Balance

How do I find that balance?

In all honesty, I think that’s a never-ending journey. Every time a rock shifts, we have to realign. Every time something settles, we have to readjust. In this new stage of life, I’m still finding my way. I know I’m doing something right, though, because I’m writing. And I’m finding joy. Those are the best indicators of balance for me.

How about you? How do you find balance? How do you know when you’ve succeeded?

Balance.

It’s an easy word to say. Not so hard to live.

A lot of the parts of my life are out of balance right now. Getting my oldest settled in college. My youngest getting his driver’s license—oy! Reorganizing my work so I have more time to focus on writing. Things falling by the wayside, and new things cropping up to stuff themselves in their place. If I’ve learned anything in over four decades of life, it’s that the chaos never stops, but my body and emotions need balance.

Field Trip: Dismals Canyon

Earlier this month my family took a trip together, something we don't get to do often with teenagers working and my husband and I so busy. We visited a place here in Alabama called Dismals Canyon. The canyon is a "pristine wilderness" you can read more about here. I've truly never seen anything this beautiful in the US.

The area is wooded, with massive sandstone chunks lying haphazardly around the canyon. One of the images below shows my husband next to an outer wall of the gorge, giving you the scale of what we were looking at. Dismals Branch, a crystal-clear creek, runs through the entire canyon with its beautiful sand-and-rock bottom. The waterfall at the entrance to Dismals Canyon is thunderous and, yes, the water is icy cold! (You can see my daughter and niece trying it out -- many squeals were heard, let me tell ya!)

At night the canyon walls reveal the reason for their name: a species of glow worms known as Dismalites that light up in the darkness. I've included an image here from the canyon's website, showing the Dismalites. It was impossible to photograph, but you can imagine the wonder of walking along the trails and realizing you'd been there just a few hours earlier and not realized such fascinating creatures were there with you until it became dark.

The entire area is peaceful, a great place for my family to reconnect and share in the wonder of nature. Have you ever visited someplace like this, a natural wonder that made you catch your breath?

International Hotties!

International hotties are on my mind—Fionn since I've just returned from his home country, and my fave Aussie, Isaac, while I write his and Kennedy's book. I thought, while I'm thinking about them, I'd take the time and also introduce them. (You know you wanna see, right?)

Fionn is the redhead, of course, and Isaac is the one trying to get out of his clothes as fast as possible, LOL!

And don't forget, this month's contest is a giveaway for title suggestion for Isaac and Kennedy's book. Be sure to enter for a chance to win one of five ebook sets of the two IF ONLY books!

Head over to my Facebook page to enter the giveaway!

Moanday Monday: First Glimpse of Dain!

Sometimes--okay, pretty much all the time in my case ;) --characters surprise you. I'm coming to the end of Dain and Olivia's novella, and Dain has done just that. Here I thought I'd be dealing with some rough, tough dudes with no sense of humor and plenty of pissiness. The pissiness has definitely made an appearance, but these characters...boy, can they get me to laughing! I thought today, I'd give you two things: your very first taste of Dain, and the character inspiration images for him.

(And no, this is not at all how I pictured him when I first recognized him in my mind, but again...surprises. :) )

~ ~ * ~ ~

When they grabbed Livie, Dain fought. He didn't fight when they slammed him facedown on the floor, but only because SWAT Supervisor Hedlon had released his hold on Livie in exchange for grabbing Elliot. The bastard got a kick to the groin that had Dain laughing all the way to the ground.

The snick of cuffs around his already sore wrists cut off the laughter, of course. When a cop in regular uniform hauled him to his feet by his cuffed arm, he thought about kicking the guy just like Elliot had kicked their supervisor. In favor of getting out of this sooner rather than later, he refrained.

Barely.

~ ~ * ~ ~

(Yes, he's like this all the time. Where is my eye rolling emoji?)

