I was thrilled to have so many of you over for the Sunday Interview series .. and this year it was the Author Book Reading and Interview.. My first guest was Tina Frisco and the post is still being viewed, making it the highest viewed interview of the year. I have taken the liberty of updating the reviews today.
Welcome to the series that is connected to Sally’s Cafe and Bookstore. After setting the cafe up last year I intend now to use as the focal point for all book promotions here on Smorgasbord. Once in the cafe, authors can be updated in the twice weekly posts with their new releases and also excellent reviews… but they can now also do a book reading and interview as they might do in a real bookstore.
I can think of no better author to kicke this new series off than Tina Frisco who is so supportive of all who follow her blog and on social media. She is a friend, confidente and at times our conscience. Multi-talented with a deep understanding about all aspects of humanity, Tina is an example to us all of how we should treat people and animals.
This is intended to be an interactive interview with you the reader and it would be wonderful if you could therefore ask Tina your questions in the comments section. Tina will respond to those over the next couple of days.
First something about Tina Frisco
Tina Frisco is an author, singer-songwriter, RN, activist, and student of shamanism. Born in Pennsylvania USA, she attended nursing school in New York and lives in California. She began writing as a young child and received her first guitar at age 14, which launched her passion for music and songwriting. She has performed publicly in many different venues. Her publishing history includes book reviews; essays; articles in the field of medicine; her début novel, PLATEAU; her children’s book, GABBY AND THE QUADS; and her latest novel, VAMPYRIE. She enjoys writing, reading, music, dancing, arts and crafts, exploring nature, and frequently getting lost in working crossword puzzles.
Welcome Tina and thank you so much for starting off this new series.
If one of your books was selected to be made into a film; who would you like to play your main character and why?
If my latest novel, Vampyrie, were made into a film, I’d want Julia Stiles to play Phoebe Delaney. She’s a strong dramatic as well as comedic actor, two qualities most evident in Phoebe.
Although Ms. Stiles is a bit older than Ms. Delaney, she has a youthful appearance. However, she’d have to be willing to dye her hair red and wear green contact lenses!
Changing the appearance of a novel’s protagonist in a script for the performing arts somehow invalidates the work for me. This was done when The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was brought to the big screen, and I spent a good third of the film trying to reconcile the novel’s protagonist with the one before me in the theatre.
My second choice to play Phoebe Delaney would be Molly C. Quinn who played Alexis in the TV series, Castle.
Which four famous guests would you ask to a dinner party and why?
Tina Turner – American-born recording artist, dancer, actress, and author. Music and strong female energy are vital to the survival of humankind. Tina Turner is the epitome of a strong female and dynamic performing artist.
The Dalai Lama – Tibetan holy man and government leader. The world is in dire need of a formidable and compassionate spiritual presence exemplifying nonviolence and absolute awareness.
Woman Chief – warrior and chief of the Crow people. The energy of the Earth is female. As patriarchal dominance comes to an end, strong female guidance is the imperative for transitioning into the Golden Age of Enlightenment.
Oscar Wilde – Irish playwright, novelist, essayist, and poet known for his ostentatious dress, brilliant conversation, and biting wit. Humor is to thriving what breathing is to life.
These four would make for some lively dinner conversation, don’t you think?
If you were offered three wishes to change the world, what would they be?
1. Destroy all weapons of war and prevent their re-creation by dismantling multinational corporations.
2. Encourage worldwide development of sustainable energy, organic farming, and natural forest conservation.
3. Teach children compassion and tolerance for diversity by establishing a weekly gathering, across the globe, where people of different cultures and religions sit quietly across from one another in pairs and do nothing but look into each other’s eyes for five minutes.
I was reading through the reviews for Plateau and it is clear that everyone who read the book was touched deeply in one way or another. Here is an extract from one of the reviews
“You have the choice to nourish or you have the choice to destroy with your power,” is the statement made by Ruby Plenty Chiefs, and which begins the Prologue of Plateau, a superbly written book by Tina Frisco. In this spiritually guided story, the readers are introduced to the E’Ghali culture and its people in the experience shared by a young indigenous womon, W’Hyani, and guidance of the Power Deck Cards. In these pages, it is learned that to gain insight and meaning of life, one must observe and adhere to the value of each card; in doing this, it allows the individual to connect their physical life and their spiritual life on a conscious plateau.
Can you tell us the inspiration behind the story and also how long it took you to research the story?
In late 2011, I became very disheartened by the number of documentaries focusing on apocalyptic interpretations of prophesies in relation to the 2012 winter solstice. December 21st of that year marked the end of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar. For the Maya, the end of a long cycle was always a cause for celebration. But many people today allowed fear to drive their thinking and determined humankind would be annihilated when that 5,126-year cycle ended.
