Birthdays and Milestones

So excited about my birthday today, but probably not for the reasons you're thinking. I mean sure, it rocked having people throw me an early party yesterday, and then being handed a new iPad mini (on which I'm writing this post). :) 

Today is a big deal because I hit the 23 week mark!!

No, that's not the number of weeks on the Bestseller list. (Someday...someday...) It's the age of my sweet twin boys yet to be born. A month ago I was happily growing bigger and older with few worries beyond the start of the school year and whether we could we sneak in a few more trips to the pool before summer ended. 

Then the unimaginable happened. My water broke. And the miracles began. Instead of going into labor my body held on, refusing to give in. Didn't know that was possible. The not laboring part. I'd like to think of myself as a fighter, after all. :)

And indeed the battle began. We had to make it to 23 weeks before the doctors could do anything more for the babies. So the remainder of my summer consisted of bed rest, machines, and doctors galore. Then the other sac broke. On the first day of school. Last year a school bus ran into our car parked on the street. This year? Yeah...not a big fan of the first day of school these days. :) But older kids got little ones out the door AND managed to take the traditional first day pictures. Have I mentioned how much my children rock? Yup. They're awesome.

We were admitted to the hospital full time for watchful care. And boy do wonderful nurses and doctors make all the difference. A few scary nights were smoothed over because of their vigilance. And looking back, I can honestly say I didn't mind my time here. I was well taken care of, as was my family at home. The amount of people pulling for our family has left me in utter awe. To give you an idea, my husband bought me a box of thank you cards so I could use my hospital stay(and boredom) to thank everyone. One day he said, I think you need another box.

Yup. And here we are. My birthday became something more to look forward to this year. It was a chance at life and birth for our boys. I've never been so excited to turn another year older. It holds a special place in my heart for the miracles it has given me.  Not that we're out of the woods, but this was the first milestone. Now onto the next. A new hospital, special doctors, and a hope for more weeks of rest and writing out thank you cards.

Some have suggested there may be a story in this. Hmmmm...you never know. Life is full of surprises. And miracles.

Penumbras Blog Tour and Giveaway!

PENUMBRAS by Braden Bell

Conner Dell didn't meant to blow up the school bus.

Or the bathrooms.

In fact, he only wanted to go to sleep and possibly dream about Melanie Stephens.

But explosions had a funny way of happening when Conner and his friends were around.

***

Conner Dell wants to be good--he really does. But he is terrified that he might be turning into a Darkhand, especially when new powers start to surface. What's worse, the Stalker is following Conner, but no one else seems to be able to see him. The Magi think he might be hallucinating, the guilt of what happened in the Shadowbox keeps weighing on him, and his relationship with Melanie Stephens is complicating things. Even for a Magi, Conner knows his life is anything but normal. 

Want a roller coaster ride without all the hassle of an amusement park? The constant action and challenges Conner and his friends face will have you holding on for dear life. Just like poor Conner. I've read through Penumbras multiple times, and let me say each time has only pulled me in more.  The characterization is awesome. I mean, let's take a few kids whose worst initial fear about Middle School was probably fitting in, and give them powers. And relationship problems. And relationship problems enhanced by their powers.  Oi!

But that's not all. The story's message of dark versus light goes far deeper than mere troubles with homework and issues of jealousy. It delves deep into the aspect of what is real. That gray area, that succeeds in confusing the best of us, grabs hold of each Penumbras character and seeks to bring their nightmares to life. Hope becomes ever more illusive as the Light in each of them struggles to win.

And for that, I just love Pilaf. Always the optimist. Always grateful for what he has. He stands to remind others of who they are, what they have, and life's possibilities if they all just keep trying. And I just loved that. "I knew it!" was the common phrase amongst the teen readers in my house, cheering for the characters as they continued their journey into becoming something more than themselves.

The plot was excellent in its ability to bring the reader up to speed from the first book, while building the tension for the ever increasing challenges they faced in this one. And let's be honest...few books have made me laugh out loud.  This was one of them.  There are some great lines that are just SO spot on.