On My iPod

It's Friday! Normally on Fridays, I post a feature on my Facebook author page called "On My iPod" where I share songs inspiring my current project (songs that will later appear on that books official playlist). And because there's not a ton of crossover, I thought I'd begin sharing those Friday tidbits here on the News as well. Would you enjoy that?

Good! ;)

I'm still hard at work on both Dain and Olivia's story AND Deacon and Elliot's story. And the whole clan seems particularly drawn to Fall Out Boy for some reason. :) In fact, every time I think about Deacon and Elliot butting heads, one particular song comes to mind. Elliot is a bit of a firecracker, after all...

(Enjoy!)

Am Writing!

Y'all know I've been working on Hank (from Naughty Little Christmas) and Sage's book. I'm still working on it and hope to have it out in November. But in the meantime, a wee little novella crept up on me featuring Hank's best friend, Vincent. And that book will be ready before Hank's. Which means... You guessed it -- a new book out in early October! Title and blurb got some work this past weekend, and now it's ready to share with you. Let me introduce...Vincent and Jane.

Only for the Weekend (If Only Book 1)

A Vegas weekend. A temporary submissive. Can he control both her and his heart?

Jane Jacobs is ready for a change. She’s determined that a history of lackluster relationships and even more lackluster pleasure will end this weekend, when she meets the Dom her best friend has set her up with. Exploring dominance and submission with her blind “date” could answer all her questions—and help her forget the one man she wants to master her.

With his band on hiatus, Vincent O’Connell grabs the chance to visit his sister in Vegas, but she wants a favor more than a family reunion. V’s not above indulging himself with a willing sub, but when he realizes the sub is his sister’s best friend, Jane, all his instincts scream at him to back out—and fast.

V knows Jane; she’s young, pretty, sweet. Definitely sub material—for someone else. But one look at her on her knees and all the reasons to avoid her disappear. She needs a Dom to guide her, and he needs to indulge himself with just a taste. After all, it's only for the weekend.

*

I'll share more news as it becomes available. I can't wait to share this sexy Dom and his sweet sub with my readers!

~ Ella

Starting Anew

Starting a new book isn't easy for me. I see a lot of authors post about writing "The End," and then the next day's post is all about the book they just dived right into overnight. Believe me, I wish I was like that, but I'm soooo not! I'm currently working my way into Hank and Sage's book, and not only do I not have a title, but I don't have much actual "book." The scenes read more like sketches than anything else. There's no pizzazz, no wonder, no spark. It's like a story "bud" instead of a story ready to flower. Lord help me.

But really, this is how every book is for me. I am a plotter, so I almost always have an idea of where the book itself is going, but also where the next few scenes are going in detail. Still, it takes me a while to find the "spark" that ignites both my interest and the characters' personalities. And with every book I worry I won't discover that spark. Where is it? When will I happen upon it? What if it never appears and this book sucks wet stinky socks?

...

You get the picture. I've never not found the spark, but it weighs heavy on my mind until I do. In the meantime, I pick up tiny bits of my characters' lives and personalities, bringing them slowly to life. Hank, for instance, has a dog. I didn't know that until this morning. Of course, neither Hank nor said dog care in the least that I have no dogs and know almost nothing about actually owning a dog. Hank said he had a dog, and so he has a dog. Oy. Now to figure out the dog's personality. :)

Thankfully I have plenty of time to meddle in other story ideas while this one fleshes out. Ian and Cassie's book, for instance, which I'm hoping to put out as a Christmas novella. And another small surprise novella that may or may not come out this year. Just depends on if I have time to figure out those characters along with my two currently ornery couples. We'll see. So many love stories, so little time!

Have a great week!

~ Ella

FUN New Contest!

