Happy Last Day, Carter!!

6:00 AM Elizabeth Seckman 47 Comments

Can you believe this little fella is attending his very last day of high school today?
I can't. I know it always seems like yesterday that they were born, but seriously...

Carter getting some help from big brother, Caleb

1997 doesn't seem like it was all that long ago...

Carter was due at the end of November. He never came. I'd had one induced birth and honestly, it hurt. So, I wasn't thrilled to do it again. My doctor agreed we'd let this little fella keep baking. But then the end of November soon rolled into mid-December, and I wasn't even having the warm-up contractions. Carter wasn't in any hurry to be born, that's for sure. During a fetal stress test, he didn't get high marks. He didn't fail, but he didn't excel, so an induction was ordered.

Carter and his little brother, Conner

My doctor told me to head on over to the hospital from the appointment, but I wasn't ready. I didn't have a suitcase, or even my husband with me. I asked him if it would be all right for me to drive home and get my stuff and my husband...

Carter waving hi from the Jr. High playing field

The poor guy's eyes about bulged out of his head as he said, "You drove? You're a ticking time bomb. What the hell? Fine. Drive home, and for crying out loud, have your husband drive you back in."

Carter on the high school line

Next morning, in the very wee hours, my husband drove me into the hospital. By 10:00 am, this little bruiser was born, weighing in at a whopping 11 pounds 15 ounces. My husband swears if the nurses had weighed him before he peed for the first time, he'd have been an even 12 pounds. He still gets annoyed that I listed the accurate weight in the baby book. He wants an asterisk and a pre-pee weight listed.

Carter (54) and big brother Cole (75)

Okay, so giving birth, sans drugs or surgery, to this guy was neither easy nor fun, but it was well worth it. For him, I'd gladly do it again.

He's a sweet boy with the biggest heart and the brightest smile. And holy crap! He's all grown up!!

Carter with his Block of Granite award

Join the Goals Blog Hop Here!

Misha Gericke & Beth Fred host this monthly goal update.

Here's an update on my balanced goals for 2016!

1. Lose weight. Loving the FitBit. It's a reminder to move! Small loss is a good gain.

2. Declutter rooms to declutter the mind. Cleaned out the outdoor building!

3. Publish two books. Swept Away is ready. I got the paper back proof yesterday!

Thanks to our hosts Lexa, L.G, and Tonja Drecker for this weekly good things check in!

Last week, I mentioned that Swept Away was done, and I was planning a book tour of sorts for May. Even though I was vague and my planning was poor, you guys still offered to help. This blogosphere is pretty darned awesome.
A cold/flu knocked me out for a bit this week, so I'm behind in contacting bloggers. I'll get all that started today.

This May, two of my babies will be graduating. Carter from high school, Caleb from college. Wow. Never should have let them out of their car seats. I swear, they were in those forever. Let them out and they grow like weeds.

A LOVE THAT DISTURBS by Medeia Sharif
Evernight Teen, June 17, 2016

Maysa Mazari is alarmed by her mother’s talk about arranged marriage. Meanwhile, as a hijab-wearing Pakistani-American, she wants to find love on her own. Her judgmental Muslim clique has protected her from racist taunts, although the leader, Aamal, is turning on her as Maysa strays from the group because of her attraction to Haydee.

Haydee Gomez is a former gang member and juvenile detention student. Now living with a clean-cut aunt, she wants to turn her life around, even though one person will never let her forget her roots—Rafe, her abusive pimp. Haydee attempts to pull away from a life of prostitution when she develops feelings for Maysa, although Rafe isn’t willing to give her up too easily.

Finding themselves in danger from Maysa’s friends and Haydee’s pimp, it’s apparent their love disturbs everyone around them as they fight to stay together.

Find Medeia – YA and MG Author

Blog | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Amazon

47 comments:

Swept Away

6:00 AM Elizabeth Seckman 31 Comments

My 80's lovin' heart is breaking over the news of Prince's death. Seriously, one of my favorites.

Prince and Billy Idol. Their posters hung side by side on teen me's wall.

