Happy Birthday, Tyler

Yesterday, December 15, was Tyler's 2nd birthday.

For those of you who missed it, 2 years ago, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who had a heart that was medically (and I believe, metaphorically) too big for this world. He was kept on life support until it was all too much and five days into this world, he went to Heaven.
You can read the full post on the experience here.
In short, it was amazing. We had the best doctors and even better nurses, who I believe were sent and placed there for us for this event and time in our life--and for Tyler. These women were beautiful inside and out, strong, and compassionate and they helped me get through a time no mother should ever have to experience. I can never, ever express the depth of my gratitude and love for these women or for the UVA hospital--the doctors and staff who were there for us and for our baby. It was a sad time but also a time full of miracles and everywhere I looked, I saw the good.

Since then, I have tried to see that good every single day. It IS there, if you're looking. People are compassionate and giving and life IS exciting and rewarding. My renewed outlook on life centers around two truths: One is the fragility of life. We are not promised tomorrow. We have only today, only this life. And it's up to us to live it fully. To experience NOW. To never wait to say or do what it is we feel and what is important to us. I have had such a blast living that way and done some of the most exciting things I never thought I'd get to do--and I wouldn't have, if I'd continued to have an "I'll do it later" attitude.

One of the biggest so far is the start of my author coaching business, Phoenix, where I can help others do exactly what I've done and that is to create a career of freedom and full-time income doing what I love while still spending plenty of time with the people I love. Some others are: standing on stage at a Zac Brown Band concert to a sold out crowd, meeting Plain White Ts, owning and riding a motorcycle!, Visiting Colorado (on my bucket list) and seeing the mountains for the first time, vacationing in the Dominican Republic and sipping a margarita on a white sandy beach!, standing front and center at an Andy Grammer concert (his music inspires me to press on and achieve my dreams!), visiting New Orleans for the first time, travelling multiple times a year for pleasure, and SO MUCH MORE.

My point is this: do it now. Whatever "it" is--stop waiting. What if "that day" never comes and you die without doing "IT"???

The second thing I've become aware of and centered around is a collective connection we all share with one another. The entire world is a collective consciousness. Have you ever had a great idea that feels inspired by the Universe itself only to hear someone else has started or done something similar shortly after?
Me too.
And I think it's awesome because it's a sign we're all connected. To a higher power and to each other. How cool is that??
In honor of seizing the day, our birthday present to Tyler was the gift of making someone else's life better or making their dream come true, through a Kiva loan.

If you're unfamiliar, Kiva works like this:
You make a loan on Kiva. All Kiva loans are made possible by our Field Partners, who vet, administer, and disburse each loan. Throughout the life of the loan, you will see progress updates from Kiva through your email, and if you come back to the site.As the borrower repays the loan, the money becomes available in your account. This is called your Kiva Credit. You can now use it to fund another loan, donate it to Kiva, or withdraw it to spend on something else.
Who do you loan to? 
There are hundreds of stories and potential borrowers listed on the site. This year, my kids and I chose someone from Senegal. A single mother who will use to money to buy fresh vegetables to resell in her local market. She will use the profits from her business to pay for her children's schooling. 

Basically, this is awesome. 
It helps someone else live a better life NOW and it connects us. 
If you're looking for a way to honor someone or give back in any way, Kiva is it. 

This entire week is a way for me to look back and remember those beautiful five days and be grateful for that time as well as all the time I get now to make my life the best it can possibly be. This is something I can do for Tyler and for myself, to honor him. And through it all, I've had unending support from my reader and author friends and I am SO grateful for every single one of you. I didn't set out to be an example or inspiration, but for those of you that have told me I am that for you, it warms me to know my story--Tyler's story--is able to help in making your life better and to connect us. 

Happy Birthday, Tyler.

Bucket lists and Birthdays

In honor of my awesomesauce friend Laura Elliott's 50th birthday (woot woot! Happy Birthday girlfriend! *throws confetti*), she is having a 50% off sale, EPIC giveaway, & bucket list feature on her blog. You can enter here for all of the fantastic books she is giving away, including an e-book of Imitation. 

The concept of a bucket list has become a big deal in my life over the past 18 months so I am SUPER excited about Laura’s idea to post about this! For me, a bucket list is something I keep so that I don’t forget to LIVE—something I’ve begun passionately pursuing: LIFE! Yes, I think real Living (capital "L") is something you have to pursue. Otherwise, you get comfortable and lazy and you stand/sit still until you find Life passing you by.

A while back, I went through a rough time and lost a baby. (You can read about Tyler here.) He was only five days old went he went to Heaven because of a bad heart. Losing him taught me a LOT about life, the fragility of it, and how fleeting it really is. It taught me that you only get to do this once and so what the hell was I waiting for? You don’t get a do-over so if you procrastinate or always speak of “future plans” of all those things you want to do, like “someday, I’ll _____," then someday never comes because you never let it.

In other words: Do it now! You might only have today!