I've got a contest going this week to guess my next book hero! Before I reveal the details, I thought it might be exciting to have my readers guess -- and possibly win a little treat ($15 Amazon Gift Card). :) Check out the hints on the photo below, then go to the Rafflecopter giveaway to enter your best guess (no points off for wrong names either!). The winner will be revealed (as well as the hero) in my newsletter this weekend and here on the blog. (Contest ends Saturday, 7/18.) To enter, go to the Rafflecopter giveaway page and enter your best guess! And if you want to learn more about this sexy hero, sign up for my newsletter before this weekend.

Have a great week!

~ Ella

The Rest of the Summer...

This summer has been filled with getting TAKE ME complete, getting ready for release, getting my head on straight as I tried to keep everything together and in order... You get the picture. :) Now I find myself in the enviable position of deciding where to go next. My plan all along has been to write Ian and Cassie (from Secrets To Hide), but over the weekend spent at the beach with family, that idea got derailed. By this guy:

Who is he? Well, I'm not quite ready to say yet. When a book first comes to me, I need it to marinate, to let all the flavors develop and see exactly where I want to go first before I talk about it. But I couldn't help teasing you! I do know I've never written a book like this before. I will say that you've met that gorgeous hunk before -- this book will be a spin-off of the Secrets To Hide series. But more than that, I'm not going to reveal, not yet. ;)

Ian and Cassie are still in the works (and still untitled, as you can tell!), but I felt they needed more time to gel in my mind. Their story will get written, never fear. I've been so consumed with the Southern Nights series for so long, almost a year, that I've had a hard time grasping anything  else -- which is why the big guy up there took me so much by surprise! You're gonna love him; I just know it.

Now I'm off to the day job and then more work on H-- Oh, wait, not supposed to say that yet... :p

~ Ella

Insta-Love, Virginity, and Other Wonders

Authors can't get away from reviews. Much as we try to avoid them, there are those times when you must go look at your book page, and there they are, staring you in the face. And I have to admit, readers come from varying backgrounds and interests and personal opinions and, therefore, have differing ideas about books they read -- as it should be. But I've noticed a disturbing trend that, for me, is a bit sad. Some readers can no longer suspend disbelief, even when it's necessary, while enjoying a book.

Suspension of disbelief is a concept we are most often taught in high school lit classes. There are a lot of readers who love romance out there, and many of them understand that the romance genre is not, for the most part, reality. Even so, when it comes to parts of the story that are realistic, they label it fantasy and claim it ruins the book for them. It's sad that, instead of widening our world as we claim over the past hundred years, we've actually narrowed it in many ways, seeing not the many possibilities of how people come to love, marry, live, and think, but how WE love, marry, live, and think -- and believe no one else's experience is valid. But it is. Our world is made up of many possibilities, including ones you might think are fantasy.

Like insta-love.

I kinda get a chuckle over this when I see it in reviews. "I hate that insta-love stuff. It's so fake!" Really? I have to admit, I didn't come to love in an instant; it took me a while to realize that my husband was "the one." But he knew the day he met me. I've seen posts on Facebook of readers commenting that not only did they fall in love immediately, but they married shortly after (like weeks), often to the dismay of those around them. And when someone trots that out, they most often end with "and we're still together today." Didn't happen to me that way, but it HAS HAPPENED. It's not only in fairy tales that you see someone or speak to someone and know in an instant they are the one for you. Love doesn't come with a strict timeline, thank you very much!

Here's the other reality of romance and "insta-love": readers say they don't want two characters to just fall instantly into love at first sight with each other, but no editor in their right mind is going to buy a book featuring a long, drawn-out courtship (except maybe a historical). Time is necessarily compressed in books, just like they are on TV. Do you think we can really get DNA results in real life as fast as they do on CSI? Heck, no! Do you want to follow the lab techs as they go about their daily business for the weeks it takes to get that info in -- and have the suspect disappear in the meantime? Uh, no, you don't want to see that. Time is compressed so that you, the watcher (or reader) will stick with the story. That's the reality of the entertainment industry today -- what we the entertainees have demanded. It's just how it is.

And then there's the dreaded virginity question...

