Why I have Chandelier Envy

First off, I must explain that I live in Arizona. It’s a desert. For anyone who might not already know this, Arizona has two seasons, warm and boiling. I am a firm believer that when the bible speaks of sending people to a burning hell, it is in fact alluding to the fact that the bad people of this world will eventually be sent to Arizona in the summer with no air conditioning!!

You get the point.

So the other day I was sitting at my counter, sweating despite the fact that the overhead fan was working its little fan guts out to give me some relief when I was struck by a question. How many fans do I have in my house? Out of curiosity or a total inability to stay focused on what I was writing, I took a little stroll through the house and counted fans. Twenty. I counted twenty fans currently being used on a daily basis. I started realizing there were big ones overhead and small ones on tables.  High one and low ones, white ones and red ones. It was like a bad Dr. Suess fan story.  I was embarrassed to discover that I had three, count them three fans in the bathroom because there is nothing worse than your makeup melting off as you’re putting it on (true story). 

I even have a overhead fan in the bedroom I’ve given the name Bob, which isn’t that weird considering I name frogs that we find in the pool Bob. However, Bob, in this case stands for B-BIG O-OLD B-BLOWER because Bob is the biggest size fan you can buy (70 inch blade!!). BOB ROCKS, but it is a little awkward when my husband asks me to turn on Bob just before we lay down to go to bed, mostly because I’m not that kind of girl!

So after counting all my fans, and sweating as I did so, I had a terrifying thought. I’m doomed to having fans as light fixtures for the rest of my life. Some of you might say, so what. Some of you that are practical like my husband would take function over beauty any day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for my little spinning friends, but just once I would love to look up and see a chandelier dangling down sending little shards of light this way and that- Or I’d take a big old sixties style bamboo light casting a soft glow on my kitchen table. I’d even be thrilled with an old meter lamp like my dad used to have next to the bedside. Anything fun and funky, because for some reason lighting is my thing and while IKEA may provide me with choices my hot climate does not. Do I appreciate my fans, I do, but now you know why I dream of chandelier’s I’ll never have. The question I leave you with is what quirky thing you live with in your house and what do dream of changing?

Ten Things An Olympian Might Be Thinking About Just Before They Compete

Now before I go any further, I have to be clear about one thing. I think anyone who makes it to the Olympics is a rock star , a true champion and competitor and I both respect and envy them.  However, tonight, I had a little fun writing my post. So here it is.

Ten Things An Olympian Might Be Thinking About Just Before They Compete.

1.     A swimmer- Look at my body, I work out…I’m sexy and I know it.

2.     A gymnast-  I wonder if they can see my sparkle hairspray in the nosebleed section?

3.     A discus thrower-  Oh no, I feel a sneeze coming on.

4.     A badminton player-  See, I told you badminton was a real sport.

5.     A rowing captain- Row, Row, Row, your boat, “Why can’t I get that *&$^# song out of my head?

6.     A ping-pong player- Forrest Gump would be so proud.

7.     A Golf player- I hope I don’t hit a bird with my ball again, those nature freaks got so upset last time.

8.     A Javelin thrower- Waiting for my event to start makes me so mad that I just want to throw something!

9.     Hammer dude- I hope they don’t figure out that I’m really Thor, that would really blow my cover

AND FINALLY,

10.                A Soccer player- I wonder if they can fit the whole team on the front of the Wheaties Box. I want to be in the front?

Seven Questions I often Ponder After Family Reunions.

For the last seven days, my family and me have been staying in a cabin with my extended family.  The cabin was nestled on a lush pine covered mountainside above Sundance Ski Resort in Utah. This little piece of paradise is called Aspen Grove and every four years my entire family makes the trek to Utah to spend the week together. Now that the week is over (which was AWSOME BY THE WAY) here are seven questions I’ve been thinking about. See if your family reunions leave you asking the same questionsJ

1.     How can twenty-five people have fourteen conversations at the same time in the same room and most of all, HOW CAN ANYONE HEAR ANYTHING?

2.     Why is it that you’re still not fond of that distant relative that you weren’t fond of last family reunion?

3.     Is it possible that your family is less weird than you remember, or do you just fit in with their weirdness better than before?

