Lessons-Crossover-Novella-ebook/dp/B07SF7MD54

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