I'm not sure what it is that people have against virginity. It's almost reverse peer pressure: "Your heroine MUST NOT be a virgin; it's unrealistic!" And God forbid your hero be a virgin, because, ya know, men cannot possibly control the urge to have sex, even if they're raised in monstrous conditions with severe psychological scars (the same goes for women). That's sarcasm, by the way -- I firmly believe virginity is a reality for everyone on the planet, and that the first time comes at its own pace for each and every person, not on a timeline. Jess, in Teach Me, is a virgin. So many reviewers complained about me "trotting out the virgin card." But there was a very good reason why Jess was a virgin, and here it is:

It fit who she was.

Why? Jess was and is incredibly shy; it's the very first thing Conlan notices about her aside from her eyes. That's why he equates her to a doe. Hesitant, beautiful, SHY. If you aren't shy, maybe you can't understand, but I AM SHY, and that attribute kept me from being very forward as a teen. I didn't get into a lot of parties and other situations that might've led to sex. When you have body issues or are unsure of yourself, you are often left in the background. That's reality. Does that mean shy people never lose their virginity in high school or college? No, but it can go either way.

But that's not all. Jess did meet and start to date in college. She met Brit, her very first "serious boyfriend." College isn't really that old, around age twenty, give or take, for most of us? Brit was helping Jess through a tough situation with her parents' death, and I don't know about you, but if my parents just died and I was in college and I was trying to figure out life from that point on, having sex for the first time might be a bit of a stretchy decision for me at the moment. Not only that, but though she was grieving and uncertain (and SHY, don't forget shy!), Jess felt that something was off about her feelings for Brit and the way he treated her. Given that we find out later he might've had something to do with her parents' deaths, we can intimate that his behavior at that time might've been a bit on the stalkerish side already. Lots of red flags there.

Now, we preach that women should listen to their instincts and not sleep with someone just because they feel it's expected, but I guess some people don't really believe that. They felt like surely in and amid all this turmoil, Jess should've had sex at some point, right? WRONG. She did what she was supposed to: she listened to what her mind and her heart and her body were telling her and said no. And almost died for it.

Surely then she had sex, right?

O.o

Yeah, I think if my first and only boyfriend beat me up because I wouldn't have sex with him, I'd run right out and find the next willing partner and... Well, you get the idea. Sarcasm aside, maybe some readers haven't been through a traumatic experience, but I know what it's like to face a terrible situation and then try to rebuild your life on the other side. It doesn't work that way. It takes time, and it takes trust, and Jess finally found that in Conlan. Why is that so hard to find realistic?

A fellow author (whom I love!), Sandra Owens, wrote the K2 series featuring a hero in Someone Like Her who was a virgin. That point of the story caused the biggest issue in reviews: no man who was a SEAL would still be a virgin! Not only that, but the reason he was still a virgin was flimsy at best -- his mother was a prostitute who abused him and his sister, and surely no such woman could ever be even slightly realistic. (Sarcasm again...) And yet that entire part of the story was based in a true life story, Sandra's father's story. That was his life she was writing about in many ways, and yes, it was true. But for whatever reasons, some reviewers felt it was "unrealistic."

I've written before about the writing advice "write what you know" and how we might not be able to experience dying of cancer, but we can relate to the emotions. As a reader, I might not have been a SEAL and decided to remain a virgin, but I can understand the reasoning. I can see the legitimate motivation. I can see someone else's experience -- that wasn't anything remotely like mine -- and empathize with it. That seems to be something some people have lost. I've never seen genocide, but I know it happens. I've never had sex before marriage, but I know it happens, and that it's a valid experience for many people. My own experience is different, for whatever reason, but no less valid. Maybe it's time to bring that tolerance we all talk about to the world of fiction, of romance, and start seeing each story as the adventure it is, the chance to step into someone else's shoes and experience something we ourselves haven't, not just a homogenized plot that reads as exciting as milk by the tenth incarnation.

What do you think? Do you feel some things are just too off-the-wall to believe? Can you suspend disbelief if the author motivates a character's choices well enough? I'd love to know which side of this idea you fall into!

Release Day Dance Par-tay!

It's kind of become a tradition that past sixteen months (can you believe it's been sixteen months since Dirty Little Secret came out?) to have a dance party on release day, featuring the playlist for the new book. And since TRUST ME went live yesterday, today we are going to PAR-TAY!!!! Jack and Maddie's story actually had two different playlists because it had two different incarnations. The first story, written a few years ago (and much lighter on the plot line), was heavy on the country music. I'm not a huge fan of country music, so I had to educate myself. But when it came time to revise Trust Me, a whole new playlist came to life. That's the one I'm gonna share with you today!

Of course, I couldn't get away from the country song that inspired the story itself. Trust Me's heroine, Maddie, has been on the run for years. Only the need to find a missing girl has drawn her out of the shadows. Her story was inspired by the Rascal Flatts song "Stand."

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Vzpjv_kR4&w=560&h=315]

Trust Me's hero, Jack, is a badass, no doubt about it. From a young age he's taken care of himself, and now he takes care of those around him with everything he has to give. His theme song? "Train" by 3 Doors Down.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZF6WDnaBOs&w=560&h=315]

Jack and Maddie are explosive together. Whether they are sparring verbally or battling their way into (or out of) each other's arms, nothing comes easy for them -- until trust is built between them. Only then can Maddie give her body to him. Their first love scene (well, the first one that doesn't take them by surprise :) ) was inspired by one of my favorite songs from the latest album by Daughtry, "Baptized."

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu4h_rx4lyc&w=560&h=315]

Another song from the original playlist that continued on to the final version of the story was another Daughtry favorite, "Tennessee Line" with Vince Gill.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLQkaKW43pY&w=420&h=315]

There is one thing that draws me to Jack more than anything else (though yes, his bod is definitely a draw!). But I love the tenderness and determination he has to prove to Maddie that she can trust him, that he will live up to his promises, that he's not like the man who hurt her in the past. What song did I play over and over and over while I watched Jack struggle to earn Maddie's trust? "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAP9AF6DCu4&w=420&h=315]

Of course, there are far more songs on Trust Me's playlist than just these. To see the rest, visit Trust Me's Extras Page here. And don't forget to grab your copy of Trust Me this week only for the "Reader Appreciation" price of $0.99!

Amazon

All Romance Ebooks

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

One more thing! This week, IndieSagePR is hosting a giveaway for Trust Me's release. You can enter the Rafflecopter giveaway here before Friday, February 6th!

A Day in the Life...

This year, in keeping with my New Year's resolution, I want to take the time each month to tell you about something that's happened in my life, a moment, big or small, that meant something to me -- and hopefully to you. And I want to encourage you to look for moments in your day that add meaning, and value, to your life and world. This week is, of course, fairly hectic, with TRUST ME releasing in less than a week (oh boy!). I'm learning I have to give myself moments in the day where, even if things are hectic, I take the time to relax my mind, exercise or even relax my body, just "be." Do you have a place where you can do that? I do! Whenever the weather cooperates -- and sometimes even when it doesn't -- I have a walking trail a few minutes from my house that I visit to de-stress.

Beautiful, isn't it? These were obviously taken in two different seasons, but that's part of what I love about this trail is that it is so soothing no matter when I go. (Sometimes there are more people than others, which might be why I enjoy the colder weather sometimes, but... :) )

The best thing about this area is the water. Many authors find water a creative energizer. Water flowing is soothing for me, both the sound and the movement. I often find myself coming up with new ideas for books or blogs when I walk here. And sometimes the water attracts companions that brighten my day:

Can you see the heron there? At least I think it's a heron; I'm a bit bird illiterate. :) But he was a pretty thing, perched there on the log, watching the water, one stick-like leg holding him up. I passed him twice, and both times he would open his beak and swing his head back and forth real slow as if warning me away. I wanted to hang out with him all day, of course, but he didn't seem to feel the same, so...

What about you; where do you go to get away from it all and de-stress? Does it involve activity, or do you prefer rest (like a massage)?

Don't forget, next weekend is release time! Next Monday I'll be hosting my traditional release day dance par-tay!!! (So obviously I need the R&R this week. :) ) And check back this week for details on the Facebook party coming up this Sunday. It's gonna be so much FUN!

~ Ella

New Year's Resolutions

Staring at the blank page before you Open up the dirty window Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance So close you can almost taste it Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin No one else can feel it for you Only you can let it in No one else, no one else Can speak the words on your lips Drench yourself in words unspoken Live your life with arms wide open Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten

~ "Unwritten," Natasha Beddingfield

This song has struck me hard the past few months. Why? Because I've spent a lot of time working. A lot. There's no better way to describe it except maybe that I've been drowning. So many of us find ourselves in this place at some point in our lives, wondering how to get out of the hole that seems to be consuming us. So many of us never find the answer, but I was determined to. I want to "live with arms wide open," not with my eyes forever on a computer screen. And so my New Year's resolution is just that:

I want to live with my eyes, arms, and heart open -- to my family, to my creativity, to my faith, and most of all, to those around me.

I'm still figuring out what that means for me. My first step is to LOOK UP. I spend a lot of time looking down -- at the computer, at the ground, at my feet because I'm too shy or too self-conscious or too scared to meet other people's eyes. Not anymore. I'm looking up, really trying to see the world around me, not just the characters in my head or the work that's waiting for me.

There will still be plenty of characters, of course. TRUST ME will be here on February 1st. TAKE ME, book three in the Southern Nights series, will be released this spring, featuring the enigmatic Gabe Williams and his twin brother, Sam. Hopefully Ian's book in the Secrets To Hide series will be written and released later this summer. And if all goes well, there just might be a new genre on the horizon. That's right; my paranormal series, The Archai, is on my to-do list this year.

And in and around all of these great books will be lots of moments of living intentionally, of looking up and truly seeing and living, not burying my head in the sand or letting work rule my life. What about you? What is your New Year's resolution this year? Inquiring minds (like mine!) want to know... :)

~ Ella

When Writers Don't Read

It's terrible when you have to schedule reading time so you can write a blog post. That's what has happened to me over the past few months. In order to write my monthly "What I've Been Reading" posts, I've had to schedule reading time -- not because I didn't want to read, but because I simply didn't have time. I hesitate to go into the "why" for fear of sounding, well, why-ney. :) But the truth is, life's been kicking my butt. Getting TRUST ME out by Christmas has been my number one priority, and unfortunately, my writer brain has not been cooperating. Of course, neither has my kids' sports and school and orthodontist schedules, my husband's work schedule, my work schedule (that's right; I work a day job in addition to writing)... You get the drift. In fact, for a little while I feared TRUST ME would not only be late releasing, but would not release at all. Everyone has those times when the avalanche descends and you wonder if you'll make it out alive.

Well, I have, but only because I made some tough decisions. And one of those was making time to read.

Last month in Birmingham I heard Sylvia Day speak. It was at a readers' luncheon, and of course she talked about reading. Or rather, her lack thereof. She discussed how, when she ended up in a crazy publishing schedule that took every ounce of time she had, she couldn't squeeze in the minutes and hours it took to read. And when it came time for a particular deadline, she realized that the book that was due just...wasn't going to happen. She was done, dried up. Her creativity was taking her nowhere with this story, and she didn't think it ever would. In fact, she didn't think she'd ever write another story. Ever.

So Sylvia contacted her editor and gave her the bad news. After much discussion and pushing off of deadlines, Sylvia said her editor finally asked one all-important question: When was the last time you read? (A book that wasn't yours was implied.) And Sylvia told her, I don't remember. So her editor gave her an assignment, not to finish writing, but to go read. It was the spark Sylvia needed to see the light on her own story and find her well of creativity again. She read other writers' novels, eventually finished her own book, and rediscovered a piece of herself in the process.

As a writer and a woman (mother, spouse, sibling...), I think I fell into the trap many women fall into: that something we find pleasure in is unimportant. My kids spend hours a day playing video games and reading books and watching TV/movies, and I WORK. Day in and day out, I work, because that's what a good mom and wife does, right? But my need to write was going nowhere. And then I heard Sylvia speak and realized, other than my scheduled monthly posts, I haven't read a book for pleasure in...I can't remember when.

For a writer, it simply isn't possible to sustain your creativity without nourishment. And for a woman, it isn't possible to sustain your supportive, positive, hard-working attitude without taking time for yourself as well as others. I knew that, but the tyranny of the urgent was louder than what I knew, until the urgent couldn't be taken care of because there was no fodder for the fire. TRUST ME wanted to be written, but I wasn't giving myself enough fuel to sustain the creative need. We have to feed ourselves, body and soul, if we hope to continue feeding others. I wasn't doing that, but now I am! And it is oh so sweet to find that place of comfort and pleasure again. :)

Reading again has made a huge difference in my life and in my writing. And next month, I'll share again some of What I've Been Reading -- without the whole scheduling thing. I hope you are nourishing yourself too, taking care of you so that you can take care of others. So tell me, what have YOU been reading? What else do you do to feed your soul? What difference does that make in your life?

~ Ella

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving week here in the US, and the perfect time to remember the things I'm thankful for. It's been a difficult year for me, one filled with quite a bit of illness but also many, many highs like the release of Teach Me. Here's my list of the top ten things I'm most thankful for this year: 1. My family.

2. Being healthier than I've been all year.

3. Being a published author and realizing one of my life's biggest dreams.

4. Becoming a self-published author -- one of the hardest parts of this journey, but one that has taught me so much, not only about publishing and how to create a great book, but also about myself as a human being and how strong and determined I truly am.

5. My husband's support. Many authors go this journey alone or, worse, with active discouragement from their spouses. I'm blessed with a spouse who encourages me the whole way.

6. My creativity. This year I developed a severe soy allergy that left me with months of brain fog and inability to write. I no longer take for granted the ability to tell stories, to get into my characters and actually feel the joy of writing.

7. My readers! I've had the privilege of meeting and getting to know some truly lovely readers this year. I can't tell you how exciting and humbling this experience has been!

8. Rory Olsen, my editor and all-around encourager. Rory has been a godsend and a true blessing on this journey. I'm so thankful she was the one who read Dirty Little Secret over a year ago!

9. Being outdoors. There were periods of this year where being outside wasn't an option for me. Taking a walk is one of life's greatest joys, and I'm thankful that ability has been restored to me.

10. Books! 'Nough said. :)

I hope you all enjoy this week with family and friends, whether it's Thanksgiving holiday where you live or not. What are you thankful for?

Sexy Men of the South

I've lived in the South all of my life. In fact, I've only ventured out of the South for visits less than ten times in my life. Hey, there's a lot to stick around for, not the least of which are the sexy men that populate this region of the world! ;) That's why my heroes, both in Secrets To Hide and the Southern Nights series, come from the Deep South. And just to prove exactly how sweet our men are around here, I've compiled a list of the most famous hotties the south has gifted upon the world. (You can say thank you later!)

Alabama

Channing Tatum

Kentucky

George Clooney

Johnny Depp

Louisiana

Harry Connick, Jr.

Jared Leto

Ian Somerhalder

Tennessee

Justin Timberlake

Texas

Matt Bomer

Josh Brolin

Ethan Hawke

Matthew McConaughey

Virginia

Rob Lowe

You are more than welcome. ;)