4.     Why is it that every time you share the bathroom with twenty-five other people, you find yourself in a sleep-deprived stupor putting on someone else’s pants? True story by the wayJ

5.     WHERE DID ALL THE CHILDREN COME FROM? Seriously!

6.     Why is it that the towel, you have been using to bath is wet, before you go to take a shower and yet all the children are running around freshly bathed, yeah, ewhh!

7.     Why after one week of nonstop noisy, sleepless, chaotic time together do you still feel a tightening in your throat and tears welling in up in your eyes when you say goodbye? I guess that is just family reunions!

July Blog Tour!!!!!!

SHACKLED has been out for an entire month now! We had a great kick off tour in June and have already sent signed copies of Shackled to our June winners. 
Above you can see the one minute book trailer with custom music.  

Reviews are coming in. Check those out on goodreads. Hint, hint, 4.25 average stars:)http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13629012-shackled.

Now it is time to really rev it up with a second blog tour! Whahoo! This time around there will be interviews, giveaways, personal posts and an exciting announcement about Shackled.....I've posted the schedule below and I promise, if you don't already love these bloggers, you will be impressed.  I look forward to sharing more with you about this powerful story.  Happy blog hopping and good luck on the giveaways:)

Shackled Blog Tour Schedule

 Monday July 9^th-

http://alisbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/

 Tuesday July 10

http://wrathsqueensbooks.blogspot.com/

 http://www.autumnreview.com/

Wednesday July 11^th

http://www.lettersinsideout.net/

 Thursday July 12^th

 Take break and come back tomorrow:)

Friday July 13^th

http://www.totalbookaholic.com/

 Saturday July 14^th

http://bookvacations.wordpress.com/

Monday July 16^th

http://www.thesweetbookshelf.com/

Tuesday July 17^th

http://alifeboundbybooks.blogspot.com/

Bookshelf Confessions: Blog Tour (Interview+ Giveaway): Shackled by Angela Carling

Bookshelf Confessions: Blog Tour (Interview+ Giveaway): Shackled by Angela Carling

THE KICK OFF BLOG TOUR FOR SHACKLED!

It is here!!!!What you ask? The Kick Off Blog Tour for my second book, Shackled!!! You know what that means..lots of opportunities to learn more about this powerful story and chances to win copies of the book!! The tour starts Wednesday, June 20th, 2012  Four amazing bloggers will participate this week and in July, there  will be another full week of stops and giveaways! So, without further delay, Here they are, the four amazing stops.

 June 20, 2012- Damaris Cardinali http://www.goodchoicereading.com/

 

June 21 2012- Avery Olive http://averyolive.blogspot.com/

 

June 22, 2012 Abby http://bookshelfconfessions.blogspot.com/

 

June 23 Kara Squire http://epicbooknerd.blogspot.com/

Why I Dedicated Shackled to my Sister

My Sister-->

Shackled, my second book was recently released… available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Acacia publishing.  Check it out here!! http://tinyurl.com/85j3e4h http://tinyurl.com/7pvkhjb

I’m very excited about this book, but today I don’t want to talk about the plot or characters. I want to write about the "why" of this book and I can start with the dedication. 

The dedication reads: To my sister who was brave enough to throw off her abusers Shackles and make a better life for herself.

I chose this dedication because, like many kind and loving women, in her late teens, my sister found herself in an extremely abusive relationship. As with most abusers, her boyfriend hid his sick, controlling behavior until she was already invested in the relationship, pregnant with his son.  Unfortunately, he was only passing on what had been taught by own abusive father and alcoholic mother.

She once told me that while she was pregnant with her abusers son, he had her lay on the kitchen floor defenseless. He then beat her so badly that the chair broke over her chest.  She had several broken ribs among other things. Amazingly, her son survived and although the physical scars healed, her self-esteem was pulverized.  I visited several times while she lived with this idiot. ( I didn’t know he was hurting her or I would  have hauled her out of there myself). Once she got a job, her self-esteem began to recover and she began to see a way out. Finally, with my Dad’s help, my sister was able to get away and get a restraining order against her boyfriend.  Why did I dedicate the book to my sister? I did it because she broke the powerful chains of an abusive relationship, and in my eyes, that makes her a superhero. That being said, my greatest hope is that we, as ladies, are wise and educated and never fall victim to the cowardly behavior of an abuser. Instead, I hope you find a boy like Mason (a deliciously hot and oh so caring boy from Shackled), and that we don’t give those abuser boys power over us ever, ever, ever again! Thanks for stopping by!