The contest to receive a copy of Unbreakable Bond is closed and the winners have been emailed.
Hope you enjoy the book. 
Secret Bond Goes Live & Unbreakable Bond Giveaway
May 1, 2013 by 4 Comments
Secret Bond releases today! Everywhere. Woot! I’m so excited to get this book into the world. I have to say it’s my favorite of the two. So in honor of Jamie’s return, I’m giving away three copies of Unbreakable Bond. 
All you have to do is sign up for my mailing list (top right corner) and you’re entered. If you win, you’ll need a Smashwords account, but it’s easy and free to sign up.
I’ll choose three names in two weeks and will send emails to the winners (rather than post email addys here). 
I hope you’ll enjoy Secret Bond.
Happy Reading! <3
Which Deadly Sin Are You?
April 18, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Mind you, I’m not religious and don’t find them to all be sins, as in something bad, but I do find them to be fun. As in, fun to write about.
I’m currently working on a 7 books series, based off these pesky little sins. The first one up is Lust and it’s Ren’s story. Since I plan to indie publish them, and haven’t indie published something by myself yet (haha), I’ll post my progress and journey here.
This should be fun. 
So if your actions (current or past) were to be classified as a sin, which one would you be?
- Lust
- Envy
- Pride
- Greed
- Sloth
- Gluttony or
- Wrath
Let me know in the comments below. I’m totally Gluttony. It’s always been all or nothing for me. I’m learning moderation. More fun times. lol
photo credit: qthomasbower via photopin cc
Shoot, I’d settle for some cocktail wieners
April 12, 2013 by 2 Comments
I’ve been thinking…
When I was living in GA, I met a person or two (I seem to recall it being more than one because I was so flabbergasted) that told me to stop thinking. Just stop. I couldn’t understand. How does one do that? Thing is, I still don’t understand, lol. This is off topic, BTW. My first line just made me think of it.
Here’s what I want to discuss though.
The beginning of this year I took a blogging and Facebook class (separate). Great classes with a load of valuable information, but it took my enjoyment in blogging, posting…talking and turned it into a chore, a requirement, something I need to do for my career. I’m all for advancing and bettering my work, but if I hate what I’m doing, I won’t be into it and that will show. A. I’ll probably stop or slow down in creating new material (hint, hint, look at how many times I’ve blogged this year alone), and B. my readers will be able to tell because I’ll bore them. *wink*
I’m sure I’ve managed both lately. ha!
I started tweeting this year. It’s been kinda fun. The thing I’ve noticed there is that MANY people blog links to things. I guess that’s the way to do it, but I won’t open links on my phone. I only tweet on my phone. I dislike opening something that I can’t read the addy and see where I’ll end up, so I look past all those type of tweets. They’re everywhere: blog posts, after blog posts, after pics. I get it. Everyone wants to share. Everyone’s looking to find their niche. Awesome. But it feels so methodical, so…what’s the word? Almost desperate. It feels like a giant numbers game, and yes, ultimately I guess it is, but once again, if I’m bored, I won’t participate.
I just want to talk, have conversation, laugh at things, discuss things, share. Isn’t Twitter supposed to be a cocktail party?
Then where are the damn mini meatballs and crustless sandwiches? Shoot, I’d settle for some cocktail wieners.
Changing Behavior
April 11, 2013 by Leave a Comment
That’s what we learned two weeks ago in my daughter’s life skills class. How positive (rewards, praise, smiles, pats on the back) and negative (no longer nagging to clean a room, not getting upset when your child’s a few minutes late for curfew) reinforcement and punishment (grounding) were the tools needed to change a behavior–your own or someone else’s. Sounds like a great concept. lol I know some behaviors I’d love to change. But actually doing it is a lot harder than it sounds. It’s kinda like parenting, when you have to be consistent and not go back on your rules. Our homework was to practice the tools on ourselves as well as someone else. I chose my son and cleaning his room. So far it’s been okay. He’s been following my guidelines, and I haven’t gone back on them.
As for myself, I chose to concentrate on my writing and to write daily. The project I’m currently working on has a tight deadline, and the only way to get the work done is by daily writing. Not 5 days a week or 6, which is what I’ve done in the past. It’s not a big deal, but I know if there are one too many days I don’t write, then it can screw up the entire process. I really want to make this deadline. Not only is it necessary for the book, but I want to prove to myself that I can do it too.
I’m still enjoying the class. Some of the teens are young and loud and distract way too much, but I’m glad we’re apart of it. Even if my daughter isn’t as thrilled.