My bucket list is kept on my bedroom wall because it’s important enough that I want to see my goals and desires every time I walk in. I took a paint pen and wrote the things I want to do. Things like: Buy a motorcycle (did that in December 2012!), take a ride in a hot air balloon, ride an elephant (this one is my favorite!), go to a professional basketball game, ride The Tail of the Dragon (it’s a motorcycle thing.), hit #1 on Amazon, travel everywhere (I have a shelf in my room that I wrote all of my bucket list destinations on.)

It’s funny. Once I wrote them, I saw them more as goals instead of far-off future dreams. It made them more real and present and I became more determined to experience them. Now, my favorite thing is to find new experiences, to do something I’ve never done before as often as possible, to live every day like it’s a bucket list kind of day.

And, being a writer, I found words that sum it up for me. I love this quote so much, I wrote it on the frame of my bedroom mirror:
“Write something worth reading or do something worth writing every single day.” –Benjamin Franklin

Another bucket list item: get more tattoos. My birthday was last Tuesday and look what I got:

Maktub. It means, "it is written." It's from The Alchemist by Paula Coelho and it's all about following your Path and fulfilling your Purpose. And learning to speak the Language of the Universe. If you haven't read it, you should. This book changed my life! 

Now, I want to know what's on your bucket list. Comment below and tell me one thing you want to do. Not one thing you HOPE to do or WISH to do, but WILL DO. I'll pick a winner at the end of the week to receive a swag pack in the mail including my brand new Imitation bookmarks! 

Some Announcements... and also, butter knives are dangerous

This post is all about letting you know. "Because the more you know.... the better." <--- That would be a cheesy line from a local TV station we had growing up. It was their signature whatever.

Anyway.

First, you need to know that I have a new book coming soon. Whisper will be out April 19th -ISH. Here's the cover, done by Char Adlesberger (genius!) on the right-hand side bar. --------->

What do you think? Gorgeous, right? She does good work. Okay so it will be out for Kindle and Nook for $2.99. I'm not sure how much the paperback will be. Hopefully around $11 like the others. I'll see what I can do. And if you click the cover picture on the right side of the blog, you can add it to your TBR pile on Goodreads.

Whisper is special to me because it came about as a much-needed journalling project after Tyler died. I think that is an entire blog post in itself that I will have to do another time. but there is ALOT of my emotional "Stuff" in there so the MC is a version of myself in a way. My sister is beta reading for me and she called and was like "whaaa? There's a lot of hints of us and our own childhood in this thing." Yeah, I know. Go with it.

And its a little different from my other titles thus far. There's reincarnation and possibly an immortal or two, and death is faced and conquered. As in my real life.

Oh and a hot Indian boy ;) #requiredingredient

I am looking forward to hearing what you all think of it.

Also, on the list of announcements, Across the Galaxy is FREE through Saturday for Kindle. Here's the linky:
ATG FREE  It's currently like #4 in Sci-Fi Adventure, with Bob Mayer's Atlantis and other uber-amazing stuff. Nice list to be on.

I've always been against the idea of offering my work for free because I know my work has value. Books take a long time to write. And its hard, its work, its frustrating and amazing and makes you want to gouge your eyes out one minute and weep at your own genius the next. THAT should not be free, in my opinion.

But I've been pretty overwhelmed of late. With all the love and support from readers and the lovely mail I get encouraging me about Tyler. And I wanted to give something back. So, this is my thank you for your support. If you've already read it, pass the link on to a friend who hasn't. But this is for you guys. Thanks. I love ya.

Also, Decended by Blood by Angelina Kace - a fellow Accendo Press author of mine - is FREE this weekend as well. its got the hottest vamp you've ever seen. Mirko. He's on my sidebar. You can look but you cannot touch. He's mine. I will cut you with a butterknife. (incidentally, that's something i ALWAYS say and then "Lo and behold" guess what I did to my OWN HAND yesterday? Embarrassing, totally.) So be sure to get that for Kindle while freedom rings. Linky here.


And lastly, and possibly most important, and definitely most interesting:

My friend/sensei/mentor/drinking buddy/lunch date/role model/husband's golf partner (I could go on but you get the idea) Warren Murphy, author of the The Destroyer series, Grandmaster, and my favorite book EVER, The Forever King, has just released a new book (he's come out of retirement AND hiding for this.)

It's called Savage Song and its a novella (25k words) and its AMAZING!!!

As a rule I do not usually review or recommend books, especially from the platform of my blog. but this. THIS. . . this is an exception of epic proportions. Here's the cover and synopsis:

She is the world's greatest entertainer;  in a few brief years, she has changed show business forever and tens of millions of people follow her every move.  Now it looks like someone is trying to end her career for good. She's not the kind to roll over and play dead for anybody.

Enter Remo Williams, the Destroyer, and Chiun, the Master of Sinanju and the world's greatest assassin...who has a warm spot in his heart for the singing star.  Killers, stand back.  You're messing with the wrong girl and you ain't seen nothing yet.

Available for your Kindle 3/23/12

Her name is Madam Googoo! sound familiar? haha. It's great! There's humor and a badass assasin and rock stars and guessing the intended identities of each "name changed to protect the innocent" was a lot of fun. So be sure to check it out. You'll be hooked! 

Also- there is a contest going on at their blog. They are giving away a Kindle Fire, so be sure to enter. Linky here.