Giving Thanks

This year has been a bit trying in the Skyze home. I'm thankful for the love and support of family and friends. I'd be lost without you all.

Happy Thanksgiving to those readers who celebrate!

"HUG A FRIEND DAY" HUNKS!

WARNING: DON'T LOOK BELOW IF EASILY OFFENDED! Now that I have your attention (did you already scroll down to peek?), on with my "HUG A FRIEND DAY" blog!

Friends. Everyone wants them and some may be lifelong people you can count on. Friends can commiserate, cry, laugh, with you and share your good and bad times.

Do you keep in touch with friends? Now with the Internet, it's easier to send messages and keep up to date with what's going on in their lives. And, finding old friends again can be great!

New friends are wonderful, too. Finding someone who shares your interests makes you more at ease in their presence. I love all my new reader and author friends...I can talk to them by email and meet people in different countries. I know authors and have fans all over the world.

Now...Hunk friends. Not too many I personally know, but fantasizing is a great stress reducer. The older I get, the more tantalizing a sexy guy becomes and gives me that "AH" feeling of my wicked days-gone-by. Oh, sure...I was a wild woman in my younger days, chased the guys, let them chase me, sometimes got caught...but those stories haven't been told yet, and may never be.

These guys would make wonderful friends I'd love to hug...repeatedly. What do you think? Just look at the muscles (especially the one on the far right) and imagine being embrace in a "friendly" hug...hopefully lasting all night!

So, maybe I should write a series of "Hugging Hunks" Romance Adventures? I could give them names, personalities that suit my romance story plot, "expose" their attributes...and your naughty mind is thinking of what each one holds in his hand...but I'm, of course, talking about those muscles, sculpted torsos, great smiles, etc. SURE!

Visit http://www.mariannestephens.net and htttp://www.aprilash.net for information about my books.
NEW YAHOO GROUP: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancebooksrus
"Anything You Can Do" by Marianne Stephens, http://www.breathlesspress.com, received a 5 STAR, REVIEWER TOP PICK, from Diana Coyle, Night Owl Reviews (http://nightowlreviews.com/nightowlromance/reviews/Review.aspx?daoid=6063)
AYCD is in the top 10% of Romantic Comedies Best Selling List (http://www.allromanceebooks.com/category150_5.html)
Photos: Flickr: noemimanlang's photostream, and IranNuts.gif

Friendships

A lot of my writer friends have been touching on the subject of friendship lately. I’m not sure why, maybe it’s the time of the year for reflection, but I’ve been thinking about it too.

Over the past year I’ve made some incredible friends online. I have a handful of close friends, but I honestly can say, they don’t compare to my writer friends. Is it because we, as writers, understand each other? I’m not sure.

I do know that when crisis hit my family, it was my online friends who reached out. I received emails just asking if I’m okay…did I need anything. People I didn’t know offered comfort and I’ve made new friends.

Almost a year ago I met two wonderful writers at a conference. When tragedy struck they immediately sent flowers. I don’t know them that well, but it touched my heart. One editor made a donation to the fund the DH and I set up in honor of our son. Another publishing company sent flowers. I couldn’t get over how much people care. I must say the donations have poured in and I’m thrilled. To know that we can help other families struggling in the NICU makes me feel good.

So to my online friends – YOU are the ones who lifted me up and carried me to a better place. I can’t thank you all enough. Without you this last month would’ve been impossible to bear.
Cheers to my fabulous friends!

Home for the Holiday

This time of the year, I always reflect on the things I’m grateful for. This year is no different. Had anyone told me five years ago that I’d be remarried, living three hours away from my family and expecting a child I’d have laughed in their face.

When I left my abusive ex, I swore off relationships. Don’t get me wrong I wasn’t going to be celibate at the young age of 30, but I wasn’t going to live with another man either. I had it planned out perfectly. I’d have a lover or friend with benefits. Someone who lived in his own place and me in mine. I wouldn’t have the headaches of dealing with someone else (besides my children). Children were definitely out of the question. I had three – more than enough in my mind. I had them young and it was time to enjoy my life.

