Thursday, October 29, 2015

It's amazing what offends people

It really is. In fact, I'm fairly certain that someone read that headline and was ALREADY offended. LOL

Okay, prepare yourselves, this is going to be a bit of a rant.

Since I spend at least some time on social media each day, I've noticed something strange. People don't seem to want you to be happy. I had always heard in the past that if you posted negative things constantly that people would unfriend you. I've certainly stopped following some people who never seemed to have a good day. We all go through rough times, but not every moment of every day.

Here's the weird thing I've been experiencing: Every single time I post about accomplishing something POSITIVE I get unfriended by at least one person.

I was thrilled to hit the USA Today list for the second time in my career. Of course, I didn't do it alone. Everyone who helped make it possible is awesome. My point is, I posted about it and lost 3 friends. WTF?

A few days later I posted about my workout schedule and got unfriended by a few more people.

The next day I posted about my latest karate training session and I lost MORE friends.

Now, if I clogged up my author page with nothing but personal stuff, I might could understand people no longer liking the page. I do occasionally post some fun/personal stuff, but mostly it's about writing. But on my personal page, I have a life. That is allowed, you know? LOL

I don't share anything deeply personal, but I see nothing wrong with posting about my life goals. Earning a black belt in krav maga and Shotokan are major life goals for me. It's something I should have done 10 years ago, but due to things I could not control, I've been on hold. Well, not any more. I CAN control things now and I want what is mine. 

Nothing in life has ever been handed to me, whether it was writing or karate, or anything else, I've worked for it. 

In the past few months I've even had people send me hateful messages on Facebook saying that they don't care about my workouts or things like, "I'm overweight and I don't want to hear about how much you workout." And your situation is my fault? I'm truly sorry that anyone is struggling with weight. I've been there and it sucks. But I'm not there any longer because I took charge of my body and my life. Staying put is a personal choice and NOT my fault.

Before anyone takes that the wrong way, I'm not making fun of anyone. I wouldn't do that. It's cruel and horrible, and not at all who I am. I'm just saying that we create our own reality to a large extent. And if someone is sitting around pointing fingers and being offended because you are meeting your goals, they have too much time on their hands.

This past year depression really knocked me on my ass. There is no nice way to say that. I was down and I went down HARD. But you know what got me up again? ME! I did it! I pulled myself up off the ground and I came up swinging. And I don't intend to stop any time soon. I have goals to meet! You know who will meet those goals? ME! Not anyone else. If you want something, you have to take it. Get up off your ass, stop judging everyone else and TAKE what you want from life. Work for it. Kick its ass. Get it done.

Okay. End of rant.







Friday, October 23, 2015

Lots of exciting news! :)

First off, I just want to let everyone know that I'm still very much alive. LOL This past year has been rough for me and I realized that I've REALLY let my blogging go. Aside from personal and professional stresses of all kinds, I've been fighting the worst depression of my life. It's still strange for me to share that, but it's true and I see no reason to lie. There's still this stigma with depression, as if suffering through it makes you a head case. Well, the good news is, I'm improving. And the even better news is, this isn't a post about depression. Ha. Ha. I just want to catch everyone up with me and my life.

A few days ago, I got some wonderful news. Taming the Monster hit the USA Today Best Sellers list at #91. I can't wipe the smile off my face. Thanks so much to everyone who purchased this set and to all the authors in this set with me. I appreciate you all.

Click to Grab Your Copy Today! Only $0.99 USD

I'm still in shock over this one. We had such fun planning these stories. Taming the Monster actually started out on a whim. It was just a fun conversation between a few authors. "Wouldn't it be fun to do some monster romance?" That was the basic idea. Boy did we ever run with it. And to list on USA Today? Woohoo! 

This is the second time I've hit the USA Today list. Both times I was in a set with some of the same incredibly talented writers. I'm very grateful to have reached this goal in my career.

Here's something else awesome that I finally got accomplished. By very popular demand, The Lilith Mercury series is now available in a "complete edition." All seven books in one boxed set.

Click here to get your copy


I've had a lot of people asking about this as well, and the wait is nearly over for the final book in the Bound by Blood series. Are you ready to see how things turn out for vampire hunter Nicole Austin and her two hot men?

Pre-order your copy now to lock in the low price of 99 cents!

Releases November 1, 2015




As you all can see, I've been very, VERY busy. I've also been growing pumpkins! LOL But, I'll talk about that in another post. For now, I'm a little bit closer to being caught up and spending some time with friends and family.