In the early 1980s, I became apprenticed to a medicine woman. I knew the world was not going to end on 12-21-12 and felt compelled to inject a message of hope into our collective unconscious. Plateau was my way of doing that. No research was needed, as the story derived solely from what I’d learned during my apprenticeship, aided by my fertile imagination! This was not the case for Vampyrie, however. Extensive research was required; much more than I’d anticipated.
Apart from humanity you also consider animals to be very much part of our spiritual journey. Can you tell us of any particular experience you have had that touched you deeply and demonstrated this belief?
Much of my compassion for nonhuman animals stems from childhood abuse, both witnessed and experienced, perpetrated against both humans and nonhumans.
A neighbor family of my Sicilian grandmother had a dog who was neglected to the point of abuse. He was kept outside on a short leash, his fur was matted and knotted, and he had a terrible odor about him. Whenever anyone other than immediate family approached, he would growl, bark ferociously, bare his teeth, and eventually foam at the mouth. I felt as much compassion as I felt terror. I knew he behaved the way he did because he was in great pain, both physically and emotionally. I wanted to hug and care for him while simultaneously wanting to flee for my life. One doesn’t forget an experience like that.
It is clear that love and understanding lie at the heart of your writing. Particularly in your posts on your own blog and as a guest. Difficult I know, but could you give us the message you would like spread around the world to achieve peace and unity…. In around 100 words?
If humankind is to survive on planet Earth, we must keep our hearts open. If we close them to one, we close them to all. So no matter how painful, we must keep our hearts open and act from love instead of reacting from fear. We must practice gratitude and compassion within every moment and with every breath. In so doing, we will elevate the human species to a higher consciousness, facilitating peace, unity, and love.
Tina will now give us a book reading from her book Vampyrie.
She struggled to open her eyes against a light that glared with penetrating force. When she realized she was in a strange environment, she bolted from the sofa on which she was lying and ran across the room, knocking into several pieces of furniture along the way. She found the nearest wall, glued her back to it and pressed her hands flat against the surface, ready to spring on a moment’s notice.
“Where in the hell am I?” she shouted to whoever might be listening.
“You are in The Haven,” a voice answered from across the room.
She spun her head in its direction and squinted to adjust her vision. A lean-figured man was sitting in a chair with a book on his lap. He appeared to be in his early forties, with chestnut hair greying at the temples and parted to one side.
“Well how in the hell did I get here?”
“You fainted. I carried you.”
“Fainted? I don’t faint. I’m not the fainting type. And what’s The Haven? Where is it? And who in the hell are you?”
The synapses in her brain fired so quickly that she barely kept pace with her thoughts.
“Forgive my lack of etiquette, madam. I am Sir Michael Allan David. I found you lost in the catacombs and brought you to my dwelling. It is called The Haven, for it is the refuge of The Vampyrie.”
“Vampyrie? What in the hell is a vampyrie?’
“I will tell you all you need to know when I return.” He stood and placed his book and reading glasses on the small table next to his chair. “Now excuse me for a moment while I leave to prepare us some libation.”
Phoebe opened her mouth to respond, but before she could utter a word, he quickly added, “And I would be greatly obliged if you would cease using the word ‘hell’ in every other sentence. Cursing does not become you.”
Then he disappeared out of sight.
Not to be outwitted, Phoebe shouted, “And I would be greatly obliged if you would cease calling me madam. ‘Ms.’ is the correct form of address nowadays.”
She shook her head hard from side to side, attempting to clear her mind. Libation, cease, obliged, dwelling – who talks like that nowadays? And catacombs . . . in North America? The more she questioned the legitimacy of this man, the more she questioned the reality of her situation. As her thoughts collided with one another, she teetered on the brink of overload.
In an effort to wake up from what she hoped was a nightmare, she shook her head hard several more times. It didn’t work. She closed her eyes and repeated the action; but when she opened them again, the scenery hadn’t changed. This was no dream. She was where she was and had better get a grip.
Within that moment of decided resignation, it dawned on her it would be wise to orient to her surroundings in case she needed to make a quick exit. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for doors and windows. It seemed as though she’d entered a time warp.
The furniture was beyond antique, with frayed upholstery and wood that was scratched and worn. Wall hangings were faded black-and-white or sepia prints. A large threadbare tapestry hung over the fireplace. Lamps were cast iron with sickly yellow shades. The wallpaper peeled at the corners and along several of the seams. All windows were covered by heavy drapes drawn from one side to the other, making them appear like oppressive shrouds rather than potential exits.
Had she stepped into a Charles Dickens novel? And where were the doors? Were there any aside from the one through which her captor had departed?
