Taylor Lee

U.S.A Bestselling Author

Treasured Reader

Treasured Team Featured Reader – Jane M.

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I’m thrilled to introduce Jane Moore, one of my Treasured Team Featured Readers.  Jane is one of the reasons I created the Featured Reader.  I wanted to let others get to know my terrific readers. And believe me, after you read Jane’s letter, you will marvel at her story and her!  I mean, c’mon, I never knew another “mature” woman who took up pole-dancing (except me, which I did when I turned 70.)

 

I asked Jane about her unusual email address which refers to “quilting’.  She included a P.S. to her letter describing her passion for quilting.  She said that I could cut it if it was too long.  After reading the P.S. –and had to brush at my tears, I decided I couldn’t cut a word.  Read it and prepare to be impressed.  I sure am, and am honored that Jane is one of my Featured Readers. What a glorious gift she is!

 

 

Dear Taylor:

I don’t know about all of you but I think we live in the most wonderful of times.  I am a 62 year old woman.  I embrace all the changes that life has to offer and let the changes energize me.

I have seen people much younger than myself grow old and curse the computer age we now live in.   I disagree with them!   Especially when it comes to our digital libraries now.  I’m not saying that I didn’t love the old libraries and their ambiance, but somehow life just got so busy that to find time to sit with a book was rare.  But an app on my phone lets me read while I wait in the dentist office, in checkout lines, while hubby is driving!  He loves that I read now and I don’t “help him drive” by telling him about speed limits or stop signs coming up.  We have been married 30 years and he is truly the wind beneath my wings.  He encourages me in all my endeavors. I love him dearly.

I’ve worked as a nurse in the early years and then changed career directions to clerical/computer work as time went on.  I have enjoyed working in the health field, as well as being part of the support staff for law enforcement and county government positions in two states.   Although I’ve never been lucky enough to know any one person like the characters Taylor Lee writes about, I can say that I have seen the similar qualities scattered throughout the different people in the departments I have worked with.  There are good people out there for sure !

I read to keep young and inspired. For the past twenty five years I started taking on a new hobby or interest every year.  The children are grown and a thousand miles away so I had the time to really explore different things.   One year it was gourmet cooking, the next oil painting, the next piano lessons, aerial yoga, quilt making, etc.  And one crazy year after seeing it on the daytime talk shows, I tried Pole Dancing …LOL. If Martha could do it, so could I. I think it was in 2013 or 2014, after reading Taylor Lee’s Grandmaster’s Legacy collection, that I even took up Tae Kwon Do.  LOL.  In my fifties I earned five belts!   It was indeed a workout, but so healthy and I just had to get a taste of martial arts.

I was lucky to come across Taylor Lee’s writing shortly after getting my first kindle.  She has been one of my favorite authors ever since.  She captures the missing elements so many other authors miss.  OMG the full pictures Taylor’s words paint.   They catch all of our senses.  I love that the characters are smart, strong, and fighting evil.  I think they inspire us to be better citizens.   I also like that Taylor’s stories often improve my vocabulary and knowledge of famous brands. I often look up the words or items to learn more.  But I cannot leave out the tall dark handsome strong men that Taylor writes about. Those men who know what their women want!

 

I would love you to send my daughter The Grandmaster’s Legacy Collection.   My daughter is brave, passionate, talented and fearless.  She encourages me when I try things like TKD.  I know she would love The Grandmaster’s — if she ever gets time to read it lol.  The Grandmaster’s Legacy is one of Taylor’s first and most inspiring sets.  I go to The Grandmaster’s Legacy even now.  I re-read the stories when I’ve had a year of reading other authors’ works and need to ‘cleanse my pallet’ and refresh.  There’s great work out there but also a lot of repetition and some pretty poor attempts that don’t come close to the full bodied work that Taylor Lee does.

 

Well that’s about it for the About Me of Jane M.

 

P.S  About my Quilting—Thank you for asking. I get excited sharing my joy!

 

When my dad died I was 23.  I had kept a flannel shirt of his and would wear it when I was missing him and needed comfort or strength.  Well it got me through some pretty rough times…..  but after my life settled down .. after all the stress from a divorce, raising two children, moving, jobs, and all that life throws at you to ‘build character’ …  I found the shirt in the bottom dresser drawer one day and realized how worn it had gotten and all the comfort it gave me.   I also realized how long it had been since I had even put it on!  I was happy and content.  My children grown and a wonderful husband who shares my life.  So I found myself wondering what to do to preserve the shirt and what it represents when suddenly a Quilting show popped up on the TV.  God bless public television. I made a quilt using pieces of the shirt!  I started doing that same thing for friends when they were grieving from loved ones passing. For a friends husband,  I made three quilted throws from his mothers shirt using her shirt for the cross.  Here is one pic.   Quilting is about love for sure. You can feel the energy in the quilts lol.

 

Another quilt that gave comfort to a friend was when I took a photo they treasured of a great day at the lake with a son who had passed away suddenly a few weeks later. Again I saw a show with a technique to try.   I realized if you turn a color photo to grayscale…black and white…. and enlarge it .. it becomes just squares of different tones or shades.  If you Look at fabric through a red lens, you are seeing tones not colors.  Make a photo quilt!

 

So I tried it.  It’s not perfect and you have to stand far away but it worked!