My dad once joked that he couldn't wait to see what kind of boyfriends I brought home. A feminine-looking black man or a British rocker in need of a shower. I told him it would all depend on my mood.

Good times. Great music.

I did a check on Billy. He's still doing fine. He'll be touring in Vegas this summer.

My kids came home from school, and I asked them if they heard of his death and they said, "Yeah, all you old farts are blowing up Facebook with it."

I would have been mad at them, but I was once the snotty teen who bemoaned the overplaying of Beetle's hits the week John Lennon died. I had no respect, yet.

I wanted to watch some videos in memory, but doggone it, he was so good at monitoring his copyrights, there was nothing. I attached the "video" below, but there is no music, just pictures.

Thanks to our hosts Lexa, L.G, and Tonja Drecker for this weekly good things check in!

Swept Away is finally done and available for pre-order. The date for full release will be May 16th- my mom and sister's birthdays. There are some perks to self-publishing.

The Blurb:

Swept Away Pre-Order

He came looking for a ghost. Instead, he found a girl.
Tucker Boone is a war-hardened Marine on a ghost hunt. Fresh out of the corps, Tucker learns he has a missing half-sister, Maddy. The only clue to her whereabouts is a cryptic note…I’ve gone Mad, Mags. Tucker agrees to search for her and heads to Ocracoke, North Carolina where a ghost named Mad Mags is said to haunt the ancient graveyards dotting the island.
The note doesn’t bring him any closer to finding Maddy, but it does offer him a diversion to the doldrums of civilian life— his new island neighbor, Josie McCoy. Tucker is drawn to her quiet spirit. There’s something special about Josie…a connection he can’t quite explain.
By summer’s end, he’s mixed up in deception, murder, and the love of a lifetime. Logic tells him to head home and forget the truths he found on the island. But can he walk away? Josie offers him more than love; she offers him hope. When the clues pile up and it looks like she can never be the girl for him, he has to make a choice- play it safe and break her heart, or risk everything for a chance at being swept away.

I'll be planning something for promotion. Not exactly a blog tour, but some short shout-outs during the month of May with a give away. If you have space on your blog in the month of May, let me know in the comments and I'll be sure bug you.

COVER REVEAL FOR CATALYST With $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY!

Clean Teen Publishing is proud to present the official cover reveal for CATALYST by Kristin Smith.

This is the first book in the thrilling new Deception Games series coming November 21, 2016!

Title: Catalyst (The Deception Game, Book One)

Author: Kristin Smith

Release Date: November 21, 2016

Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing

Genre: YA near-future thriller

Book Synopsis:

Too pretty.

Too smart.

Too perfect.

In a crumbling, futuristic Las Vegas where the wealthy choose the characteristics of their children like ordering off a drive-thru menu, seventeen-year-old Sienna Preston doesn’t fit in. As a normal girl surrounded by genetically modified teens, all of her imperfections are on display. But after the death of her father, everything she's ever known and loved changes in an instant.

With little skills to help provide for her family, Sienna clings to the two things that come easily—lying and stealing. But not all thief-for-hire assignments go as planned. When a covert exchange of a stolen computer chip is intercepted, she becomes entangled with a corrupt government official who uses her thieving past as leverage, her mother as collateral, and the genetically modified poster boy she’s falling for as bait.

In order to rescue her mother, there may only be one option—joining forces with the Fringe, an extremist group, and their young leader who’s too hot to be bad. Problem is, these revolutionaries aren’t what they seem, and the secrets they’re hiding could be more dangerous than Sienna is prepared for. In the end, she must be willing to risk everything to save the one thing that matters most.

Enter to WIN a $25 AMAZON Gift Card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About the Author:

Kristin Smith writes young adult contemporary and science fiction novels with enough kissing to make her mother blush. She's a beach lover and a Just Dance guru who enjoys belting out karaoke (from the comfort of her own home). As a self-professed chocoholic, Kristin is a firm believer that if a dessert doesn't have chocolate in it, then it's not considered a dessert. (Except for crème brûlée. She can always make an exception for crème brûlée.) Kristin currently resides in the middle-of-nowhere North Carolina with her husband and five incredibly loud but extremely cute boys. To read more about her obsession with YA novels or her addiction to scarves, you can connect with her at the links below.

