Proud Auntie Gini

Mary and Jayme,

my niece and her husband in Alaska.

So proud of both of you.

Another contract with THE WILD ROSE PRESS

 
   I’m thrilled to announce I just signed a contract with The Wild Rose Press for book #6. It's a western novella called......

"FATE OF A COWBOY".

                                  The setting is 1880, Colorado.

                            "She believes in the Tarrot cards."

  "Four-of -a-kind is more his style."

"Either way, the cards never lie."

    Watch for "Fate of a Cowboy" coming in 2014...Follow the adventures of an English woman, Britania Rule, as she travels the Colorado backcountry with drifter/gambler Cody James.

More to come....regarding cover art and release date.  

www.ginirifkin.com
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VICTORIAN DREAM by GINI RIFKIN EARNS 4.5 STAR REVIEW

Thank you, Darlene @ Still Moments Magazine for the 4.5 star review.

 

Darlene writes: A beautifully written story with an exquisite detailed setting for each scene and the enchanting landscape. The unexpected suspense with its twists and turns will keep your attention to the very end. This charming and emotion packed story is a must read.

 

Available now at Amazon, click link below

http://amzn.com/B00AE7K4PK

www.ginirifkin.com

 



Sisters, shopping, and sweet treats

    My sister's birthday and mine are only 1 week apart. Our little joke is to take each other to lunch, which basically is just payin' your own way. We look forward to this every year, and try to find a new place to experience, and of course it must feature great deserts.

   This year we went to Bistrot des Artistes. A french cafe that had a terrific menu and dreamy deserts.

    The outside was adorable, it was too cool to eat alfresco, but we made a pack to come back during a warmer month so we could wear long dresses and big hats and pretend we were on the Champs Elysées, or the Left Bank, or someplace French.  

 

 

The inside was delightful as well, with old world charm and whimsy.The menu included pumpkin soup, French onion soup, salads, and of course quiches, as well as various sandwiches, and panini.   

    Then there were the deserts, a sweet lovers dream. Chocolate Oblivion Cake, Carmel Oblivion Cake, Chocolate mousse, raspberry tarts, lemon meringue tarts, tiramisu, eclairs, and pies, cakes and cookies. We have to go back soon! 
 

     Finished feasting, there is a shop to browse filled with jams, homemade bread, cookbooks, crepe pans, linens, spices, ceramics, and other chachkies you can't live without.


    And if that isn't enough, there is an annex, kept at a very cold temperature, filled with imported cheeses and lots of samples for tasting.

   This year's location could be the all time favorite. And now I need some chocolate.

www.ginirifkin.com

BOOKS AND BREWS, A GREAT SUCCESS

 

 

 

   Thank you Jessi, and all the wonderful people at Farr Library in Greeley who made ReadCon 2013 possible. What a great experience.

 And thanks to my sister for fearlessly driving us to parts unknown (we only go a little bit lost!), and for manning the camera, and sharing the adventure.

  It was fun to meet other authors and readers, getting to know what genre they preferred, if they leaned toward E-books or paperbacks, etc.

 

  We  met several celebrities there. They were really good about us Paparazzi-ing them. 

 "Hi Edgar, my name is Virginia, just like your wife."

 

"Ooooh, Fabio, my hero."

 

                "Forget Scarlett, stay with me Rhett."


All in all a spectacular time......and I didn't even try the brew! Heard it was very good with lots of interesting "flavors".

www.ginirifkin.com

 

 

Blessed Samhain and Happy Celtic New Year

Samhain, my favorite night of the year.

    Welcome to my circle.

Let all who stand within it be here of their own free will,

and accord in peace and love.

 

 
  

       Samhain, pronounced Sah-ween, Sow-win, or Sow-wan (your choice, there aren’t a lot of Ancient Celts around to ask!) had its beginnings as pre-Christian festival of the dead. It was also the beginning of the New Year, and so the wheel turns.





 

   Samhain became the Halloween we are familiar with when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people. Pope Gregory the 1st, suggested rather than wiping out Pagan holidays, they be converted to Christian Holy days. It didn’t work too well for Samhain.

 

  November 1^st was soon called All Saints Day, and in the 9th century, the church tried again to supplant Samhain with a Christian feast on November 2nd called All Souls Day. But nothing stopped the traditional beliefs, and customs lived on in new guises.

  

  All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallows (hallowed meaning sanctified or holy), gave rise to the night before being called All Hallows Eve, which became Hallow Evening, which became Halloween. And so Samhain was transformed into Halloween.

 

     The modern day customs we carelessly practice are not modern at all. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and about, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like the very creatures they feared, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice called mumming, is now called trick-or-treating.      

  

   But although we only play at wanting to see monster on Halloween, it is best to remember that on this night, the veil between the worlds is thin, and spirits are roaming in earnest. The gates between the worlds are open wide. And while we seek the Ancient Ones, with open hearts and open hands to honor our beloved dead and to receive the blessing of the universe, there are malevolent spirits abroad as well. You stand at the doorway of the New Year in a place that is not a place and a time that is not in time. 

     In this doorway we are neither in the past or the future, nor are we in our accustomed world, but are in the eternal present in the Summer Lands, lands of the Dead, the Realm of Ancestors, the Island of Avalon.
 

     So, as you go innocently about on Halloween, best keep watch over your shoulder, and don’t be stingy with your gifts to the gods!

 

Happy Samhain. Happy New Year.

www.ginirifkin.com

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VICTORIAN DREAM earns 4.5 star review

Oh Happy Day:

Murder, Mayhem, and a Marriage of Convenience...

Victorian Dream, my March release from The Wild Rose Press, got a 4.5 star review from Still Moments Magazine. Full review will be featured in...Between the Pages...in their December publication.

visit www.ginirifkin.com for excerpt.