Raine Balkera - Romance Author

16Personalities.com My son is currently teaching at a Language Camp on a Minnesota lake and has to figure out how his students will behave/respond over the next few weeks. He sent me and his sister the link to a Personality Test and surprisingly, my daughter and I are more alike than either of us ever realized or care to admit. Not surprising at all, my son is the complete opposite. When I took the test, I went into it like I do all of the others . . . with a semi-lackadaisical attitude and a surefire hunch the results wouldn't perfectly match me and who I really am (or, more to the point, who I perceive myself to be). From the picture above, the answers resulted in my being termed a Mediator, and I'm sorry, this just couldn't be more wrong. The "I like to mediate and make sure everyone is happy" part. That is my son and somewhat my daughter, AND me until I was in my thirties, but definitely not who I am today. The rest of the explanations, th...

Thursday is almost done with, and I'm just now getting around to blogging. The big Holiday's are over now, and at my age, the whirlwind continues to increase as far as 'my, how time flies' goes. It was a wonderful time, though, and a first for me in a very long time, too, so that is a nice report for my readers! Last week , I received an e-mail from someone who commented on an old post from an old blog and said that she misses me and my writing.  I was so touched by this that I decided to visit the old site and get it up and running again. For my one fan out there. So, from now on, my Asian Drama posts will be at my Asian Drama Queen blog here on blogger. And, with all of the episodes for Oh, My, Venus   finally uploaded, my fan can look forward to a review about it very soon! Normally, I don't do resolutions . I learned decades ago that they lead to just one thing: disappointment. Yet, I had a bit of fun reading the many and varie...

It's been awhile since I last posted anything, and I feel bad about that (even if no one reads my posts), but I also feel sad, and for other reasons besides not blogging much of late. I've never been one to self-diagnose an illness, but there were plenty of times when I'd suggested to others that they maybe look into a reason why they either behaved or felt the way they did. As for myself, I take it all as it comes and most-often hope or will away whatever it is that ails me. I've also known for a few decades now that it is entirely likely that I am a depressed person, or that I suffer from some form/type of depression. Back in the 00's, and for a very brief time, I started taking Cortaslim tablets thinking that I might lose some weight that way, and while it did help me to shed a few pounds, what it actually did was enhance my mood. In fact, it worked so well that I can remember telling myself that I had probably never, ever felt so good in...

It's Friday. TGIF. It is my day of rest writing-wise yet has since become the best day to blog. Still reading, of course. Another free download (via BookBub) in the Contemporary Romance genre of the Western variety. Directly after viewing the cover of said freebie, I swiped my Paperwhite and read the author's little note: "If you find any errors, please e-mail me . . ." And, I got scared. I began to read her story, and I am finding errors, but I doubt they are of the variety for which she wishes an e-mail notification. However! This has nothing to do with today's blog post. What I'd like to touch on today are a few more of the creative words being tossed about in a storm-churned sea of the writing I've encountered for awhile now. Or, should I type a while now since it is preceded by a preposition? Only “a while” (two separate words) can follow a prepositional phrase.  For as long as I can remember, awhile was and always would b...

Let me begin this one at the very beginning. My introduction to the 007 Adventure began back in the 80's, and it was Roger Moore who captivated my heart as well as my soul with his version of the shaken, not stirred secret agent in   For Your Eyes Only . There was no prior-to-that for me because I grew up in a Catholic home and both parents were convinced (even having never seen nor read an Ian Fleming novel) that we would all be damned to hell as a family collective if any one of us dared read or watch a 007 flick. It was all of that wanton, indiscriminate sex, you see. I became hooked anyway and made it a practice to view as many of the Bond films as I could, and after marriage, it became more easy a task to accomplish with cable television and late nights spent in a rocking chair with an infant/baby in my arms. Until then, I had adored Roger Moore and honestly still do, but after watching so many of the franchises films, I came to the conclusion that no one h...

For the past three days (and nights) I've been watching every episode of   Agatha Christie's Marple . I just finished watching the last uploaded episode tonight and am sad that it is over (for now, I think, with episode 3 of season 6 being the last). I guess this qualifies as an addiction, but if I had come to The Musketeers (BBCA) late, it is likely I'd have done the very same thing . . . watch episode after thrilling episode until I'm too tired to watch anymore and then wake up the next day to resume that addiction. The first time I binge watched anything was a few years ago with Game of Thrones , finding it online via Comcast Internet access I'd signed up for down in Illinois. I ended up watching the entire first season in less than two days and was enthralled, to say the least. I managed to finish the second season of Game of Thrones just prior to leaving Illinois, and when I got back home, made sure to special order HBO so as no...