31 comments:

For Missi

6:00 AM Elizabeth Seckman 44 Comments

When I was pregnant for boy #3, we found out via ultrasound that we had another boy on the way.

When we announced another baby boy was in our future, people actually had the gall to offer me condolences.

In no time, I was sick of the well-meaning comment, "Maybe you'll get a girl next time."

Uh, thanks?

I felt bad for my little male fetus.

Where was the appreciation? The love?

I mean, I wasn't expecting fanfare, but I was carrying a healthy baby boy, not the plague.

One day, I ran into an elderly lady in the grocery store and she asked, "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

With an eye roll and a sigh, I said, "A boy. It's the third boy...maybe next one will be a girl."

God bless her, she patted my arm and said, "Well honey, I have four boys. So, I say, if you're lucky, your next one will be a boy too."

I confessed to her that I was sick of the pink obsession.

Like somehow, I was less of a woman because I hadn't give birth to a mini-me.

She assured me I'd be fine. I was blessed beyond belief...in a way that only mothers without daughters understand.

*********************

hanks to our hosts Lexa, L.G, and Tonja Drecker for this weekly good things check in!

Talk about a reason to celebrate!!

My cousin's daughter, Missi, just had her her third son, Greyson.

After giving birth, Missi started having headaches and seizures. Things went from bad to worse, and she ended up in ICU with a date with the neurosurgeon for brain surgery.
She's home today with her boys. Feeling grateful, surrounded by love.
A lucky mommy in more ways than one.

"Just when you think you can't be blessed anymore...your AWESOME nurses come to your room and say, "We are sending you home!" I'm overwhelmed. To top it off, I signed my OWN NAME when being discharged this evening. I am currently heading HOME TO MY BOYS with my husband while praising God on the radio! This girl knows the words!! This is just the beginning of my incredible testimony. Thank you all for praying and thinking about us! Our God is awesome. This is just the beginning. God saves lives!"
~Melissa Smith~

44 comments:

Failure Is an Option

6:00 AM Elizabeth Seckman 72 Comments

One of the toughest things I had to accept as a writer was that I rarely get it right the first time. The first manuscript I ever finished, I typed "The End", and thought I was done. I separated each chapter (single-spaced with a fancy font to make it unique) into tidy piles, stapled them, and then mailed them off to an address I found in the front of whatever book I was reading at the time.
Cute, right?
I didn't have a clue.
When I got rejected, I was shocked.
Looking back on it, I'm shocked anyone answered my letter at all.
Whoever opened that package had to think I was a complete and total moron.
Such a pathetic moron that someone actually took a moment to scrawl on the form rejection letter (it was old-school snail mail) that I needed to study the profession and try again.
I was crushed.
I thought good writers got everything right the first time.
If you didn't, you must lack the magic...the je nai sais quo...and were doomed to failure.

Then I found this:

I decided this writing thing might be a little more work than I thought, and I wouldn't ever succeed without accepting that failure is an acceptable option. It's just not a reason to give up.
You simply have to accept that when Plan A fails you move on through Z.

Join the IWSG Here

This was an Insecure Writer's Support Group post. We meet the first Wednesday of each month.
Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and his awesome co-hosts for this month: Megan Morgan, Chris Votey, Viola Fury, Christine Rains, Madeline Mora-Summonte, L.G. Keltner, Rachna Chhabria, and Patricia Lynne!

72 comments:

Don't You Hate Book Tours?

6:00 AM Elizabeth Seckman 49 Comments

“The trick to pulling a rabbit from a hat is to have the rabbit already in there.”

– Mark Twain

I'm not here today. The A2Z has begun and I am the first poster on deck at the Really Real Housewives Click here to visit)!

But have no fear...I left you in the very best of hands!

Welcome Roland to the blog!!!