 

If you stand back you see the photo but on your lap it’s just a quilt of different colored squares.  I laugh a bit because when I gave him the quilt, my coworker said the usual thank you, but standing just a few feet away he never saw the picture.   He said me to hold onto the quilt till the end of the day.  A little sad that he didn’t love it, I took it inside and was holding it up at the end of the hall showing it to someone …when he came around the corner at the far end of the hall.  I heard him gasp and say ‘ that’s my son !’  I will remember his cracked voice forever.  He loves the quilt.

 

So for ten years I actually started a Quilting/craft business in my spare time… after a 40 hour workweek. I closed the LLC last year because I just want to quilt for the love of it.  Money is not my motivation. Besides I donated more quilts than I ever sold lol. I’ve donated quilts to hospice and for raffles at benefit auctions. One even sold at the Relay for Life auction and is displayed in the Cancer Center of the local hospital. I really love to hand one to a friend in need of a hug, and to let them feel the love when they wrap it around themselves.

 

Best always.

 

Jane

 

Note: All Treasured Team members are eligible to become a Featured Reader.  Tell us about yourself and what you love about reading.  I will send your favorite Taylor Lee Book or Series to anyone you choose.  And because I Treasure you, all Featured Readers will receive a $25 gift certificate!

Treasured Reader – Jo Driscoll

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I am thrilled to introduce another of my Treasured Readers: Jo Driscoll

 

Jo Driscoll has a special place in my heart.  Why?  Because she has my back.  Not only does she read and review my books, she sends me corrections!  Yep, even though my editor and I do five “edits”, we still miss errors.  But I don’t have to worry because Jo catches them!

 

I was glowing when I read Jo’s letter. I often hear that “older” women don’t like HOT romance.  Mmm, I couldn’t disagree more. I’m 73 years old and obviously like hot, sexy books or I wouldn’t write them.  Jo’s letter was incredibly reinforcing of my view that sexy women age well.  She not only has a bunch of kids and grandchildren but also has great-grandchildren!  And, most important, she starts her letter with the statement: “First of all, I am married to the love of my life.”  Ah, yes. Is it any surprise that she likes my books?  Believe me, I love her and can understand why her husband does. He’s a lucky man!

 

To say that my Featured Readers make my heart sing is an understatement. Connecting with Rita, Lexee, Debbie, and now Jo and my other Treasured Readers on a personal level allows us to acknowledge the special author/reader relationship we have. It’s like personally meeting a long lost friend. A glorious gift for us both!

 

Dear Taylor:

I’m delighted to be one of your featured readers.  Here is a little bit about me:

First of all, I am married to the love of my life. We have 6 children, 14 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren.  We don’t have any pets because my husband and I love to travel too much.  I am a retired registered nurse and finished up my career in Healthcare Information Technology.

I love to read, sew, create jewelry, travel, take photography, and spend time with my family.  My passion is spending time with my husband and appreciating the time we have together.  Life is short and you never know what tomorrow will bring.  We have both made a commitment to treasure our time together.  Fortunately, we are each other’s best friend.  Our passion together is traveling.  In fact we just returned from Hawaii.

My husband and I are both avid readers. We sometimes have a “reading night”.  The TV is off and we’re sitting side by side in our comfy chairs reading.  Reading causes my brain to be involved which keeps it stimulated to a certain extent.  Sometimes reading is escaping to another world. It assists my brain in slowing down when time for bed.

I read as a kid.  My favorite books were the Nancy Drew series. I don’t remember reading when I was very young but I know my parents read to me because there were a couple of old children’s books around our house.  I don’t remember what the name of the books were though.

I prefer to read fiction (my husband reads both fiction and non-fiction).  I like romance stories with an HEA and the story lines where good triumphs over evil.  I like romance with strong Alpha males who have feisty Alpha females and I prefer a romance with “heat”. I like a complex plot that touches organizations such as a branch of the armed forces, police, FBI, etc. I also like to read books about heroes who belong to motorcycle gangs provided the gang is one that does good and not evil (see the theme here – alpha males). I like a story line that has twists and turns and keeps me guessing throughout the story. These type plots keep my brain engaged. I do not like to read a cliff hanger book. If I know it ends in a cliff hanger I will pass over the book and not read it.

I love Taylor’s books because they contain the elements I like in my stories.  Frequently I don’t want the story to end.  As a result, I love when there is a series where the characters live on in the subsequent books because I feel that their story is continuing on. In every book Taylor has me expanding my vocabulary because she will use a word I’m not familiar with. I will look the word up for its definition and my vocabulary is expanded.

My favorite series are the “Justice Brothers Series”, “Ladies of the Night”, “Criminal Affairs Collection” and “Red Rock” series. (I could not pick just one.) I would like to introduce my daughter in law to your books and you as an author.  She and I have similar interests and I know she would enjoy your story lines.  I would like her to read the Criminal Affairs Collection.

 

Thank you for honoring me by asking me to share this information.

 

Jo Driscoll

Note: All Treasured Team members are eligible to become a Featured Reader.  Tell us about yourself and what you love about reading.  I will send your favorite Taylor Lee Book or Series to anyone you choose.  And because I Treasure you, all Featured Readers will receive a $25 gift certificate!