Kaykay at The Creative Forum nominated me for The HUG Award

Kaykay at The Creative Forum nominated me for The HUG Award©, which is so ... jeez, I don't have the right words. I'm touched. And not fully deserving.
The HUG Award© was initiated by Connie Wayne at A Hope for Today, which promotes hope, love, peace, equality, and unity for all people.
The HUG Award© is for people with an expectant desire for the world, for which they: Hope for Love; Hope for Freedom; Hope for Peace; Hope for Equality; Hope for Unity; Hope for Joy and Happiness; Hope for Compassion and Mercy; Hope for Faith; Hope for Wholeness and Wellness; Hope for Prosperity; Hope for Ecological Preservation; Hope for Oneness
This award also:
- recognizes and honors those who help keep hope alive in our current world, which is plagued by war, natural disasters, and economic recession. They nurture hope, in any of the above areas (in italics), by the work they do, or in their personal lives with things such as blogging, public speaking, charity work, etc.
- is for people who, without giving up or compromising their own religious, spiritual, or political beliefs, are able to nurture hope and respect the dignity of all people.
- is for those who, without bias or prejudice, use their resources and gifts to make the world a better place for everyone.
- is for people who have a hope or an expectant desire that the work or talents they use in things such as blogging, public speaking, charity work, etc., will make a positive impact on the world.
I normally don't participate in awards, but this one made me want to deserve the honor and hopefully earn it through more conscious acts. So thank you, Kaykay. Fairness and equality have been big issues for me since I was in fourth grade and met Mia, this beautiful soul who also happened to be mentally disabled. One day after a fire drill as we all waited under the hot South Pacific sun, peaceful and sweet Mia went up to a couple kids and tried to fight them. I saw a group of older girls laughing. I lost it because I knew they told her what to do. Even though I was far from popular and just entering my awkward unattractive pudgy kid phase, I stormed over to them and told them never to talk to my friend again. Years later I would have a son with autism. I think my life was designed to prepare me for the amazing challenge that is autism.
There are many deserving of this award (which isn't restricted to the blogging universe). Today I would like to acknowledge a person who made a huge difference in my son's life, as well as many other children's lives. Ms. Carol, as I still call her, was my son's para teacher for Kindergarten and first grade. She has this way of smiling that makes you feel like you just got a big hug. She gave my little guy not only her smiles and gentle voice, but friendship that continues today into the tail end of fifth grade.

Sidekick Saturday [11] Mysterious

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

This week's sidekick type is MYSTERIOUS!

My pick is Jack Deveaux from Poison Princess. Jack is your garden variety punk high schooler. So much so, it's a miracle he's even in school. With scarred knuckles and a constant stream of Cajun French flowing off his tongue, the kid has so many layers, author Kresley Cole drove me nuts with the slow reveal into his character. You know right off he's hot, he's crass, and he lusts after Evie. That's not a lot to go off. Here's a little exchange between Jack and Evie.
"How did you find me?"
"Not many black miniskirts escape my notice, cher." The Cajunland player. (Poison Princess, pg. 70)

Feature Follow [8] Bawling your eyes out!

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.
Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - This week's feature is: Book Sniffers Anonymous and Insightful Minds Reviews
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
Thanks so much for stopping by. There are fun kid quotes on the left, along with blurbs of my two Touched Girl novels. I follow a couple awesome memes, Think Out Loud and Sidekick Saturday. Join along, they're real neato. And follow me! I'll follow back, I promise.
Q: Tell us about the most emotional scene you’ve ever read in a book – and how did you react?
I try real hard to forget hardcore emotional reads. Charlotte's Web messed me up when I was a kid. The movie made it worse. I remember eating too much popcorn and being so upset I threw up all over my octopus (my favorite stuffed animal my mom made with yarn). Without the throwing up part because I quit movie theater popcorn after that, I had the same reaction to Bambi. Damn baby deer. Both my kids know I hate Bambi. Recently, I bawled my eyes out with Guitar Notes by Mary Amato. I fell in love Tripp Brody and whatever he felt, I felt. It was good crying though, so no need to sic the "forget spiders" on that read. How about you? Any books send you to the brink of therapy?