And then, of course, there was Sir Michael. He spoke with a British accent, but Vampyrie sounded Norse. Not only did his home look like a bedraggled portrait of antiquity, he himself looked like a relic. His grey suit bordered on threadbare, and he wore an ascot. His cheeks were a little sunken and very pale. He had an odd odor about him; not repulsive, just unrecognizable, almost mysterious. She wasn’t afraid of him, yet she thought she should be.
The pitch-black, moss-filled tunnels were bad enough, but this place was downright creepy; the kind of creepy that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and run for cover. What on earth had she gotten herself into? This couldn’t possibly be the home of the gentleman who’d rescued her. Yet she knew he and the ash-white token of a man she just met in this room were one and the same.
Her knight in shining armor was at best a vestigial man, a remnant of the past.
Here is one of the reviews for Vampyrie.
A brilliant theory that Frisco brings to this story – good vs. bad (rogue) vampires and a story that takes us through fast-paced action with the protagonist, the impetuous Phoebe who finds herself abducted by a vampire in the beginning of this curious tale.
Although the story revolves around the theme of vampires, the story is a twist on the vampire theory, bringing unpredictable action with the characters who find themselves entangled in this alternative world of secret vampires.
Throughout the story we’ll find ourselves wondering why Phoebe’s father kept their vampire history secret, and why did her mother mysteriously disappear out of her life when Phoebe was a young child. But the events that follow the story keep us engaged and waiting to find out about – The Origin of the Vampyrie and how all the characters involved came to be part of the Vampyrie circle. Through this journey Phoebe discovers who she really is as we watch her grow through the learning process.
This book is far from the average vampire story containing blood and gore, but a delight to read with Frisco’s quick witted writing and her uncanny knack to be able to insert love and compassion even in a story about vampire lore. A recommended read.
Also by Tina Frisco
Read all the Reviews and buy all the books: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B009NMOFNY
Here is how you can connect to Tina on her website and social media.
Website ~ http://tinafrisco.com
Amazon ~ http://hyperurl.co/3vme2a
Facebook ~ https://www.facebook.com/TinaFrisco.Author
Twitter ~ http://bit.ly/14VXY49
LinkedIn ~ http://linkd.in/1aAGwXl
Google+ ~ http://bit.ly/1Fc1Uzn
Goodreads ~ http://bit.ly/165vmVp
I hope you have enjoyed this reminder of the interview in July this year… thanks for dropping in.. Thanks Sally
Great interview and such a glowing review of Vampyrie! Now I want to read the book… ❤ xo
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Fantastic Bette.. thank you hugs ♥
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Thanks, Bette! ❤
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Pingback: Smorgasbord Invitation – Most Viewed Author Interview – Tina Frisco with a book reading. | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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Thank you for sharing Chris..hugs ♥
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My pleasure, Sally 🤗❤️🤗
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Thanks so much, Chris ❤
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My pleasure, Tina ❤️
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A lovely reminder about compassion and open hearts. I have found I am at my worst when I act out of fear, not against anyone else, but of the nebulous fears we have learned growing up that stop us from being wholly who we can be. My intention is to not add negativity to the world. If you try that, you will discover that self judgment and criticism also add negativity, conflict, and violence to the cosmos. Thank you for the interview.
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Thank you for sharing Mary.. it is very hard to overcome ingrained behaviours from childhood when things looked so much bigger and frightening.. and you are right if we don’t add any further negativity it is a good thing.. Happy New Year… Sally
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Thank you for such an insightful comment, Mary ❤
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Still a super interview, Thanks, Sally and Tina.
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Thank you John.. hugs x
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XX
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Thank you, John ❤
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😀
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Tina Frisco, strong author, great interview!
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I agree Billy Ray.. thank you.. xx
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Thanks so much, Billy Ray! ❤
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Tina, this sounds wonderful–reminds me bit of the Anne Rice vampire series–read every one!!
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That’s one more thing we have in common, Micki! ❤
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Yes, I lost my fear of vampires (almost;)) after reading her very first book.
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Reblogged this on The Life & Times of Zoe the Fabulous Feline and commented:
Tina Frisco – a great choice to kick off a new series offered us by Sally Cronin. Enjoy!
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Thank you for sharing.. Zoe…xxxxxx
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Thanks so much, dear Zoe ❤
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Great interview….Miss Tina is a fascinating personality, and, if I were able to give a dinner party, she’d be tops on the guest list. Talk about getting and keeping a conversation lively! Loved this, thanks, Miss Sally!
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Thank you Zoe.. and I am sure it would be a terrific dinner party… glad you enjoyed and have an pawesome holiday week.. hugs
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Miss Zoe, I would have a special treat waiting for you, because your being invited to my dinner party would go without saying ❤
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Vampyrie is among my favorite books….great writing and character development…thought provoking story with a beautiful message.