Roland Yeomans here:

This is not an April Fool’s Day post in my “Don’t You Hate Book Tours?” Book Tour.

Yet it is. It is about humor in your writing and in mine.

Why should we be concerned at all about humor when writing our novels?

What are the bits of dialogue you repeat to friends after seeing a movie that wowed you? The funny parts.

They stick in the minds of your readers like cockle-burrs and become internet chatter that grows into that all-important Word of Mouth.

Humor also teaches you crucial writing lessons.

Writing humor teaches you a great deal about vital prose skills such as pacing and artful word choices that casts the mood you wish in your tale.

Even in terrible situations, people joke with one another or see something funny – be in combat or the ER for a few days and see for yourself.

A few moments of humor peppered throughout your novel can make your characters and situations seem more realistic and deepen your readers’ connections with them.

You should develop as many skills as possible because you can never be certain when you might need to switch gears in order to punch up a scene.

Comedy can disarm the reader.

This can be useful for a number of reasons.

It may leave the reader or the characters off guard and not expecting a sudden injection of tension or fear. It may allow a writer to introduce an uncomfortable subject.

Writing humor successfully relies on things like timing, vocabulary, tone and even the length of sentences. It may take more effort than any other type of writing, but it is crucial that it look effortless.

USE YOUR OWN MATERIAL:

If you say something funny or make a laughable slip of the tongue, make a note of it, and see if you can use it in something you’re working on.

JUXTAPOSE TWO UNEXPECTED THINGS:

This can be absurd or it can simply produce a funny contrast.

For example, using an elevated tone to describe an event like a mud-wrestling contest might be funny.

USE THE RULE OF THREE:

This is about the rhythm of our language.

The idea is to establish a pattern in the reader’s mind and then throw the pattern off. Three is used because it is the minimal number possible to establish this pattern.

“The moment was unforgettable – the loveliness of the pale redhead in front of me, the longing for me in her vampire eyes, and the diarrhea in my pants.”

DELIVERY IS EVERYTHING:

Pay attention to elements such as the setup, the word choice and the payoff.

Jokes and other humorous moments will need to be revised more than once just like any other aspect of your novel.

Experiment with different ways of writing your humorous scene to see if things like shorter or longer sentences or changes in tone affect how it comes across.

HUMOR in THE NOT-SO-INNOCENTS ABROAD:

Having Mark Twain in my Steampunk novel, how could I not have humor in it?

Whether he is being hung over a pit of sulfuric acid, riding to a death-trap surrounded by deadly Comanche, or trying on a pair of poisoned kid gloves to impress a beautiful vampire, Mark Twain makes you laugh despite the deadliness.

At the end of the novel, even Horace Greely gets into the act and becomes unintentionally funny during the worst train robbery in history.

***

AN EXAMPLE:

Sammy Clemens slapped me on the shoulder. “Captain Sam, don’t be so down. Why in no time a’tall Georgia will be all re-people-ated.”

Eleven year old Nikola Tesla sighed, “Sir, that is repopulated.”

Sammy bristled, “Young man, who is the native born Amurican, and who is the immigrant here?”

“You are native born, sir, but it is still repopulated.”

Sammy turned to Meilori, whose memory stretched back farther than the flow of blood through Eve’s veins. “See, Lady Meilori? This is the gratitude of the immigrant.”

Slanted eyes, which had viewed the construction of the Sphinx, sparkled, “To me and the race I rule, you humans are all immigrants.”

Sammy snorted, “Oh, sure, turn philosopher on me. But you will recall what happened to old So-crates.”

(He’d turned the last syllable into the word for a wooden box.)

“Sir, his name is pronounced …” began little Nikola but Sammy covered the boy’s lips with his fingers.

Meilori’s eyebrow arched dangerously, “I prefer my hand to take my enemies’ lives and not my own.”

Sammy bent down to Nikola. “And that, my lad, is why us single males should stay single!”

***

So will you take a chance on laughter and go to my book’s Amazon page?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530302722/

Cost of the adventure of a lifetime and laughter? Only $9.99!