Not to sound like a bitch, but I broke up with a guy ten years my junior because I felt he was going to want more children in the future and I wasn’t going to be the one to give them to him. I also ended a few relationships because the guy wanted me to uproot my children and move twenty minutes from my home. Boy is doesn’t seem so far now! LOL

That all changed when I met my husband. I threw caution to the wind and moved three hours away from my family – for the virtually unknown. I had no friends in RI. I did manage to land a job before moving here, but that’s it. I uprooted my children to a strange new environment, leaving all their friends behind. It took a lot of adjusting and there were struggles along the way. My health took a turn for the worse due to stress. I spent five weeks in the hospital and they thought I was going to die, but they didn’t know me. I’d been through so much in my life I wasn’t going to let a disease like Crohn’s take my life. Shit, my ex could have killed me a few times.

Today as I sit here thinking back and I’m thankful we’re all healthy and happy. I couldn’t imagine my life any differently.

Tomorrow the DH and I leave for NY. We’re spending the holiday with my family. That means three days of visiting. Not that I mind. I’ll spend some time with my dad. We’ll have dinner at my aunt’s with all my cousins and my mom. In the three days we’re there I have to squeeze in time to see a couple of my friends too.

It’s nice because a group of us usually do lunch on Wednesday. When I left NY five years ago I hadn’t realized just how hard it would be to get back home and see family and friends. It seems the only time I get back is for holidays or if it’s something special for my goddaughter and Mother’s Day.

That’s why this trip at Thanksgiving is that much more special. I’m thankful for the friends still in my life. The ones who didn’t abandon me because I moved one hundred seventy miles away. Some did, but I realize they weren’t true friends.

And lastly I’m thankful for all my online friends and fellow authors, who made achieving my dream of being a published writer that much better. I feel like the luckiest person alive.

Today I want to wish you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving!

Ideas Are Plentiful

I had one of the most insane weekends I think I've had to date. It started Friday with birthday party in Boston for my SIL, after I went home to bed until 3:45am when I had to work for a few hours. We had to be at the softball field for 7:30 that morning for two back-to-back games. We grabbed lunch on the way home. When we arrived at home, my daughter and grand daughter were waiting. It was my night to keep her over. So baby T and grandma spent the day running around getting birthday gifts for her mother and father and picking up the last minute stuff for the cookout/birthday party the next day.
Baby T went to bed around 9ish. I'm pretty sure I crashed shortly after. She woke up at 11. My daughter failed to mention that she doesn't like her pack and play. She needs the comfort of a soft mattress. So I had to do the one thing I do not like doing. I slept with her in my guest bed. I raised three children and none of them ever slept in my bed. So here I am kicking aside my own rules for the grand baby. Yes, I'm a pushover.
T woke up bright and early at 6am ready for her bottle. B, promised the baby would go right back to sleep after the bottle. HA! She was ready to play! So grandma and grandpa got up and played. In the process I made salads, cut up meat and got it marinating. Oh, did I mention we had to be back on the ball field at 11? Everything was set up for the party, except the deck. We had it stained the day before and we were still waiting for it to dry. I can't lift heavy things due to a condition(a pleasant one), so I asked the DH to call his friend to get the table and grill back on the deck. He reassured me he would. First mistake! Men lie.
By now baby T is with her mother and I'm off to softball. I grab something to eat and relax for a bit. Games over back home to host a party. Oh wait I picked up one of the cakes on the way home. I wasn't in the door fifteen minutes and the guests started to arrive. YAY! Let the party begin. I don't think the last guest left until almost 10pm when I finally crawled into bed. I woke the next day with a terrible sinus infection, so I did the only thing I could do - I spent the day in bed. Now I'm behind. I took the day off from work to finish my overdue edits on Heat Waves.
I almost forgot it was my day to post. So whats the point of this long boring blog? Well for all the activities I had going on I have various non-fiction article ideas and lots of fun stuff I can add to my fiction books to add a little humor.
My DH has a cousin who is not the most handy person. The stories she told me will surely show up in a future book. Like the time she fell into a floor vent while cleaning. She got stuck and her boyfriend had to tug her out. Or how she hung valances and stuffed them with paper towels and toilet paper. I never laughed so hard at her stories.
Off to finish edits. Hope I didn't bore you too much, but the bottom line is get around people whenever you can. They have such interesting stories to tell.