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Roses are red, the house feels so bare, violets are blue, now there’s quiet in the air.   Our kids have flown, like birds to the sky, an empty nest is left, where time likes to fly.   The fridge is less crowded, our table set for two, dinners are quieter, just me and you.   Our worries have changed, the shadows sleep, silence now echoes, and nostalgia creeps.   Love lingers here, a canvas to paint, colors aplenty, free from restraint.   The nest may be bare, yet a new chapter starts, hand in hand we’ll plot, to deepen...

For years, I’ve been a serious coffee drinker. A pot in the morning. Two to six cups during the day, and then most likely two or so warm, delicious cups in the evening. Maybe dunking a cookie or two while I watched TV. Warm, black, dark, and rich, I never refused a cup—or a mug, or tiny demitasse. For years, I could drink a cup before bed and still fall asleep within two minutes of my head hitting the pillow. People would tease me about mainlining the stuff. My Facebook page was littered with coffee addiction memes from friends. Coffee...

You and I are sitting at a table at Starbucks, sipping our Cappuccinos—mine’s decaf, yours is full-leaded with one sugar, I’m setting the mood—when our mutual girlfriend bursts through the door, slides crying into a vacate chair at our table. “He” just broke up with her with the classic line, “It’s not you. It’s me.” You and I turn to each other, roll our eyes in disgust, and tell her he’s lying. Totally lying! We hug her and tell her how sorry we are she’s hurting—like good girlfriends do—then we remind her of all the tell-tale signs we’d been seeing...

Betty, your office coworker, and in her words an avid reader, has just found out your manuscript is done. She begs you to let her read it. She loves (insert your genre here) and has just finished reading (insert big name author’s book title in your genre – if fantasy insert ACOTAR). Bells go off in your head. You’ve been hoping to find a beta reader. This happenstance is pure luck! Or is it? A quick aside… we’re talking about a beta reader, not an ARC (Advance Release Copy). Beta readers read the manuscript before you send it to your...