Platform...how important is it?

Today I am over at Sandra Sookoo's blog talking about platform. Please stop by and tell me what you think about it!

Life is not easy.

I didn't think that was something that needed to be said. But apparently it does. I get very frustrated with people who think life is all rainbows and sunshine and they will get everything they want without having to work for it.

I wasn't born with any kind of silver spoon. My dad worked real hard to give us what we had. We had everything we needed though, and I look back fondly on my childhood. My parents taught me by example that life is not easy and you need to work hard. And even then, hard work won't always give you fancy things. I try to teach my kids that too, though sometimes I do think they are too spoiled. Financially, we are in a better place than my family was growing up...which I attribute to the hard work my husband and I do. (Not that we work harder than my parents did, my husband was just lucky to get into a career that pays better than my dad's did.) It's not a matter of wanting to give my kids more than I had. We want to enjoy our life and do fun things as a family...and sometimes fun things cost money. We like to go on vacations since we can afford them. It's something we rarely did when I was growing up. And sometimes I do wish my family could have made some of the great memories we have with our kids.

Money aside, it takes a lot of work to make a marriage work, parenthood, owning a home. None of it can be done successfully without a lot of hard work. And a lot of times, it's not fun. The complete opposite. It's complete hell. But the benefits outweigh the hell. I see so many marriages fail and people complain about how hard it is to raise kids. I never entered into either thinking it would be easy. I had prepared myself from the beginning. Some days it feels much harder than I ever anticipated, but it's all worth it.

Tweets of the week!!

Here's this week's installment!! Enjoy!!

@jentoinfinity: You're sleeping with the wrong people. RT @INDIEAUTHORHULK WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET A LITERARY AGENT, BUT SO EASY TO GET CHLAMYDIA?

@MattBryantDFW: The problem with the bat-signal is it lets everybody in freakin' Gotham know he's coming.  It should be a subtle iPhone app.

@RickyGervais: Following someone on Twitter & then complaining about what they tweet about is like stalking someone & complaining that they walk too fast.

@AdvicetoWriters: Writers get paid for what other people get scolded for: daydreaming. We’re supposed to wander. RICHARD WALTER

@RuthiKnox: I just need to say, for the record, because I'm really feeling it today: God, I love being a romance writer.

@thejessbess: I've been calling 1-900-MIX-ALOT, but no answer. So I'm not quite sure how else to kick these nasty thoughts.

@BuffaloGrlProbs: I've been doing a lot of bikram yoga...except room temperature and no stretching and in my bed watching TV. #workoutplan #buffalogirl

@RubenAgency: Don't be too serious as a writer. Or anything. If you're not having fun, you're probably doing it wrong.

WINNER!!!!

Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by the Girly Blog Hop!! Such a fun event!!

And now for my winner!!!! I used Random.org to choose a winner and the lucky gal is: Cassandra!!! Congrats!!!!

Tweets of the Week!

Here we go again! The funniest, most inspiring, and most entertaining Tweets I read this week!

@Lisaurstein: So someone just found my blog searching "Lisa pull my pants down, lisa suk my pp on you tube" my eyes my eyes o.O

@kirstiealley: DWTS makes people happy!!!! Thank you for having me..it's makes me happy too!!! xxxo

@abswrites: I wish people cared about real issues as much as they care about football referees. #justsayin'....

@SW_Messenger: Why am I incapable of using superglue without gluing my fingers together at least once???

@rklipman: HEY I JUST MET YOU STOP AND THIS IS CRAZY STOP BUT PHONES HAVEN'T BEEN INVENTED YET STOP SO TELEGRAM ME MAYBE STOP

@Chrishell7: I feel like I legitimately have the right to key a car that purposely takes 2 parking spaces.


@Pamstucky: Whoever just found my website by searching on "how to make a pterodactyl out of toilet paper roll," Thank you - you made my day!

@honeyrun: You know what's funny? Paintings of Adam & Eve where they both have belly buttons. Think about that, take as much time as you need

@MandyHubbard: We should bring this back. RT @OMGFacts:  In ancient Rome, men found guilty of rape had their testicles crushed between two stones.

The Girly Book Blog Hop!

Today I'm part of a fun blog hop all about secondary characters!!

What gal is complete without her super fab BFF?????