Well done, Braden. Well done.

• You can find all the magic here, at the Penumbras website, where there are trailers, photos, and sample chapters to read. 
• Both Penumbras and The Kindling (first one in the series) are also for sale via the website here for a steep discount--$9.99 (plus s/h)!
• They're also available through Amazon here and Barnes and Noble here!

AND DON'T FORGET THE CONTEST!!!  Hop on over to Braden's blog for a chance to win!!! August 9th is the last day to enter the contest for $50.00 worth of Amazon Gift Cards.  You don't want to miss it!!

HAPPY READING!!
________________________________

Braden Bell grew up in Farmington, Utah and graduated from Davis High School. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theatre from Brigham Young University and a Ph.D. in educational theatre from New York University. He and his wife, Meredith live with their five children on a quiet, wooded lot outside of Nashville, Tennessee, where he teaches theatre and music at a private school. An experienced performer, Braden enjoys singing, acting, reading, gardening, and long walks with the dog. 

To learn more about Braden you can follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and on his blog.

eXamine Your Zipper and other embarrassing moments

It was in middle school. PE. Gym class.  Uh....let's just end it there shall we?

The point is, we're all human. *pinches arm, takes blood test...yup, definitely human* We all make mistakes. And of course some of them aren't really our fault. The ones that are? Own them and move on.

Life's a learning curve.

As writers we face an ever bigger curve than most. Why? Because we're living so many lives simultaneously. There's this character, and this one, and then oh! this poor misunderstood villain over here!!  With all those lives to figure out, it's bound to happen that we forget who we are. And embarrass ourselves.

Like maybe by sending a query letter addressed to the wrong person. Or attaching the wrong manuscript to a requested full.  Not that I've had these things happen to me. I'm still gearing myself up for querying, remember?  But I've known other writers who have faced these...trials. :)

And because of their honesty I might avoid them myself. A quick check on a name. A double check on the MS.  Writers are so good to each other. We're not in competition with each other for the number of sit ups we can do in PE class. I mean...uh...writers care about helping one another out. We give each other tips, reviews, and blurbs on books. We WANT readers to explore other authors' books.

It's not middle school. We can handle a little competition.

So what is the most embarrassing thing a writer can do? Has anything embarrassing ever happened to you? Any words of wisdom to impart to us?

Underestimating our Value and Worth

We are our worst critics.

You've no doubt heard this phrase before. Along with:

• There's nothing to fear but fear itself.
• You've only failed once you've stopped trying.
• Doubt has killed more dreams than actual rejection.

There are so many out there. Proof that we can be our worst enemies when it comes to fulfilling our dreams. It isn't the agent who rejected us, but the fact that we only sent out 1000 queries. What about the 1001th?!  That could have been the one!

I've already talked about the fear of rejection here this month. Underestimating ourselves goes much deeper though. Not valuing what our story is worth, the lives it can change, or simply the good laugh it can be. Underestimating ourselves will cut us off from our dreams more effectively than any agent, publisher or well-meaning friend.

I let someone scare me into studying something else right out of high school. I didn't think my writing was worth enough to support myself with. Money is such an evil word. As though that's the only reason that people write. As though only things of value have a price tag on them. As if.

Write your story. Share it with others. Don't let anyone tell you that your time is misspent.  Don't believe me? Here's a little motivation. :)

Think Tank

*glug...glug..blurp*

No, not that kind of tank. A "think" tank. Where all the ideas of many are all pooled together to create mass awesomeness and wonder!!!

And did you know that  the think tank has an actual presence online?  It's true. I swear. I'm part of the Facebook group, Authors' Think Tank. The website is ForeverWriters.com. And recently they started a podcast series.  People!  THE THINK TANK IS REAL!! And they have a theme song, so you know...they pretty much rock.

Facebook: Click here

Website: Click here

Podcasts: Click here

You're welcome. :)