Think Out Loud [3] "That Girl is Pretty"

First crushes, a bright red convertible, and a woman's walk. Today's Think Out Loud is inspired by my 4 year old's immediate response to a woman crossing the street yesterday. I noticed her too, not because she was striking, although she was pretty, and not because she had some mysterious "it" factor. She exuded an arrogance I admired, the sort of air that said, "Look or don't, but you probably will." My son looked and said, "That girl is pretty." Not exactly a crush, but let me tell you, give him five minutes in her presence and he'd model his first five girlfriends after this woman. My mind wandered to my first crush. I was five years old. The man had a bright red convertible. Superficial thing I was. The car helped, but it was the confidence I responded to. The barely there smile. The tall shoulders and confident walk. In college, a guy once mentioned my walk. He'd just told me he spotted me from my walk. The way he said it turned me into a shy girl on the spot. I should have asked him to explain what he meant because we all have our walks. It changes with our ups and downs. Sexy, hurried, dejected, injured. I wonder now, what kind of walk do I have? Life's been kicking my ass something fierce and I fear I'm announcing that to every stranger who glances my way. I feel like practicing in my living room. My sons would copy me. Then we'd have a trio of raised chins and swaying hips, and I'd have two little guys on their way to therapy in a few years.

 

So that's my Think Out Loud. What's on your mind? Join Think's awesome meme. Chat, rant, or ramble about anything you want, maybe something that has nothing to do with books, authors, arcs, blogs, or rafflecopters.



Climbing Out of the Dark: robgirlbooks' Review of The Voice by Jennifer Anne Davis

The Voice
by Jennifer Anne Davis
288 pages
Published by Lands Atlantic Publishing (1/29/13)
I won this book (ebook version)
5 STARS

The summer before her senior year of high school, Audrey is snatched out of her home. She survives the humiliation, the psychological torture, and the rape with the help of a voice in her head. Guardian angel? Madness? Or the only soul to reach inside and keep her from floating away? The hell Audrey endured carries over to her new life, the one defined by pitying looks, overcrowding loved ones, and an inability to be touched. In a desperate move, her family sends her to live with her aunt in California. Now that she can be someone else, can she take control of her constant nightmares? Will she move past her observer role and act on her new and growing feelings for the boy next door? How will her affection for the voice in her head, the one who saved her, fit into reality? And finally, with the trial of her kidnapper and rapist looming, will she survive long enough to testify?

From page one, I was hooked. Audrey pulled me into her world of pain so thoroughly, I had to follow her to the other side. I needed to be there every step of her journey back to herself. And I'm glad for it because I met her awesome aunt, a high school teacher and a woman with a heart full of hurt. I fell in love with the twins next door, friendly Caleb and anti-social Justin. We only really meet one of her brothers, but he offered a glimpse into the life Audrey had before everything changed. Jennifer Anne Davis doesn't shy away from the terrible subject matter surrounding her main character. She gives evil a face, a name, and a smell. She makes him real, which makes what he did real. First time readers are lucky because they get to be hit with page one and feel the amazing pull of a compelling read.

I recently discovered how much I enjoy interviewing authors. I emailed Jennifer Anne Davis and asked her if she'd like to do a mini-interview with me. You know her answer. Yay!

I read in your bio that you started out with an essay, “Caution: Warning Label Not Included” in the anthology Manual for Motherhood. What motivated you to make the leap into YA fiction?
I love to read YA. I’m not sure when I first started writing, why I didn’t write YA. But after my contemporary adult manuscript was rejected numerous times by agents and publishers, I decided to write the type of book I wanted to read instead. I taught high school English and tutored teens for years, so making the transition was rather easy. Writing YA came naturally to me. And that’s how The Voice came to be!!

Was there a moment for you when you decided you had to do this, you had to be a writer and not just to create stories for your own enjoyment?
Yes!!! After the birth of my second child, I had this story stuck in my head. I swear I dreamed about these characters for over a year. I decided I had to write their story. I did, and the experience really taught me the act of writing more than anything. I tabled the manuscript and wrote something else that I thought would be more marketable. One day I hope to go back to that original story—the characters still haunt me sometimes so I think the story needs to be published. We’ll see!

