I finally won something bitches!!!

That's right! I won prize #1 in the Rennillia Summer Sweepstakes II, which was a lot of neat swag promoting  A Tangled Web, book two in M. Sembera's Rennillia series.

I won two magnets (the large and small red hearts in the bottom of the pic), three stickers, one bookmark, a pen (sorry, not shown. Already in use.), and my favorite, the personalized congrats on the back of a Rennillia series postcard. Love it! I will be hanging that on a board in my office-closet.

If you would like to learn more about M. Sembera (like what that M might stand for) or her Rennillia series about a girl escaping an abusive relationship, please go to the official Rennillia Series website or check out the Facebook fan page. 

Thank you again, M. Sembera! It feels good to be a winner. 

Damn good. 

:) 

Updates like a mofo

June:
First of all, review e-copies are now available of Souled Out, my new adult/16+ YA novel about a twenty-year-old soul-reader with a dangerous family secret that could get her killed by the vampires.

Mere seconds ago:
Secondly, I almost just over-cooked the clay baby in my oven. No, you're not having a psychotic break. It's exactly what it sounds like. You see, when I have a ton of things to get done, I often stop everything and zone out while making trivial shiitake. Yes, like clay babies. Which is the direct outcome of completely disregarding my inner voice that yells "Don't stop at Micheal's Arts & Crafts! The bank account wants to liiiiiive!" every time I drive by the store. (I will post some pics...when I'm not procrastinating.)

A few weeks ago:
I dropped my flipping Ipod in the driveway after five years of blissful non-breakage. The next day I sat on the porch with my daughter as she held it in disbelief and gave me the riot act for ruining her favorite toy. "You did it for purpose!" she accused over and over. (She's three.) "No, by accident." "For purpose!" "Accident."

We went back and forth like that for quite a while. She believes me now, and the fact that the fall only broke the screen and not the actual Ipod was my saving grace. But sometimes she still says, "Remember when you broke my Ipod?" I think I'll be hearing that for a long time. Or until I fix the screen.

Two months ago:
My family and I recently had the pleasure of spending a work vacation in Tennessee where my husband's ergonomic idea won FIRST PLACE by the judges as well as by conference attendees. I call this a SWEEPING VICTORY!!!!!! My daughter and I also loved exploring the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center where we stayed.

The perks, other than having the pleasure of saying "Gaylord" in a drawn-out British accent, were that it abounded with indoor waterfalls, quaint discoveries like Romeo & Juliet (the two fish that live in the waters shared by the indoor riverboat ride), fun facts -for example, the Gaylord is the largest non-casino hotel in the world- music history with backstage tours at the Ryman with a funny tour guide, and evening strolls in the many atriums.  We even found humor in a local waiter attempting to flip our cornbread in the air and catch it in a tiny skillet. He failed miserably. We shared a laugh while staring at the broken cornbread all over the dirty floor...until we realized we were super hungry and he didn't intend on bringing replacement bread. :( Otherwise, the only real downer in TN was the outrageous dining prices. Even a microscopic cup of mixed fruit was no less than six dollars!

Anyway, Tennessee, you were beautiful. My daughter can't wait to go back. She's already planning our trip for next year.

Priceless moments on the way home, besides my daughter's smiles and my husband's trophies?

-Sneak eating complimentary cookies in the bathroom of a ritzy hotel.

-Playing a Twenty Questions game we picked up at the craziest outside-dining only Chick-fil-A in the mountains. One card, particularly, will live on in infamy in our home. When the clues are read out of order, you're really left wondering if you're playing a game or if your partner is trying to confess.

Game Card: Instruct players that "I am a place." 

Clue #1:   I am in your house.
Clue #2:  You see me when you wake up.
Clue #3:  You spend a lot of time in me.
Clue #4:   I have all your special things.
Clue #5:  I'm a place you can bring your friends to play.
Clue #6:  You might share me with your brother or sister.
Clue #7:  You play inside me.
Clue #8:  You have to clean me. (Ya' think?)
Clue #9:  If you do something wrong, you might get sent to me.
Clue #10: I'm bigger than you are.

The official answer: "Your bedroom"
The answer I'm going with anyway: An imposing dominatrix I purchased with my allowance and shared with everyone. I've. Ever. Known.

Thank you again, Chick-fil-A. Are you sure the game card shouldn't have instructed players that "I'ma big whore?" Either way, good times on the ride home.

-And stopping by the Chocolate Monkey shop proved memorable as that's where I purchased my first ever chocolate Dolly Parton boobie-bust. I gave it to my dad as a thank you for taking care of the zoo-crew (a.k.a. furry home wreckers) while we were away.

