Grateful for Thanksgiving + Contest

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

My name is Tara Fox Hall, and I write in several genres, including non-fiction. The below short story was written this morning, in the spirit of giving thanks. Have a wonderful holiday season.  – Tara Fox

GRATEFUL

This Thanksgiving morning, I was awakened by the plaintive meow of my cat Jessica at 4am, loudly complaining that the woodfire had burned down and needed refilling. Jessica loves heat in all forms. She even possesses several plush heated beds. Yet the heat from the woodstove in winter remains one of the great joys of her life.

Dutifully, I got out of my warm bed, refilled the woodstove with several logs, patted Jessica on the head, and went back to bed. Then I lay there awake until I grabbed my laptop and began typing, haunted by the knowledge that the “cat alarm” I have had the last 14 years will soon cease. For Jessica will likely never see another Thanksgiving; she was diagnosed just this week with an aggressive cancer, and our remaining time together is limited.

Like so many of us, I usually rush through daily life at full speed, losing days and sometimes weeks to the madness of my list of “action items” and “to-do lists.” And then there are moments like these, where that frantic yet unmeaningful race becomes the background noise that in truth it always was, letting you know what you truly value and what’s unimportant. Jessica is important to me; and making whatever time she las left enjoyable for her is a priority. I will miss my little screaming alarm clock, my writing partner, my purring friend who made all the sick days of my working career more fun by her constant prescence at my side. This tiny 7lb black and white cat will leave a huge gaping hole in my life when she leaves.

I anticipate a lot more 4 am early mornings this winter season. The new difference is that I will be grateful to hear Jessica’s call to get up from now on, until the last day it sounds.

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Breaths-Tales-Hope-Inspiration-ebook/dp/B00N8B1C50/

RAFFLECOPTER CONTEST (win a cat bed or other prizes!) : https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/625485ee13/

Blurb: Tara Fox Hall’s writing career began in the pages of a small print magazine, Catnip Blossoms!, that a friend, Harald Moore, put out to promote his catnip farm in Johnsonville, New York. One short non-fiction article followed another, detailing her adventures saving wildlife, her experiences living on an acreage, and more than a few humorous recountings detailing the antics of her wacky pets. Written to delight, fascinate, and move readers, her simple but enchanting stories of country life quickly found a following. Tara kept publishing stories for the next five years, even as the name of the magazine changed to Meanwhile, and then to On The River, when the catnip farm went out of business, and Harald moved with his family to a new home near a river. These previously published stories are collected here for the first time with new added content, in the hopes of bringing a little more hope and inspiration into everyday life.

Bio: Tara Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, erotica, horror, suspense, action-adventure, children’s stories, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal fantasy Lash series and the paranormal romantic drama Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and target practice. All of her published children’s stories to date are free reads on www.childrens-stories.net.

 

Author Links:

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TaraFH

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/tara-fox-hall

Melange Books: http://www.melange-books.com/authors/tarafoxhall/index.html

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Fox-Hall/e/B005YPAA4W/

Website: www.tarafoxhall.com

Email: tarafoxhallATgmail.com

 

Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall/blog

 

Facebook Page:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Fox-Hall/151813374904903

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TerrorFoxHall

 

 Backlist: 

Promise Me Series:

Promise Me (Promise Me Series #1)

Broken Promise (Promise Me Series #2)

Taken in the Night (Promise Me Series #3)

Taken for His Own (Promise Me Series #4)

Promise Me Anthology (Promise Me Series #4.5)

Immortal Confessions (Promise Me Series #5)

Her Secret (Promise Me Series #6)

Point of No Return (Promise Me Series #7)

Lost Paradise (Promise Me Series #8)

Dark Solace (Promise Me Series #9)

Coming Soon – Eye of the Storm (Promise Me Series #10)

 

Shorts and Novellas:

Surrender to Me

Return To Me

The Chalet

Stalking You

 

Anthologies:

Just Shadows

The Tightening Spiral

Latham’s Landing Anthology

 

Lash Series:

Lash (Lash Series Book #1)

Shadow Man (Lash Series Book #2)

War (Lash Series Book #3)

Revenge (Lash Series Book #4)

“Spiritwalker” from Shifters anthology

 

Joint Anthologies/Novellas

Make Me Behave — With Nancy Pirri

Bedtime Shadows — With Jenny Twist

Snake Eyes — With Paul Deadeye Dick

Forbidden Conversations — with Eric Dietrich

 

Grow a Pair Series

Grow A Pair (Grow a Pair #1)

Man Up (Grow a Pair #2)