What's a typical day for you?
Once I take my three kids to school, I come home and sit in my writing room and work. I write or edit all morning! Then I pick the kiddos up and do homework with them. After they’re all in bed, I spend the evening reading.

Will you venture back into tales of motherhood in your writing, or have you found a home in YA fiction?
I have found my home in YA fiction. I am currently working on a three book series. The first book is slated for release in the spring of 2014. While it’s still YA, it is a fantasy series. I like being able to write different genres, but staying in the YA sphere. I love creating and writing characters that are discovering themselves and learning to find their place in the world. It’s satisfying and fulfilling. I can’t imagine doing anything else.

I noticed your family included a wide range of pets, including a gecko...hmm. Is there a pet you absolutely vetoed, that your kids begged for, but you put your foot down?
YES. My kids, especially my five-year-old daughter, really want a snake. There is no way at all that a snake will enter my house. Period. The thought freaks me out. I swear, if my husband caves on this one, I will simply die. I can’t handle the THOUGHT of a snake in the house somewhere. Not that I’m particularly keen on the gecko or frogs, but at least they’re small and they stay in my son’s room.

You can learn more about The Voice and Jennifer Anne Davis HERE.

Sidekick Saturday [10] MAGICAL

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

Today's sidekick type is MAGICAL!
Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven chose Dobby from Harry Potter. Her son drew a picture and everything. I love Dobby. He's the oddest self-appointed guardian angel ever!
I took a different route.

My pick is Dorian from The Dark Swan Series. To quote Richelle Mead's website on Storm Born, Dorian is "...a seductive fairy king with a taste for bondage..." Come on! He has long auburn hair. He's a king, so guess how arrogant he is. He's from a land where sex happens right there at dinner parties. Not kidding. Case in point, "I do do it in here. I do it in there. Honestly, it doesn't matter. I like variety." Storm Born p.98

Tom Sorensen [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons



Feature Follow [7]

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.
Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - This week's feature is: Cherie Reads and author Shiloh Walker
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!
With the fade out of the google readers, I would love it if you considered following me through google+ or Network Blogs, but I'm happy with GFC too! If you get a chance, look around. There are fun kid quotes on the sidebar and a couple cool memes, Think Out Loud and Sidekick Saturdays. Thanks for stopping by!
This week's question is: What is your guilty pleasure as far as reading? Is it a genre, or is it a certain type of book?
Give me romance! Even in my mystery novels, my favorite books are the ones with more romance in them. When I was reading the Sookie Stackhouse series, a few of the books were light on heat. When I finished the read, I shook the book like shaking a person's shoulders, "You couldn't do it at least one time!?"

Think Out Loud [2] Book Suicide and Reality TV

Oh my goodness, today's Think Out Loud topic (though you can rant, chat, fangirl about anything) is right on track with what I wanted to talk about. Reality TV. My books are happy about my love for reality TV. They are. A chosen book sits down next to me with the remotes (yes, plural), with my laptop on the floor. No one gets left out. I can't handle competition shows where the judges are mean and I can't handle people getting drunk and wrecking their future with absolute stupidity. That narrows my window of shows dramatically. For daytime, I'm a huge Judge Judy fan. My boys scold her every time she says stupid and shut up. That's it for daytime. I have one guilty pleasure, Big Brother during the summer. I love it so much! When crazy Rachel was on, my youngest boy was hooked because the girl was just so animated...like a cartoon. The Amazing Race is the best reality show on TV. I missed one season and that was during my divorce (couldn't handle watching duos working together or fighting). And Monday The Voice returns! Yay! Seriously, I'm a huge fan. I email my mom and write, "Happy The Voice Day!" So nerdy, I know. But you know what happens after the show is over? I give my book attention. So no one is suicidal.

Think Out Loud is a cool meme brought to you by Think. This is your chance to veer off topic, to write about stuff you don't normally post on your blog, or stuff eating away at you, or something you just have to share. Go on, have some fun, then be sure to add your link HERE.