Secondary characters give our main characters depth. I think you can tell a lot about people by who they keep closest to them. In my writing, my secondary characters are usually quirky and wild. They're usually a person my main character wishes they could be more like...and learns a lot from them.

Below is a scene from my newest work in progress...just wrote this scene! It's the first glimpse that readers get of the dynamic between Deeni and her BFF Lydia. Basically, Deeni has just been dumped by her longline boyfriend and concocted a wacky plan to save face at her sister's wedding. Enjoy!

(PS...except has a bit of strong language...18 and over only please!)

Deeni took a deep breath. She was about to share this crazy plan with someone who was not physically involved in it. Lydia wouldn’t sugarcoat. She’d tell her exactly how nutty they were to even attempt it. 

“It’s not how it looks.” 

“You looked pretty damn cozy, if you ask me. Who is this guy? Where did he come from? And were you cheating on Eddie?”

“Hold on. I’ll answer all that. We just met this morning.”

“Wow. You jump back in the saddle fast. And by the way, I’m kinda pissed I had to hear about the breakup from my mother, of all people.

“I know. There really wasn’t any time. It all happened late last night, and then I had to get to work. The wedding takes precedence over any other thing in my life right now.”

“Fuck the wedding.”

“I’d love to, believe me. But anyway, we met this morning and he just got dumped too. He needs someone to pose as his fiancé and I need someone to pretend to be my new boyfriend cause I kinda told my mother I had been cheating on Eddie for months.”

“And why would you do that?”

“Because she was gonna sit Uncle Fred in Eddie’s empty seat at our table for the reception, and I don’t know, it seemed like a good idea at the time. She had that pitying look in her eye and I couldn’t stand it. I think I’d rather be a cheater than a pathetic dumpee.”

“Okay. I think I get it.” Lydia pulled up in front of Deeni’s place. “But that doesn’t explain the almost kiss I witnessed at Allegretto.” 

 I can’t explain it either. “Uh, I guess when you take two recently dumped people and give them two bottles of wine, they get a little out of control.” 

She shook her head. “Just be careful. You don’t know this guy.” 

“I will. Thanks for the concern, Mama Bear.”

“You don’t want to end up like me."

“What are you talking about? You’re blissfully happy.” 

Lydia’s fling the summer between junior and senior year turned into a baby girl that spring. Luckily, she was good at picking someone to fling with. She and Chuck fell in love, adding two more kiddos to the crew.

“Yeah, I am. But it’s not fun to have a baby with someone you barely know. It wasn’t exactly easy getting to where we are now.” 

Deeni remembered. She’d listened to Lydia cry numerous nights back then.

“So how are you, really? It had to suck being dumped like that.”

“It did. It does. I’m not sure how I feel. One minute I’m devastated and feel completely blindsided, the next, it’s like I dodged a bullet. Can you imagine if I’d married him and had kids and then he decided to cheat on me?”

“That woulda sucked. But I guess now that it’s happened, I’m not really all that surprised. Do you wonder if he’s cheated on you other times than this?”

“I never suspected until now.” She turned toward Lydia. “Do you think it’s cause I’m bad in bed? A girl like Gina G probably does all kinds of freaky stuff.”

“First of all, I can’t say for sure having never had sex with you, but you are not bad in bed. And secondly, that tramp is a freak. If he’s attracted to a girl who flashes her lady parts all over Miami and will blow him anytime, anywhere, then you don’t want him anyway.”

“You’re right.”

“And now you can find a better man. Who knows? Maybe something will happen with the tasty one you had for dinner."

“Uh, no. He’s just been dumped too. Nothing good can come of me thinking I can start a relationship with Carter. If anything, he’d be a fun fling.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with that. Best way to get over a guy is hot sex with an even hotter guy.” 

Deeni giggled and shook her head. “Thanks for the love. And the ride. I appreciate it.” She leaned across and hugged Lydia. “I’ll talk to you later.”

 So there it is! I love a great set of BFFs! And in honor of great BFFs, I've giving one lucky winner a digital copy of my book, Soap Dreams, which also stars a feisty BFF sidekick!

Giveaway is international and you must be a blog follower to enter! Just leave a comment below with an email address so I can contact you! Contest ends on Oct. 1st at 11:59 PM! Thanks for stopping by!

And make sure you check out all the other participating blogs and all their awesome giveaways!!!

Do you thrive on routine??

Today I'm over at Sandra Sookoo's blog talking about routine! Click here to come on over and check it out!