I’ve never understood the whole time change concept. Yes, I’ve seen all the reasoning but, coming from an often rural background, it always seemed to me to make more sense to just get up earlier if you wanted to synchronize with the shorter/longer days. It’s not like there’s only one work day schedule in the entire country.
Okay rant over. I’ve just had a great dinner of Ahi tuna and ‘Crack Slaw’ which is cabbage cooked in some kind of good fat, with soy and hot sauce…hey don’t knock it ’til you tried it. I shared the recipe (what there is of it!) HERE
I’m going with Streisand to close out this week and get me past the time changing. First, the song that taught me to appreciate Neil Diamond.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj10EzNKA2M
How can you be any more poignant? Well, there’s the song from a heart wrenchingly realistic movie about two people on different paths who realize a future together would destroy both of them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yrd6caXygw
Just a second, I need a tissue. And maybe a bit more wine.
SHARESIES! I just got my edits for A Question Of Honor. With the comment: “I think this is the best book you’ve ever written. I loved the story. It is poignant, heart-wrenching, exciting, and extremely well written.” Sigh.
Night all
Monthly Archives: March 2015
SPRING Forward…Yeah, Right. Indulge in Emotions #MFRWAuthor
Filed under Uncategorized
Paying it Forward…with Jami Gray
I met Jami through Black Opal Books, where we were some of the first authors. Bright, clever, a strong writer with a quirky turn of mind, Jamie shows what happens when you combine innate ability with a good work ethic. And she’s never too busy to take time to help others. This book: Hunted By The Past, is a second series for Jami. It puts a different spin on “quirky.” Take it away, Jami…
The first in an exciting new Paranormal Romantic Suspense series-HUNTED BY THE PAST available from Muse It Up Publishing!
When facing off with danger, some situations require a few more unique skills than most. Come meet the men and women of the Psy-IV Teams…
HUNTED BY THE PAST: PSY-IV Teams book 1
Sometimes death is the only way to out run the past…
A reluctant psychic who can relive the past, a man well versed in keeping secrets, and a psychopathic killer enter a deadly game where the past determines the future.
Changing the past is an impossibility ex-Marine, Cynthia “Cyn” Arden, understands all too well. Struggling in the aftermath of a botched mission, which cost her two teammates, her military career, and a fledging relationship, she’s brought home by a panicked phone call. The psychic killer behind her nightmares has escaped military custody to hunt down the remaining teammates, one by one. Next on his murderous list–Cyn. Her only chance at survival is to master the psychic ability she’s spent years denying.
The killer’s game brings her face to face with the one person guaranteed to throw her off kilter—the unsettling and distracting man she left behind, Kayden Shaw. Once she believed he’d stand by her side, until he chose his job and his secrets over her. A choice that’s left the scars of the past etched deep on her mind and heart.
To survive this twisted game, Cyn must risk trusting her heart and accepting who and what she is, or lose not only her life, but the man she loves.
Available for pre-order at: MUSEITUP Publishing
READ AN EXCERPT
Since I didn’t want to touch him, much, I poked a finger against his chest, ignoring the unexpected zap of awareness. “I don’t know how you found me or why, but right now I have other, more important things to do. So, why don’t–”
The ringing of the phone interrupted my tirade.
I shot a look at the phone sitting on the counter to our left, and then narrowed my gaze at Kayden.
He quirked an eyebrow.
The phone rang again.
“You going to answer it?” he drawled.
Stepping back, I plucked the receiver off the cradle. “Hello?”
“Cyn?” What do you know, it was Thomas Anderson Gunderson, A.K.A. Tag.
I stared at the man standing across from me. “Yeah.”
“Where have you been? And why the hell won’t you answer my calls?” Despite his questions, there was a thread of relief in my friend’s voice. Ex-friend, I reminded myself.
“Why would I?” I gave my answer absently, watching Kayden make his way over to the other side of the counter and take a seat on a barstool.
In my ear, Tag cursed. “Dammit, Cyn. I don’t have time to explain shit now— ”
“Why are you calling me?” I cut him off, ice coating every word.
“Why are you in Sedona?” he shot back, his voice hard.
“I’m more concerned with how you got this number and why everyone seems determined to turn my cabin in to Grand Central Station.”
Momentary silence filled the line. “Shaw’s there?”
“Got it in one.”
“Thank God,” Tag muttered. “Be as bitchy as you want, Cyn, but tell me you’re okay. You ran away—”
“I didn’t run from shit, Tag, I was kicked to the fucking curb as soon as you and everyone else got what you wanted.”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Really? Because from where I stood, it sure as hell looked like it.” Silence answered. Turning away from Kayden’s too avid gaze, I tried to regain control so I could kick both of these men back out of my life. “I’m fine, but I’m little busy dealing with my own situation.”
“What kind of situation?” It actually sounded as if he gave a damn.
