FABULOUS GUEST BLOGGERS IN JANUARY!!!

Please come visit in January to read the guest blogs by some fabulous authors!!!

Friday, January 13^th – Sara York

Monday, January 16^th – Cara Bristol

Saturday, January 21^st – Drea Becraft

Tuesday, January 24^th – Donna Confer

Friday, January 27^th – Christian Jensen

Have a wonderful and safe  NEW YEAR!

And the Winner is....

for this Christmas Blog Hop, I had 14 comments left!  That is fantastic!  Thank you all for posting your New Year's Resolutions...even if you have none!

As with all my contests, I say I pick only one winner...but the reality is I hate when only one person wins.  So I've decided all the people who left comments will get a free pdf ebook, their choice!

I'll be sending private emails out to the people who left email address, those that didn't leave email address are: Abigail, Elle, Megs, and Eva!  Please leave a comment with some way I can contact you!  Thanks so much!

Thanks so much for everyone who participated, I really appreciate it!

-Beth D. Carter

Another Year

Another year is on our doorstep.  Out goes 2011 and in comes the promise of something new, something better.  New Year’s Eve builds our hope that the coming year will be different.  That we will be different.  Some will vow to finally lose weight.  Some will vow to quit smoking, work harder, be a better person or spend more time with the kids.  Resolutions are a tradition and yet breaking them is also a tradition.  Some of us even make bets on when they’ll be broken.

I am one of those people who love making resolutions.  And I vow each and every year that I will keep them.  This is year I actually made a vow with one of my best friends, Dahlia, to lose 10 pounds.  That’s not too much, is it?  That seems like a reasonable number.  And if I got a friend doing it with me, then I must stick to it, right?  

My other goal is simple.  I plan on turning my writing into a full time career, and I plan to push myself as a writer.  I have a m/f/m cowboy historical erotica romance titled “The Scarlet Dove” almost finished, and I have a m/m romance going round in my head, as well as a rock-n-roll m/f/m story. 

December is a time of love, joy, and reflection.  I try not to dwell too long on reflections of the past, of memories that are painful or hurtful.  It brings to mind a saying I heard years ago…”When your memories out number your dreams, the end is near”.  So I always sweep out the old in December and embrace the new.  Instead I turn to Percy Bysshe Shelley who wrote “Why linger, why turn back, why shrink My Heart?”

So, what will you do to greet the New Year?  Will you sing Auld Lang Syne?  Will you scrub your house clean?  Will you ring a gong 108 times to expel 108 human weaknesses like the Buddhists do?  Eat twelve grapes for twelve happy months?  Watch the Rose Bowl parade?

To win a free ebook pdf version of any of my books, winner's choice, simply leave me a comment about what your New Year’s Plans or Resolutions may be.  One random winner will be selected on December 19^th, so make sure you leave an email so I may contact you! 

And make sure you visit all the other writers on the Stuff Your Stockings event page, to potentially win more prizes!  http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/

Happy New Year, the birth of 2012.  I raise my glass and toast to the promise of a new beginning.  Happy writing.  Happy reading.

The Clockwork Prince : A book review

I bought this book on Wednesday and finished it Friday.  O. M. G!!!  Oh my F**ing Goodness!!!  I’m in awe.  Shock.  Totally in love.

Okay, deep breath.  Let's rewind.  I liked The Clockwork Angel, but The Clockwork Prince far surpassed its predecessor.  It did not go way of most sophomore follow-ups with a convoluted story line that failed to deliver the goods.  This book packed so much of a sucker punch I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry through the whole book (I ended up crying).

The best thing about it?....the one liners.  Cassandra Clare has a gift.  My favorites:

1.  ‘Will looked at him in puzzlement.  “Is this a game?  We just blurt out whatever word comes next to mind?  In that case mine’s ‘genuphobia.”  It means an unreasonable fear of knees.”’

2. ‘”I think it’s charming,” said Will.  “I’ve heard polka dots are the last word in fashion this season.”’

3. ‘”I can trust you, Jessie, but you’re clearly not well enough to go.  Which is unfortunate, since Aloysius always had a weakness for a pretty face.”

            “Even more reason why I should go,” said Will.”’

    

4. ‘”I’ve never swum naked in the Thames, but I know I wouldn’t like it.”

            “But think how entertaining for sightseers,” said Tessa.

This book contains very raw emotions, and it will break your heart.  It has restored my obsession with Cassandra Clare’s novels and now I anxiously await not only the next book, The Clockwork Princess, but book five in the Mortal Instruments.  

Clarity and Laziness

Today I went for a walk.  I have been sick for a few days so yesterday I came home early from work and slept, and this morning I felt better.  So after dropping my son off at school I bundled up and went walking along the harbor, looking at the variety of boats nestled among the slips.  It was a great moment for clarity, to breathe in the coldness and feel it on my fingers, while moving through patches of sun for warmth.  I thought about stories, possibilities.  I thought about my current character whose story I'm writing and how to transform her into a strong woman my readers will empathize with.  I’ve missed those moments, those walks I used to do years ago before life got in the way and I became too busy.  The creative juices I had back then almost boiled me raw.

All my life all I’ve ever wanted to do is write, and now I’ve been blessed with the chance to fulfill my dream.  Walking alongside the harbor, seeing the sparkling ocean, reminded me that it is so easy to sit on the laurels of what has been achieved...though I’m far from accomplished.  I’ve remembered that I should never take for granted the opportunities I’ve been given.  The drive I once had, before my first book being picked up for publication, came speeding back into me like a steam roller, demanding to know why I let so much complicate the dream. 

So.  There it is.  How could I forget it?  How could I keep telling myself, “Soon…” when soon is now?  I’ve missed the voices in my head, the ideas overflowing until I can’t sleep until I write them down.  I’ve missed that writer I used to be. 

Hello, sunshine!