Anything and Everything.

Another what makes me smile post. Sundays. Sundays are truly wonderful days in our house. First of all, I typically get to sleep in! Yeah! Then, lately at least, we've been having breakfast at home. Bacon, eggs, sausage, toast and coffee. But it's not the breakfast that makes me smile. It's the conversations at the table that warm my heart. Today was no exception. My hubs and I recalled memories from when our kids were younger and some of the funny things they said or did. They LOVE hearing these stories just as much as we love telling them. There were lots of laughs and giggles, and no one was in a hurry to leave. Breakfast was devoured without an issue (we have an anti-egg eater, but today, he ate up with a smile.) It was an awesome way to start our day. Then we all pitch in and clean the house, because to me, a clean house is happiness. Laundry is done, ironing finished (usually while watching NASCAR), and everyone is calm, cool and collected. Tonight we...

As I'm doing laundry, I take a good long look at the shirts I'm ironing for my boys.  Seven days worth of shirts and each shirt I'm taking the wrinkles out of, is one we made together. There are no brand names tops, there are no shirts with snazzy sayings. However, there are a lot of shirts we made together. In fact, this week, every top was homemade.  This makes me smile.  A $4 shirt from Michael's ($3, if you catch a sale), some fabric paint and a few hours together making memories.  When I look at the shirts, I can see the day clearly. The laughter and excitement on the boys faces as I bring out new shirts, and paints. We debate what they want (as I have to trace it out and my skills are not fantastic) and get to it.   Each shirt has a memory - whatever was important to them at that time in their life. Perhaps one day, instead of throwing away the shirts when they're outgrown, I can make them into a quilt or something.  But fo...

Now AVAILABLE   SMASHWORDS  -  KOBO  -   iTunes  -  Amazon PTSD sucks. Just ask nineteen year-old Aurora. She’s dealt with it for the past two years. Effing car crash. Resigned to live a mediocre life with her friends Percocet and Xanax, she's coped on her own. Terrified of stepping beyond her backyard, and broken and damaged, she doesn’t need anyone, anyways. Until she meets him. Shy but smoking hot, Nate Johnson has a mouth as smart as hers, and can handle every ounce of sass she dishes out. Immediately, he’s hooked by Aurora’s sarcastic wit. A man on a mission, he wants to help her over her fear of cars. He needs to, if he’s ever going to have her as part of his world – a passion he’s kept hidden from her. As he succeeds with the impossible goal, he finds he’s curing more than just her PTSD, he’s healing her heart. But when her fears collide with his passion, it drives Aurora away. From him. From them. From the best ...

Today has been one of those days where I wonder if I am succeeding or failing at life; at writing; at doing the housework, whatever you want to throw at me today. For writing, for me, I feel successful (mostly). People (strangers even) buy my books, read them and for the most part, rave about them. It makes me feel good to know something I wrote touched them in some way. Then I get into the many pitch contests, enter, hold my breath, and wait. In the end, nothing comes out of it. No agents knocking on my door, no offers of contracts, BUT I have usually made a new "friend" or two, and have some great solid writing advice to learn from. So is that a failure? Maybe, since I'm still holding out for a contract... lol, or would you say it's a success? Overall, I like to think of it as a success. It's getting my name out there, it's persevering to make each little 140 character pitch the best it can be, it's trying over and over again. Then I look at my ho...

To celebrate the season of love, I'm giving away free e-copies of  Run Away Charlotte  via Smashwords only. One 5Star review: it was amazing    · I started out giving this book 4 stars - but I was just lying to myself. It's been more than 36 hours since I finished the book, and I can't get it out of my head. The story, the characters, the emotions...I'm not even sure 5 stars is truly enough. I love books that send me on an emotional roller-coaster. It helps me get lost in the story, in the experience of the book, and take the break from reality I look for when I read. And H.M. Shander's "Run Away Charlotte" is one of those books! I laughed with them both. I cried with them both. I fell in love with them both. I hoped and wished and begged for a happy ending for them both. And, now I'll go read book two, Ask Me Again, with them both - because, like any true love...I'm just not ready to let them go yet! To read more reviews, see my Go...

I can't wait for the contests to start. I'm sitting on top of a polished manuscript Duly Noted and I absolutely love it - today at least. ;) It was born from an idea I had over the summer. The words started pouring out in September, and it was finished it near the end of November.  Edited it, re-worked it and sent it off to my  CP' s. Then edited, re-worked it some more and now I'm happy with it. My CP's are happy. My beta's are thrilled. My BFF loves it (and yes her opinion counts most of all... wink wink). Plus, she's brutally honest too. No sugar coating from her.  Anyways. So my baby is ready to venture out in the world. My pitches are ready.  I will update which (if any) get "likes" and from whom. Wish me luck. And if you see one you like on Twitter, RT it freely, but under no circumstances "like" it. Save that for the publishers. My pitches will be updated as the day goes on. Good luck to my fellow writers. ...

Yep... drove past a store this morning on my way to run some errands. Finishing up the important errands, I treated myself. LOL. Like a moth to a flame, I went in. And piled book after book into my basket. But they're not all for me, so it's all good right? Twenty-Five books purchased to be divided up as follows: 9 for my kid's school library (I'm familiar with what the kids read, and like) 10 for my kid's teacher personal classroom library 6 for my kids So, only 25% are for me. It's nice that with 75% of today's purchases, I'm spreading the love of reading. And my children's TBR list is growing. :) Thank goodness, they get time every single day to unwind and read. A habit I hope they continue for a lifetime.