Closing my eyes, I tried to shove aside the urge to bang my head against a wall at the single minded intensity of the male gender. “My sister is AWOL. Now, can we just focus on why you’re bothering me and Kayden has decided to pursue a career in B&E?”
“How long has Kelsey been missing?”
The urgent note underlying Tag’s question reignited my earlier sense of unease, as if there was something bigger at play here. Worry about Kelsey trumped hurt feelings, so I answered. “Not sure, a couple hours maybe. Her car is here.”
The string of oaths spewing over the line from Tag proved no one could swear like a Marine. “Son of mangy bitch,” he muttered, then he took a deep breath. “The cabin’s an hour and half outside of Phoenix?” He didn’t wait for my answer. “I’ll meet you up there. Stay with Kayden.”
“Tag,” his name came out as a warning of my waning patience. My fingers tightened around the phone, and it took an amazing amount of will-power to not share my own colorful vocabulary. “You need to tell me what’s going on. Right. Now.” The last two words emerged around gritted teeth.
“It’s about Flash. His killer is out.” His unexpected answer stabbed deep, drawing blood under my skin. Brutal memories boiled up and I almost missed his, “Stay with Kayden, Cyn.”
The drone of a dial tone filled my ear. My world spun. I concentrated on setting the phone back in the cradle. My legs were doing a great impression of spaghetti noodles, so I let them fold under me and sat on the cool tile. Six months, I’d run as hard, as fast and as far as I could, but in a matter of minutes I was right back where I started, trapped in a never-ending nightmare.
You have to wonder which fickle fate decided to dump everything on me at once. If I ever got my hands on her, I’d beat her to a pulp. Damn, damn, and triple damn!
The past surged, breaking through to rise in a swamping wave of ghostly screams and the stench of burnt flesh. I dug my fingers deep into my thigh muscles in a desperate attempt to stave it off. No such luck. Greedy memories sucked me down.
My kitchen disappeared, replaced by a fetid alley behind a dive in Where-the-fuckistan. Sprawled on the ground, my head spinning with dizzying sickness and my leg screaming with agony, all I could do was watch and listen. Watch the spreading pool of blood and brains seep from Ortega, his sightless eyes staring past me. Listen to the snap and crackle of a raging fire hissed through the night while the smell of burning flesh wrapped around me. Behind me, someone screamed, his wail high-pitched and full of hopeless agony.
I knew that broken voice.
Even as excruciating pain beat inside my skull, I turned my head, recognizing the figure in the midst of the hellish scene. Searing loss, rage, and fear rose to a scream. My mouth opened and the stench coiled down my throat, blocking the air in my chest. No, no, no!
The shocking feel of hands against my face snapped my paralysis, bringing a touch of the present into the past. Desperate to escape, ignoring the pain radiating down my leg and through my head. I struck out, my hand connecting with flesh. “Don’t touch me!”
Harsh breathing filled the air around me. It took a few seconds to realize it was coming from me. A few more before the low soothing voice penetrated the layers of the past. “Come on back, Cyn. You’re safe.”
Now available for pre-order at: MUSEITUP Publishing
Jami Gray is the award winning, multi-published author of the Urban Fantasy series, The Kyn Kronicles, and the Paranormal Romantic Suspense series, PSY-IV Teams. She is surrounded by Star Wars obsessed males and a male lab, who masquerades as a floor rug as she plays with the voices in her head.
Come stalk Jami at any of these fine locations:
Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Google+ / Amazon
Filed under Uncategorized
Heroes everywhere
I had a lightweight blog planned, all about reviewing the reviews. Because some of those review comments are guaranteed to keep you chuckling. Until I came across a Lebanese news program, with a female anchor. THESE are the heroes we need to honor. Along with Rosa Parks, and all those who stood up for personal rights and freedoms…and for the right to be treated with some dignity. I’m sure some people will say “that woman had NO right to be so rude to that man.” Yet they have no problem with their own favored male anchor cutting off a rude guest.
A female Lebanese news anchor was told to shut up—here’s what she did instead
It’s not women’s rights we want to demand. It’s HUMAN rights. The right to be heard, the right to discuss without fear of reprisal. The right to clean water and healthy food. And an education so at least our children will know there’s more to life than prejudice and anger and fighting.
Hug your loved ones.
Filed under Uncategorized
Believing in Happy Endings
As a Romance writer, I need to believe in the happy endings. As a realist I know they are all too often more fantasy than reality. Some writers do like to deal only with reality. I’m not one of them nor do people read Romance so they can be reminded that life all too often sucks. The perfect hero and heroine with just a few flaws help some people put themselves into a happier existence, at least while they are reading.
All too often life does suck, up one side, down the other, and horizontally. But amidst the doom and gloom we often have at least better than average moments. Even if it’s nothing more than getting your burger the way you asked for it and not the way the grill chef decides to make it.
