4 days – 4 books in honor of Lt. Michael Murphy, fallen USN SEAL

On June 28, 2005 our nation suffered a great loss, as Operation Red Wing took 11 Navy SEALs and 8 Army Night Stalkers from us.  Many of you may have heard of the one remaining survivor and US Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell who penned the book Lone Survivor giving his account of what he and his team went through during the ordeal, however just recently more people have become aware of Lt. Michael Murphy who led the SEAL team that day in an effort to  kill or capture Ahmad Shah, a Taliban leader.  Lt. Murphy, known by some as "Murph" is being remembered in a book by Gary Williams, SEAL of Honor and more recently was honored by having the newest Naval Destroyer, USS Michael Murphy DDG 112 named after him.  Lt. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and above and beyond the call of duty.  While the memory of Lt. Murphy will live on in his family, friends and team members, he serves as a reminder to many of us that our U.S. Military puts their country before self and are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms and liberties.

With that being said, there is an annual fundraiser known as Memorial Day Murph and this year marks the 2^nd annual event. The workout which is dubbed "Murph" was originally called  "Body Armor" and was said to be Lt. Murphy's favorite workout.  The workout consists of (in this order): 1 mile Run, 100 Pull-ups, 200 Push-ups, 300 Squats, and lastly 1 mile Run with body armor.  There are four organizations which will benefit from this fundraiser.  They are:

LT Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation

Lone Survivor Foundation

The Wounded Warrior Project

That Others May Live Foundation

Now, to my purpose behind this entry...For those of you who know my writing, you are aware that I have written four books about Navy SEALs, which I refer to as my Sweet Awakenings Series. And for those of you who follow me on Twitter and Facebook you also known that I am a proud military supporter and feel strongly about supporting our troops and veterans in any way that we can. Therefore, May 24, 2012 through May 27, 2012 (4 days) 100% of my author royalties of any of my SEAL eBooks purchased directly from my publisher's site (links provided below) as well as any SEAL paper back's purchased from Barnes & Noble or Amazon (links provided below) will be donated to Memorial Day Murph. I will have the transactions monitored by a 3rd party so we can all be assured that the funds are being handled appropriately.  Please see special instructions below for paperback purchases.

  

• On paperback purchases I will need you to email me a copy of your receipts to: nicolemorganauthor@gmail.com as those do not update in real time and I may not get those sales numbers for as much as 30 days.

Click on each corresponding book cover

for purchase links in ALL format options

     

   

I hope to see many sales during these four days so the donation amount is substantial.  Thank you all for taking the time to read this and stop by. And remember, whenever you have the opportunity express your gratitude to our Armed Forces for their continued sacrifice. 

If you are not interested in purchasing one of my books, but would still love to support the cause behind Memorial Day Murph, please click on the image below and go to the Memorial Day Murph website and register or donate.

Also, Forged Clothing has designed an awesome shirt for this year’s event.

*Also available in Charcoal color

Bete Noire Just Released

Good morning,
I have great news to share. My latest erotic menage romance Bete Norie was released today.

Diana was satisified with her life until the nightmares began. Dane and Sloan confuse her with their story of the mythical Minotaur and their connection to the beast. She acknowledges that they are the perfect combination for her. Now she needs to accept that she can satisfy them both on a permanent basis.

You can read a general and adult excerpt and order your download copy at http://www.sirenpublishing.com/.
For more information, you can go to http://www.louisaneil.com/.

I hope everyone has a great weekend, Louisa Neil

Wednesday's Words for May 23, 2012

This past weekend was our first long weekend of the summer here in Ontario. On the Monday before the 24th of May each year, we commemorate the official birthday of Queen Victoria, who reigned Great Britain and the Commonwealth (of which Canada is still a part) from 1837 to 1901.

When I was a kid, “Victoria Day” was the only time when we got to enjoy large firework displays. I guess because we had yet to embrace our own unique nationalism, this was our big national holiday. Our National Flag at the time was the Canadian Red Ensign with the Union Jack, the flag of Great Britain, very prominent in the upper right corner, and one of our two national anthems was God Save the Queen.

Years later, when I became a young married woman, after the great flag debate and the adoption of our current flag and the repatriation of our Constitution, a shift in attitudes began. Some communities decided to move the date of their fireworks from May 24th to July 1, which is Canada Day. Also at that time, we began to refer to the weekend as May 2/4. Yes, you’d be right if you guessed that moniker refers to what we call a case of 24 bottles of beer up here.

Victoria Day is similar to your Memorial Day in the U.S., in that we consider it the unofficial beginning of our summer. Although our Elementary and High Schools here don’t let out until about the 25th of June, this weekend marks the beginning of a new season—more than spring, less than full on summer.

Mostly, in my neck of the woods and in my experience, this weekend was considered the beginning of planting season. I can recall that many Victoria Day weekends found us out planting the veggie and flower gardens.

My mother had a large vegetable garden, easily a quarter of a block long and 30 feet wide. We lived in a rural area, and the farmer from down the road would bring his tractor each spring and plough, and then disc it for her. She also had a large square flower bed at the front of the house, and round ones that surrounded the flowering crab apple trees we’d given her one Mother’s Day.

Then, when my children were young, this weekend became remarkable in that we always took them to the park, where there were carnival games and rides, and fireworks. Many a time, we had to bring blankets to snuggle them under, because sometimes Mother Nature liked to make the temperature dip close to freezing. I shivered through many an evening but counted it as good, because the kids always had such a great time.

I’m older now, and not necessarily missing either those shivery pyrotechnics or those half-inebriated get-togethers. This year, once again, I’m content to just enjoy the weather and the activities of others from a distance.

Just a couple weeks ago, the woman who owned the house across from us on the north-east corner of our intersection (we live on the north-west corner) moved across the side street to the south-east corner, leaving her grown son and his girlfriend in her former residence.

On Saturday, the younger ones began make the place their own as they set out to take down the 40 foot tall pine tree next to their house. My husband and I watched, wondering if this was one of those moments when we should have our video camera in hand, while simultaneously looking up the submission instructions for America’s Funniest Videos. Fortunately, the young men managed to bring the tree down in stages without any injuries or accidents.

We left the house about the time they were breaking out another 24, on our way to the grocery store. It was then I noticed the truck they used to pile some of the tree limbs in, a truck that bore the logo of a local tree service. I made a note of the name. Since the young men went about their task without any PPE – not a hard hat, work boot or pair of safety glasses had been in sight – I decided these were not the people to call in the future, should the need arise.

My DH and I just looked at each other, shaking our heads. We didn’t have to voice the opinion which I knew we both shared. Once more we’d been given proof that God does indeed look after drunks and fools.

Love,
Morgan
http://www.morganashbury.com
http://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury