Just signed the contract with Rebel Ink to publish my next novel – check it out  Wraith’s Heart

More details asap!

Time to reflect, right? Well I have to say it’s been incredible for me. Some little things – NC gave us dumb old state workers our first raise in five years (1.2%), survived an election by turning off live TV and getting rid of the landline <g>.

No, it was a good year. La Daughter graduated from college, moved to the big city and got a great job! How cool is that? And El Son will be starting a new job in a couple of weeks that has him very excited. Hubby got a promotion that delayed retirement but he’s challenged and energized – okay at least challenged.

Me? I published three books. THREE! Talk about a dream come true, literally. I’ve written for years, decades to be honest. But I never let anyone read anything I wrote – even Hubby. Then someone slipped something they had read onto the internet and I got a fan letter. After the shock wore off, I dipped my toe in again and ran into the most incredible friends I’d never met. Who knew? People liked what I was writing.

Skip forward and I get the courage to finish up some of the manuscripts that have littered my computer for ages and submit one to Rebel Ink Press. To my heart stopping shock, they liked it and wanted to publish it.  Rth Rising would finally see the light of day. So I sent them a second one – and holy s**t, Learning Trust was out there. The third one, Homecoming, was a departure – not science fiction or paranormal – just a story that came from having to clean out my parents’ house after they were gone. And people are buying and reading them. Part of me is still walking around in a daze.

I have a short story – about a returning Viet Nam veteran coming out in February, Welcome Home, and now two more manuscripts are out there, hoping to be snatched up and shared with someone.

Doubt I’ll ever recreate a year like this, but knowing that it’s even possible, I’m going to keep trying. And thanking all of you – who made it such a success.  Thank you, 2012! Come on 2013 – show me what you got!

I knew it was inevitable. Kids grow up despite anything you can do about it. I just didn’t expect it to happen so fast.

My son will be coming home at Christmas this year (and I’m delighted), but my baby girl will not. It’s not all bad; the reason is a good one. She’s working on a hit off-broadway play – Fancy Nancy – as the stage manager and can’t get off. But still. She is the baby and the daughter.  She’s the one that helps me decorate the house and ensure the packages are under the tree and labeled.  She makes the dressing for the meal and sets the table (using the good china). She makes sure all of the Santas I’ve collected are properly displayed and goes shopping with me. It’s a girl thing. I’m sure my son rather would cut off some important appendage than go shopping with me.

She’s also one of my best friends. Now that is unexpected. I wasn’t as close with my mother as my sister was, so to have this relationship is so much fun. She is going to try to come in later, and that’s good because it will stretch the holiday over weeks rather than hours. She will still add to her Christmas Barbie collection (up to 24 now) and get a new ornament, just a little late. Maybe it’s a good thing because I can focus all my attention on one kid at the time.

I’ll make do, but now I definitely understand the look on Daddy’s face the first time he realized he was going to have to share time with me on Christmas with my in-laws.

Cross stitch stockings I made the kids – back when I had time for that kind of thing.

And my most constant Christmas companion – our 2nd Christmas.  (She wasn’t much fun at 10 days old)

Welcome to the Rebel Elite Holiday Hop – day 8!

Blurb for Aurora’s Ghost –

Carl Peters lived two lifetimes and one young woman was responsible for his unpredicted journey through time. Aurora fell in love with the wrong man at the wrong time. Her mission was predestined and unknowingly she defied her destiny.

Through a series of events and one lovely entity, a drifting soul had taken love and given it back. Then one Christmas morning, Aurora set all the events back in place.

Have you ever wondered how many lifetimes a soul has seen? Have you ever wondered what a person experiences in the deep sleep of a coma? Have you ever felt a presence and brushed it off?

Love knows no boundaries and neither time nor space can never crush the strength of it. True love endures the test of time and reappears for those who believe.

Aurora’s Ghost Excerpt:

He never saw her standing there. Doctor Jessica Mallory was a tall stunning brunette with deep blue eyes. In her hand, she had his chart. No one was quite sure why he’d been lying in the snow. Since he’d awoken from his coma, he’d been the talk of Mercy and she’d heard how handsome he was. She walked in and saw him lying with his arm over his head. She’d heard about his ranting and his need to find a young woman. He must’ve sensed she was in the room, because he let his arm slip away from his face. Jessica’s eyes widened, he was handsome and what she’d seen of him so far, she envied the young woman he was looking for. She scanned his chart once again. Carl Peters was an enigma.

She had no idea why she felt uneasy, nervous, and felt a sensation close to butterflies in her stomach. Jessica cleared her throat and he opened his eyes. He saw her. He sat up.

“Doctor Mallory?”

“Yes, Mr. Peters, I’m Jessica Mallory and I hear you’re a celebrity. How are you feeling?”

“Like shit, doc.”

She moved to the chair next his bed. Her eyes met his and she saw the anguish they held. People who’d been in comas with a severe memory loss usually needed extensive therapy. Some recovered one hundred percent while others regained partial memories and some never regained those lost memories. They had to start new lives and it could be devastating. Jessica felt a tug, it disturbed her, she’d never felt any kind of attraction to a patient. But Carl was different, she’d an overwhelming desire to take him in her arms and assure him everything was going to be fine. She moved slowly from him and made sure she was sitting in the chair and a fair distance from him. She’d counseled handsome men before. She was a professional and never let anything get that way. Yet her undeniable attraction to him disturbed her.

“So, Mr. Peters, how can I help you?”

“Find Aurora Marino.”

“That’s going to be very difficult, Aurora Marino…died at birth.”

She never expected the tirade that ensued when she told him the news. He rose from the bed ripping leads and his IV from him. He grabbed her by the neck and the chair underneath her disappeared. By the grace of God, because he disconnected himself from all the machines alarms went off bringing in almost every employee on the hospital floor. They managed to subdue him and hold him down until security appeared. It took four big bulking security guards to strap him to the bed. Jessica Mallory held her neck, she was quite certain he was strong enough to begin physical therapy. And his attack on her confirmed he needed extensive psychological therapy.

She stood over him, looking down at his tear stained face. Her heart ached, how she wanted to comfort him yet it was important that she tell him.

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