Finding Your Way With Music: robgirlbooks' Review of Guitar Notes by Mary Amato

Guitar Notes
by Mary Amato
314 pages
Publisher: EgmontUSA (7/24/12)
downloaded from the local library
5 STARS

Tripp Broody is not a bad kid. He's not even apathetic. He has simply allowed himself one love, his guitar. As a result, his mother decides he needs more in life and takes his love away. Lyla Marks lies nonstop, but not the way you're thinking. Lyla doesn't want to disappoint the people she cares about, so she pretends. She plasters on smiles and offers the right words. She plays her cello perfectly. Tripp always speaks the truth. Lyla can barely think it. The two have one thing in common, their lives are run by their parents, run right into alternating days in a music practice room. Through a series of notes these two struggling souls find their way in the midst of teenage drama.

I love this book! I loved it from page one when Tripp called his mother Termite! Tripp made me howl. The honest, sometimes retaliatory kid made me love him. Lyla's dark thoughts in all her perfectness drew me to her. I can't get over how well done Mary Amato portrayed teens, the topsy-turvy thoughts that go from morbid to guilt in a heartbeat. I loved the sarcasm, the hopeful innocence, the dreamer mentality. I loved the pain and the friendship. I loved the journey the parents travel. They aren't the villains; they are just adults with plans and ideas of their own. Somewhere in the span of raising their kids, they stopped listening to them. So easy to do, so hard to correct. This book is for anyone, preteen, teen, adult, even paranormal romance loving me. Goodness, I cannot forget the music! The music is so awesome, poetry woven into a wonderful story. I'll tell you how much I loved this book, I emailed author Mary Amato as soon as I finished the read and asked her if she'd like to answer a few question for this post. hehe! She said yes.

Mary Amato, author, song writer, singer, dancer, sky's the limit

Guitar Notes appears to be your first venture into YA. Is this the beginning of a trend? (please say yes!)

My next YA will be out in 2014 and the story will feature music, but in a different way.

Where did you find the confidence to start writing? You know, that final shove that hushed the whispering doubts that plague us all.

I believe strongly that intrinsic motivation is the real motivation that sustains and propels us through life, but I have to admit that two extrinsic motivators really helped. When I was in 8th grade, my poem was chosen to be on the cover of our little literary journal (mimeographed and stapled, which shows you how old I am); and when I was in college my poem was chosen to win the undergraduate award for poetry. Those two successes buoyed my spirits when the work was hard and the rejections came.

What advice do you have for budding writers?

Writing is so hard, and it takes an odd mix of being able to put everything you've got into a draft and then turning around the next day and literally throwing that draft away. Have patience and very thick skin.

Do you have any odd habits when it comes to your writing routine?

Yes. Many. Right now, I've set the wallpaper of my computer to be a photo of my main character (I found a photo of someone I think looks like her on the web). In the morning when I turn my computer on and she appears on my screen, I look into her eyes and say good morning, and I really mean it every morning. When I shut down for the next, I say goodbye to her. She feels so real to me, and yet I know she lives in that file on my computer and in my head.

You have a wide range of interests and talents. Where do these time consumers rank in your life?

Dark Chocolate (chocolate can be time consuming, I promise you)

Family

Writing

Blogging

Singing

Dancing

Song writing

Doing nothing at all

I am very bad at doing nothing. I do yoga when I watch TV. I dance when I'm writing (yes, I have sessions where I write standing up with music on and I dance while I'm actually typing). If I'm alone when I'm cooking, you will hear me singing my heart out.

And then family and chocolate are constants. Somehow everything melts together. Yesterday, on my way to watch my son's volleyball game, I had an epiphany about a missing scene in my new novel, and now I can't wait to write it.

Be sure to check out thrumsociety.com to listen to the music created in Guitar Notes. 
 

Sidekick Saturday [9] Irish

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

This week is the St. Patty's Day Edition

Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven chose the leprechaun from The Hollows. I was all ready to hit this weekend's Sidekick Saturday with gusto. Being locked up with a really sick kid motivates a girl. Then Jaclyn throws this at me! So I went to MSN and typed in Irish books. I hit up Amazon and Goodreads. You know what I found, a whole lot of mature reading with an Irish theme. Hmm. So I've decided I need to cheat. I only resort to cheating in extreme situations like my sister beating me in the pool (she's so fast I had to sabotage her).

I'm going to the movies. Deal with it.

Since I'm cheating, I'll offer two movie picks.

My number one "Irish-ish" choice is D-Bob played by Jon Favreau from Rudy. I'm a sports movie junkie. I really am and Favreau played the perfect sidekick to Sean Astin's intense "I have to play football for The Fighting Irish" personality. He was cocky and clumsy at the same time, super rich but lacking in the suave with the ladies department.

                                                
(By Edgar Meritano [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

My next sidekick is Marty O'Reilly played by the late Caroll O'Conner from Return to Me. This movie is the perfect combination of tearjerker and feel good. O'Conner plays the funny dad. And he's spot on. An Irish man running an Italian restaurant. What's not to love?

 Note: I could have picked actual leprechaun movies,
but those freak me out so much!
 

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Think Out Loud [1]

Apartment noise! So a bit ago my life took a dramatic left turn. I went from married with two houses, two cars, and two kids to divorced with one tiny apartment, one car, and two kids. The left turn has been hard, but nothing forces you to face the world like redesigning your place in it. That brings me to a new discovery, apartment noise. I LOVE IT! I feel cushioned by civilization. Even the booms from my neighbors' high definition fancy sound system blasting through my walls on the weekends make me smile. So here's to unexpected comforts. Your turn to think out loud. Write about something you don't usually talk about or post on your blog. If you participate in this cool meme, be sure to add your URL to the Linkylink.

Feature and Follow [6]

This is a weekly blog meme hosted by Parajunkee's View and Alison Can Read.
Here are the general rules to Follow Friday:
1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Follow our Featured Bloggers - This week's feature is: Bookaddict Bieke and Pinkindle
3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
5. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
7. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post!

This week's question is: ACTIVITY! Hopefully warm weather for most of us is here soon…so tell us about your favorite outdoor reading spot. Or take a picture.

As much as I love reading, when the weather is nice, I'm outdoors with my boys. We live in a shoebox apartment so when school is out, so are we. Take a look.

When I get a chance to read, it's on this little couch. I have to share with the toys and my 4yr old. And that's my pillow I have to steal back.

How about you? Where is your reading spot?

All future followers if you could follow through Google+ or through email subscription that would be super cool since I have no idea what's going to happen to GFC. Is it really going away? Here's a link about switching to Google + http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/10/how-survive-switch-google-reader-google/44069/.

While you're here, check out the kid quotes on the sidebar. And if you're interested in signing up for the Soul Bender Tour in April click on the button on the top left of the page. Happy blogging!

 



New Release! Soul Bender, A Touched Girl Novel

Yay! Soul Bender is finally here.

How much can a soul take before it breaks? Anna Pierce has a vampire boyfriend, a driver's license, real friends for the first time since she was five, and now she faces one of her biggest challenges, senior year at a mostly all girls Catholic high school. Sure, she's a member of the talking crowd now, but she'll never be like everyone else. How can she when the first of her kind has camped out in her dreams? Little dead girl Emily decides Anna's destiny can wait no longer. It's time for this generation's Touched Girl to hunt. Trained in a virtual dream landscape to destroy all in her path, Anna must choose between her destiny, the one beat into her on a nightly basis, and her legacy, the one instilled in her by her parents. Along the way, old enemies remain dutifully obsessed, new foes lurk in the shadows, and odd Little Duckie Anna Pierce sets out to be social.





Beginning April 15th, we will be celebrating the new release with a blog tour. Please stop by
JC's Book Haven to sign up.

Sidekick Saturday [8] NORTORIOUS

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

This week's sidekick type is NOTORIOUS!

Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven chose Vlad Tepesh from The Night Huntress Series by Jeaniene Frost. Now I really have to read this series because I just saw in her post that Vlad (AKA Dracula) has a couple stand alones in a new spinoff series.

My head was spinning on this sidekick type. Then Jaclyn offered the best suggestion, Bubba from the Sookie Stackhouse series. How I love the vampire world Charlaine Harris created. I must confess I'm a diehard fan of the early books, but my brain has shut off all knowledge that certain events have transpired in the later installments. So here's Bubba, a vamp with issues, and not the kind you may be thinking. Some people just can't let go and when you have the choice to sire Elvis Presley, you do it. You do it badly, you do it even though the guy needed to float off into the sexy superstar hall of fame in the sky. Bubba didn't turn out aces on the flip side of mortality. Nope. Bubba is a bit slow, really likes furry purry animals (not in a good way), and he's not so bad. Oh, and do not tell him who he looks like. Just don't do it!