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Thanks Emily and I am reading at the moment.. and enjoying.. hugsxx
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Aw thanks, Em. That means the world to me ❤
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Wow, Sally. WOW! Perhaps one of the best interviews. Tina, you are a model for goodness and justice. Your favorite person to invite to dinner is Tina Turner? Yes! I have loved her music since she sang with Ike. I’ll never forget the day she ran away from him, with only sixty-seven cents to her name. I think that was my first story of real, everyday strength and courage. And your third wish, teaching children compassion and tolerance with a worldwide weekly gathering. That is awesome. You are a gifted writer, one who grabs the reader. Thank you!
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Thank you for sharing Jennie and I agree with all your comments.. Tina is an inspiration to us all..hugs
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Aw Jennie, thanks so much for your lovely comment. I would solicit your help for my 3rd wish, knowing we all would benefit from your guidance. And anyone who loves Tina Turner is automatically added to my guest list! ❤
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thank you for sharing Tina’s interview Jaye and Marie..hugs xx
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Thanks so much for sharing, Jaye ❤
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A message for 2018 that should be shouted from the houses. Thanks for a great interview, and for all the work you do for us, Sally. Happy New Year to you, to Tina, and to everyone reading!
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Thank you Jemima.. and look forward to a brighter 2018.. Happy New Year.. hugs xx
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Thanks so much, Jemima. Happy New Year! ❤
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A stellar interview. I had full intentions of reading Vampyrie before 2017 found its end, but didn’t manage it. It will be the first book I read in 2018! Can’t wait. I love this excerpt.
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I am reading at the moment Jan.. time rather got away from me in 2017.. looking forward to comparing notes..hugs xx
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Thank you, Jan. You are a blessed friend indeed ❤
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Thanks, Sally for a great interview from a multi-talented author and wonderful person. I commented to her above.
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Thank you, Micki. My heart to your heart ❤
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Tina, my heart got really warm when reading that. Thank you.
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❤❤
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So thrilled to see Tina’s interview the most viewed! She most definitely deserves the kudos and it’s no surprise that everyone enjoys Tina’s wisdom and writing. ❤ xxx
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Thanks Debby I totally agree and I have FB’d you.. hugs ♥
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❤ ❤
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Thank you so much for sharing in this, my wonderful PQ friend ❤
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Wouldn’t miss it T. ❤ xx
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Wow fab. Tweeted. Good luck. xx
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Thank you Jane.. hugs xx
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Most welcome any time. Such enjoyable posts and interviews xx
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Thanks for sharing, Jane ❤
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Pleasure xx
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Sally, I’m truly surprised by this. A dose of humility now and then is good for the soul. Thank you, my lovely friend ❤
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Just demonstrates how much you are loved in this community of ours Tina… ♥
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Pingback: Smorgasbord Invitation – Most Viewed Author Interview – Tina Frisco with a book reading. | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life | TINA FRISCO
Sally, a wonderful in depth interview with Tina! 😀 Tina, this is a terrific post and I feel I know you so much more through these incisive questions, wonderful dramatic extract from your book and the two fantastic reviews about your books. Your dinner guests are an eclectic mix and wow, you can just begin to imagine the conversation! What heartfelt three wishes…you shine with hope and love for humanity in all our lives…an inspiration. ❤️
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Thank you Annika.. and I hope you will participate in the new series.. https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/the-return-of-smorgasbord-open-house-interviews-for-all-writers-and-other-creative-artists/
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I really want to … just trying to sort the last with the book … thank you so much for the offer and I will get back to you. Xx
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Annika, thank you so much for your thoughtful comment. It’s a pleasure and blessing getting to know you ❤
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This is a fantastic interview with Tina, Sally. Her message of compassion and love is vital to the survival of our planet. Tina, I have Vampyrie on my to read list and your excerpt in this post has piqued my interest even more. ❤️
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Great and thank you Molly.. ♥
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Thank you so much, Molly. You’re a sweetheart for commenting on both sites and for wanting to read my book. Hugs ❤
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A treasure for sure! Thank you, ladies. XO
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Thanks Natalie.. ♥
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Thank you, lovely Natalie ❤
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A wonderful interview. Tina is quite amazing, her message consistent and strong and full of love. I love her wishes for the world and, yes, that would make an interesting dinner party! Lovely start to the new season of interviews, Sally.
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Thank you Diana.. hugs xx
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What a lovely comment, Diana. My heart to your heart, my friend ❤
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A wonderfully interesting post from two of my favourite bloggers. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you Cynthia..glad you enjoyed. hugs xx
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Thanks so much, Cynthia. Hope Myrtle is still soaring ❤
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Here’s to open hearts, gratitude, and compassion. Lovely post, Tina. ❤ Happy New Year, Tina and Sally!
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Thank you Sarah.. hugs xx
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