Emotionally we can take Eeyore’s approach that nothing is ever going to go right so we might as well mire ourselves in doom and gloom. Heaven knows relationships are never as exciting in real life as they are in books. Who ever heard of a genuine hero leaving dirty underwear stacked on top of the hamper instead of tucked neatly inside? How can your average husband compete with such a perfect human being…right down to those sparkly white teeth?
Most of them can not. Nor do we actually want them to. Just think, gorgeous, ripped, brilliant…and neat? How can we average women compete?
Just to pull this all together, here’s a favorite song from a favorite singer.
The Carpenters lived in Downey, CA, where my husband taught.What happened to Karen should not happen to anyone. She tried so hard to live up to an impossible image, she destroyed her health.
Sorry not such a happy ending but she did leave us her voice. And a reminder not to rush to judgement on anyone else’s life or appearance or actions. Take a minute to find the happy in your own life, and share it with those around you.
Filed under Uncategorized
Here to Stay #MFRWAuthor
Last month the Internet bristled with discussions of the 50 Shades movie. So many wanted to express their opinion on the effect that movie might have on the morals of the general population. Opinions are wonderful, we all have them and fortunately so far we have the right to express said opinions.
Except I heard a few too many references meant to be ‘cute,’ which disparaged romance books. “Suitable for a Mills and Boon” “Reads like a Harlequin romance” and several more allusions to the poor writing of genre books, in particular Romance. Funny, I hear few if any remarks about the unreality of murders being solved by the local florist. Or any mockery for super charged super hero loner adventurer billionaire sharpshooters. Yet these books are devoured at a great rate. Not as great as Romance but…
I’ve been around Romance writers for, oh dear, almost thirty years. I’ve heard the same mockery countless times. Even the publication by the University of Pennsylvania Press of the Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance did not stem the tide of mockery. Just a few days ago a cover artist referred to Romance books as “trashy,” explaining that they’re not ‘high literature.’
Which is a shame since we know not only is Romance the hottest genre, Romance writers are some of the best trained, most supportive writers around. More to the point: Love stories have been around since before the written word, and will be here long after we have spread ourselves out into the Universe. The story of people meeting and being willing to take a chance on their future is timeless.
Romance is here to stay.
Filed under Promotion, Romance Writing
“It Was Her Fault”…Delhi Bus Rapist Speaks Out. TRIGGER WARNINGS
This is not an easy story to write or read
I had the idea I could keep on with lightweight observations of the human race. Until this came across my feed.
In 2012, in New Delhi, a 23 year old college student paid her fare for a bus ride home. She was with a male companion. Once on the bus they were attacked, and beaten with a tire iron. If you’ve ever picked up a tire iron you know how heavy it is. The rapist claims she should not have been out after dark, and if she just had not fought back they wouldn’t have had to hit her. Even worse, their lawyers stated pretty much the same thing…it’s in the article.
This isn’t some back water third world country. India offers the opportunity for education. It wasn’t a mugging gone wrong. The men were driving a bus, collecting fares, so it wasn’t an act of desperation. They wanted to hurt this young woman, so they did. And blamed her for being there.
Since then laws have been enacted, outrage has been declared. More women have stepped forward to report rapes, but rapes have also increased.
Problem is, India is not alone in their treatment of women. Nor is the attitude of this prisoner unique. “if women would cover themselves, they would not tempt men” is a popular refrain. Same as “she didn’t want to be touched, she shouldn’t have let it hang out.”
Sound familiar?
I wish I had answers. I don’t. I’m just sharing this story so Jyoti Singh is not forgotten.
Filed under Uncategorized
Sharing Emotions on Sunday…What Do You Fear?
Do You Fear the Wind?
By Hamlin Garland
DO you fear the force of the wind,
The slash of the rain?
Go face them and fight them,
Be savage again.
Go hungry and cold like the wolf
Go wade like the crane:
The palms of your hands will thicken,
The skin of your cheek will tan,
You ’ll grow ragged and weary and swarthy,
But you ’ll walk like a man!
I pulled most of this blog together last night but it didn’t seem complete. I knew I wanted to stir up some of my emotions, share them with you. But I wasn’t sure why. Until I hunted up a poem that has stuck with me since high school. And found a particular favorite song of ours about a love as timeless as possible these days.
I knew this song had a foundation in truth, and this You Tube version tells the whole story. Kathy Mattea’s husband wrote the song about his grandparents, and shared it with Kathy before they were engaged. In the write up, she reveals: “When Jon told me the story for the first time, it was before we had even gotten engaged, and he just cried and cried. When he played the song for me and the first chorus came around, I knew where he was going with the lyric, and I just couldn’t believe he could be that vulnerable as a writer, to put that moment in a song.”
As writers we need to be vulnerable, to put all our love and memories and fear out there, if we want to be honest with our readers, and with ourselves.
I think I’ll be sharing the Streisand indulgences next Sunday.
Filed under Uncategorized