Back to the present:
The clay baby is cooling nicely. The dog is acting like he's starving and just collapsed in the middle of the floor. Don't worry. He's always this over-dramatic, especially since we had his leg amputated on Valentine's Day. But that's a story for a different post.

The near future:
My daughter turns four next week. FOUR! I can't believe time has gone by so fast, but I'm also loving every minute of watching her grow into this wonderfully captivating person that is my absolute true love of all time. And yes, I do know exactly how lucky I am.

Have a great weekend!!! 

And if you need a lil male eye candy pick-me-up, check out my "Hot Damn" board at Pinterest. I have a photo of a shirtless Norman Reedus wearing a tiara. Other goodies lurk, too. ;)

Author Rachel E. Fisher is here!

Okay, I've got something good for you today. No, I mean GOOD.

I had the pleasure of asking Rachel Fisher, author of Eden's Root, how she came up with the concept for her young adult, apocalyptic story. Now, I realize a lot of readers can get bored with the answers to this type of question, but not this one. Let me tell you!

Rachel's biology background, personal battle, and love for writing leaves her more than qualified to write such a realistic and -dare I say- nail-biting account of a broken world that might all too soon become the fate of our own future.

I will turn over the blog to Rachel, now.
__________

Blakely, I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to discuss how I came up with the concept for my book, Eden's Root. I've been told by reviewers that it was very original and many have asked this exact question. I'd have to say that a lot of non-fictional things came together in my life at once and when they married what resulted was this fictional tale.

To be fair, I was always a voracious reader (particularly of ya and sci-fi) and I am a professional writer, though not creatively. I think I've been expressing myself through my keyboard for so long that when the story began to come to me, it just poured out. Of course, I've learned a LOT along the way. My writing keeps improving as I hone my craft. There are so many little things that you don't realize will affect the flow and tone of your story. But I've been fortunate to have really helpful, creative, people to give me the critical feedback that I need.

The main catalyst for this story was my (successful!) battle with ovarian cancer. I realize that this is not really an upbeat topic, but then, neither are apocalyptic tales. I was 32 when I was diagnosed and my world turned upside down. When I was young, my parents did not have bunches of thirtysomething friends who were ill. Yet I know two other women who've battled ovarian cancer in their twenties, a friend's sister with a cartilage cancer (she's 30), and I have three different friends with auto-immune disorders. And that's just my friends. When I add other family member's friends, and friends of friends, the list of healthy people is shorter than the list of sick people, and all of them are under 50 years old.

The question that kept haunting me was, "Why did I get sick? Why are so many people sick?" So I researched about food and health and my biology background really came into play. As a youngster I was always intent on becoming a college professor of Biology. I finished my major incollege in three semesters because I absorbed my classes like a sponge. Unfortunately as I neared completion of my Masters in Oceanography, I became disillusioned with the field of research and I quit. My interest in the job may have waned, but my interest in Biology never did, nor did my training as a researcher. All of my findings about food led to the inevitable conclusion that our food was neither safe nor nutritious. I started to become AFRAID to eat and that was when I got angry. Really, really angry. If there is anything that should be a human right, it's to eat a piece of food without worrying that it will break something inside of you irreparably. And yet, that was how I felt.

I never intended to write a story like this, or to write a novel at all. I considered writing a childhood interest, like my painting. Nothing to be taken too seriously. But then as my anger, my knowledge, and my love of science fiction all came together, this story began to flow and I couldn't stop it. I got about 100 pages into writing when I realized that Eden's Root was not the end, that it was the first in a trilogy. And I've been writing non-stop ever since. It has been somewhat healing to tell this story, though I still worry endlessly about the increases (I believe) in chronic disease in young people. I feel like I've found a way to express myself and all of the conflicting things that I feel, without jumping on a soapbox and berating people. If you love Fi like I love Fi, then you know that she wouldn't handle her anger that way. She wouldn't allow an angry heart to dictate her life and neither will I. I'm alive, I'm extremely blessed, and now, wonderfully, magically, I've found writing.

You might think that because the Eden's Root Trilogy is my "catharsis" with regards to my former disease, I wouldn't have interest in writing more...but you would be wrong. :) I have another story just waiting on the sidelines of my mind for me to finish with the Eden's Root Trilogy. I don't know what happened...it's like a faucet turned on in my brain and now I'm just trying to keep up as the water rises!

- Rachel

Rachel's Website
Amazon Eden's Root Paperback
Amazon Eden's Root E-book
Eden's Root on Goodreads.com
__________

Thank you, Rachel, for sharing a bit of Fi's story, and most importantly, your own. The best fiction is born from our darkest fears, greatest accomplishments, and that hidden place where they cohabitate.