So tell me, have you ever tried to change your behavior? Stop biting your nails, or quit smoking? I did that too. It took me several years to actually do it. There was a lot of stopping cold and only lasting 6 months. Then finally I changed my mind. I no longer wanted to smoke mentally, so it made it easier. I’ve been cigarette free for almost 13 years.
I’d love to hear how you managed to change your behavior.
Porcelain Ghosts
April 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment
My daughter loves, loves, loves creating charms, earrings, pendants, hair bows and various other cute things with polymer clay. I bought her some several Christmas ago (or Santa did), and since then she’s really taken off and created her own style. She loves creepy, cute things. Ha! I wonder where she inherits that from. *wink* But part of her style includes things I’ve never heard of before, like Kawaii and characters and mascots from shows and bands. It doesn’t matter if I don’t recognize something because it’s all so damn adorable. Yes, I’m biased, but it really is adorable.
She named her site Porcelain Ghosts.
And these are a few of the items she gave me. The dragon she made for me specifically, but the rest are rejects. Items not perfect enough to sell. So definitely check out her site to see the “better” stuff.
We have three owls. One of them has eyes a different size than the others, so she didn’t want them. I named them Ollie, Wallie, and Lloyd.
Then there’s a Take Me cookie (think Alice in Wonderland), a jelly donut (which I adore), my chartreuse baby dragon (CJ, which she made specifically for me), the pink blob, Squidgy, and the chocolate covered strawberry creme candy. Today I got her some chocolate scent, and she’s upstairs making brownies, Swiss Rolls, and Hostess cupcakes. SO yummy looking and smelling.
The Road to Zen Jenn
March 14, 2013 by Leave a Comment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lbrummphoto/4744419681/
My daughter went through some difficulties last fall, and now she’s enrolled in a group class where she learns life skills. It’s called DBT–Dialectical Behavior Therapy–and was created by Marsha M. Linehan. And since it’s an adolescent class, a parent has to attend and practice the skills as well. That’s me. I’ll admit I was scared at first. But it was more due to anxiety surrounding new things. We’ve been going for a month, and I’m more comfortable, but it totally reminds me of high school. There’s class participation, we have homework and have to share it out loud, and there are “games”, which aren’t very fun IMO. The good thing is they ask for help when going over lessons, but they don’t call on people.
Thank God!
It’s an hour and a half (sometimes two hours), once a week, for seven months. Yeah, it’s a big commitment but it sounds totally worth it. And I love anything and everything that helps heal a person emotionally. I think our society focuses too much on our physical well-being, without even much or any consideration to my mental health. Which is equally as important, and it sometimes controls our physical, so really dude, it should be more important. I thought this would be more like therapy, which I think EVERY human being should take part in. But there’s no direct sharing of feelings. Of course, they come up a bit while discussing assignments (parents and children get separated for this part), but no in-depth discussions. It’s all about learning how to handle your emotions. Which I love. I’ve been “healing” myself since I became an adult. Slowly at first. Now, I’m completely getting into the power of my peace.
So I thought I’d mention it today and pop in now and again with what we’re learning.
Last month was all about Interpersonal Effectiveness. We learned a bunch of acronyms to help remind us to state clear facts, use a calm voice, “I” statements, and to stay mindful (as well as more) when asking for something or another objective. This is a condensed version. It took a month to learn. Luckily we started on an easy month. The program has a revolving entrance and exit rotation.
Tonight we start a new module. I’ll let you know how it goes.
What’s your thoughts on therapy? Do you think it’s helpful?
photo credit: Logan Brumm Photography and Design via photopin cc
Win A $90+ Amazon Gift Card!
March 13, 2013 by 2 Comments
Jamie Bond Mystery #2
My writing partner in crime, Gemma Halliday, is hosting an amazing contest on her FB page.
She’s giving away 3 Amazon gift cards. The value of each card is currently at $90 each, BUT the amount can still go up.
Confused? Don’t be. Here’s how it goes:
The amount of each prize goes up $10 for every $100 worth of pre-orders we receive on the book. There’s NO limit to how high the prize pot can go. So share this post, order a copy of SECRET BOND for yourself, and gift one to your mom, sister, best friend, or local library! Get creative and spread the word! The more pre-orders we get, the higher YOUR prize!
There are two ways to enter:
1. After you pre-order SECRET BOND, you will see a “thank you” screen with an option to share your pre-order on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Share on one (or all!) of these places, and you’re entered.
or
2. Go directly to the SECRET BOND product page, where you will see an option to share on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest on the right side of the screen, below the order box. Share on one (or all!) of these places, and you’re entered.
You have until May 1st to enter, so don’t wait.
And we’d be every grateful if you’d spread the word about the contest.
I can’t wait to see who the lucky winners are, and how much you win.
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