Dreams

I once had a dream to be like Georgia O'Keeffe. I wanted to live in the desert and paint my days away. I imagined myself as the typical artist hippie, eating Tex Mex, falling in love with the electric skies, maybe even falling in love with another artist. I held onto this dream for years, then I graduated college and took a road trip from Vegas to Iowa. I saw the Grand Canyon (traumatized my mother for life when I stood too close to the edge). I saw Monument Valley. I got nose bleeds every day! That's right, nose bleeds and headaches. I was hot and sweaty and not at all hippie cute. The sunsets were pretty. That held true, but reality whisked my beautiful, romantic dream away.

I once had a dream that when the stick turned purple (i.e. I got pregnant), I'd be just like my mom. My mom was the happiest pregnant woman ever. Every picture had her smiling her big smile. Nothing slowed her down. Well, her doctor did tell her to get off the bicycle or else. And her water did break the day she played way too much tennis, but you get the idea. Guess what happened? I was the crankiest knocked up chick ever. Dream shattered.

 

I once had a dream I'd write all these books and hand them over to a person who would turn them into brilliant novels with breathtaking covers and captivating blurbs. Then I wrote my first query letter. And I received my first rejection. You know what happened? I learned how to be a writer and I'm still learning. I discovered the world of Twitter and blogs and Goodreads. I broke through my cyber-shyness.

 

If the dream is comfort, if it inspires languid sighs and dazed smiles, give yourself a pinch.

Sidekick Saturday [7] "FOREIGN"

Sidekick Saturday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Jaclyn at JC's Book Haven. There are many secondary characters that are as great as the primaries. In some cases, the sidekicks actually steal the show and you like them better than the heroine or hero. Maybe they didn't have enough page time for how great they were. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Choose a sidekick *or someone other than the hero or heroine* that you would like to put in the spotlight that fits in this week's type
• Share a picture and information about the character
• Give the title and author of a book the character can be found in
• Please don't include too many spoilers when describing why the character is such a great sidekick
• Put your link in the Linky thing and comment

This week's type is FOREIGN

Jaclyn from JC's Book Haven chose Vayl (or Vasil Brancoveanu) from the Jaz Park series by Jennifer Rardin. I haven't read any of the books, but uptight Vayl sounds entertaining (and hot).

Now for my pick!

I was tempted to play around with semantics and choose someone from another realm, that has to be foreign, right? Same goes with aliens, totally foreign. Then I thought of one of my favorite characters that truly deserves a book of his own, Asil from Patricia Briggs' Alpha & Omega series. Teak-tone skin. The appearance of Middle Eastern descent. Many centuries old. Werewolf. Gardener. Soulful widower with a broken spirit. And so much playful arrogance I loved him on the spot. Asil won me over the moment he gave Charles a hard time, Charles being the bogeyman to all shifters. He shamelessly flirted with Anna. He constantly baited Charles. He circumvented Bran's orders (Bran being top dog of all top dogs). He never stopped loving his wife. The man has an award winning rose garden, drinks tea, and is a complete sex god (the last part is me editorializing in a big way!).

 

On a side note, I always pose this challenge to my mom and sister. My mom jumped in right away with several suggestions. I knew her first pick before she said it. Rosie from the Sue Grafton Kinsey Millhone mystery novels. I love Rosie, Hungarian, bossy, secretively sweet and motherly. We didn't put a face to name, but think tall, large, pretty in that completely unapparent kind of way. My sister chose Mr. Bishop from Rachel Caine's Morganville series. We argued about this pick. Why? Because we're sisters. I suggested the stepdad from Shaun of the Dead to play Bishop. Then I couldn't remember Bishop's ethnicity. She chose...I forget (because her pick was so BAD). hehe

(By Kanaka's Paradise Life from Honolulu, Hawaii (Cropped from Naveen Andrews) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)