What is it they say? Better late then never?

Things have been a little rough lately this way. Really though, it's more like it has been a rough decade.

It was spirit week at school for my oldest, a general lead up to homecoming. As a sophomore, this is his first year choosing to attend the homecoming dance which meant he had to ask someone. He has an adorable girlfriend and he wanted to make sure everything was just right.

Tuesday, when I got home from work at 5:28pm, he asked to go to the store. He needed a poster board, candy, and a teddy bear. Why he needed a teddy bear he wasn't sure. All he knew was that it had to be a bear. So off we headed in search of the items on his list.

Now, one thing to keep in mind it that he is sixteen years old, sixteen. That's how old I was when I had him. Needless to say this is a difficult time in growing, but watching him be typical teenager has hurt me a little. I didn't have that, and a small part of me regrets it. Seeing him mature and grow has been such an important part of my life. We have grown along side one another. He trusts me beyond all else and I know I can trust him to make the best choices he can with his hormonal mind. I am so thankful every day that he feels he can talk to me about anything, especially topics that may be difficult for both of us to broach.

Of course our first stop was Wal-Mart, because they have everything. The bears there were either too small or too visibly cheap. I sided with him on that one, those bears were not what I would have wanted to receive. Wal-Mart did have a large family-size bag of her favorite M&Ms and poster board, and cream cheese and milk which were on my list.

Our next stop...Target.

Unfortunately though, Target also did not have a good selection of stuffed animals. The bear was not found.

I had worked a ten hour shift on my feet and was not trying to run all over town, but I wanted this for him, for her. I was willing to go the distance to ensure he was happy.

Toys R Us. Honestly, I love Toy's R Us. Something about the nostalgia and a place with everything just for kids. I know they aren't doing so well right now. I hope they somehow pull through and continue to bring joy to little ones in the future.

We had never gone to Toys R Us for anything stuffed. I have two boys and while they have always had a fair collection of stuffed creatures, most of them came from friends and family or were found in the same aisle as the action figures.

Finding a section of stuffed animals, namely teddy bears, proved a more difficult task than I first imagined. Sweaty and tired, I found myself too easily distracted by all the new and colorful toys. Silly little things that would probably be lost in a day, monstrous dolls that even a young me wouldn't care for.

When I go somewhere new, or somewhere I'm not entirely sure of the layout, I admittedly do not ask for assistance. I enjoy looking and learning. Sometimes that is when I find the best things, like my T-Rexs in bow ties salt and pepper shakers.

The stuffed animals were at the back of the store, almost half an entire aisle of them. At first it didn't look like we would find a bear at all. They did have some pretty amazing little rabbits that I may go back and get for myself. Their selection of different animals was exactly what I would expect from a toy store and were we looking for a donkey we would have been in the right place.

Top shelf appeared to be designated for bears. Colorful was out. Big sparkly eyes were a no. Then, when all hope was almost lost, we found it. The last of its kind. It was the perfect bear. A classic brown bear with a gold bow fixed around its neck. A size most huggable and soft. I could not have pictured a more perfect bear. We both agreed, this was the one.

At home, the poster making began right after dinner. He didn't know what to write. Underestimating the size of the poster board and making the words big enough to be seen at a fair distance, we brainstormed a half hour at least before coming up with: "It will be beary nice if you go to homecoming with me".

I was up until midnight putting the finishing touches on the poster. My oldest went to bed trusting me to make it pretty. I know it should have been his responsibility and all that, but I could see in his eyes the disappointment every time he made a little mistake or it didn't look the way he wanted. He would go back over a line with the paintbrush unintentionally widening it until it was straight. It would have taken until the morning hours if I let him do it himself.

He and his girlfriend were both happy with the presentation and it made me happy to be a part of it. It doesn't matter how long it takes or how tired I am. My kids are worth every sacrifice.

With my youngest turning six next month I think it is more than past due for me to take better care of myself, mentally and physically. All my focus has been on them which it always will be. Time is what I really need. Just an hour or so a day for me. My writing and art has been close to non existent and it makes me sad.

How the heck do you make the time?

I'm never good with titles

So I just started and Etsy shop. Definitely check it out if you are interested in all things awesome and fun. Bits of Weird and Fun

Also, I got a new laptop because my old one died :( and not in a fixable way. So I am currently transferring over to the new one. which is why I am a bit behind on anything comic and digital lately.
No worries though. I will be back in action soon enough! Once everything is running I promise to be more active online (social media, etc.)...at least I'll try to be. Like I've said a million times, everyone who knows me is well aware how bad I am at such things (Facebook).

This isn't a very good blog, I know, My posts are few and far between, the content tends to be short and of nothing really. Not sure what to do about that :/

Until next time friends.

D-d-d-d-d-digital art!

I have been practicing my digital art. I'm so used to paper and pencils/pens, paint brushes and canvas. It is definitely an adjustment. The hair needs work and I need to add a dew more details, but I really love how this turned out.

Things and stuff, all jumbled, a mess

A new web comic has been added! Check it out:

http://tapastic.com/series/Traveling-Secrets

On another note.....................I turn 30 this weekend! I'm so excited (not sarcastic, I swear). Rather than have a big party with a bunch of friends that I see all the time. I decided I wanted to spend it with my brothers and their girlfriends. Even though we are 400+ miles apart, they will always be my best of friends. Unfortunately one brother just bailed due to work obligations which I understand. But my youngest brother will be here Friday!

This weekend will be packed with everything and anything we can do. So that means a lot careful of beach time (too many shark attacks here in NC), games, drinking (naturally), something adventurous, and a possible trip to Myrtle. And maybe we'll meet up with a few friends.

I really need a big dose of family in light of recent events.


Oh, and I really want to start some give-aways, for both my books and web comics. I started making some little stuffed Ruby dolls and have a few other ideas. If anyone from the comic site happen over here, leave a comment on Tapastic or my Facebook to let me know you are interested. I'll make a post for those sites in a few days ;)

Well, I'm off to clean and work on some more stuff.

Have a wonderful day/evening and please be good to one another!

Life is so fragile

This morning I found out one of my good friends passed away last night, in one of the most awful ways. I haven't spoken to her in a few weeks. It has been a few years since she moved across the country, and we have attempted to keep regular contact, but life gets hectic. Now I sit here thinking that I should have been a better friend, I should have spoken to her more often. I cried. I continue crying, for the loss of such a beautiful, intelligent, strong woman, and for the four young children left without a mother.

Life goes on. One person passes away and another is born in that same moment. Just because I care, just because her family and friends care, that doesn't mean the world cares. Millions of people will go on with their day, go on with their lives, without even knowing. So the question that comes up is: Is it worth it?

What I mean when I ask "Is it worth it?" is that we are the ones who put value on our own lives. We are the ones who self deprecate, loathe, and mistreat ourselves. Yes, others might too, but we are our own worst critics.

Is it worth it to save up money for a vacation? Is it worth it to buy a house or continue renting? Is it worth it to go drinking with friends? To look for a new job, a better job? To go back to school? To help a stranger? To ask out that person you've been interested in? To get married? To have kids? Is it worth living?

We appraise everything we choose to do without even realizing it. Everything comes down to worth.

What is happiness worth? Can you put a value on that? On life, plain ol' living?

I don't know, because I'm like everyone else. Later I'll weight the pros and cons of what to make for dinner. Is it worth it to thaw chicken when there is steak already in the fridge? The common sense in me says no, but I'm craving chicken Alfredo. And tomorrow when I wake up, it starts over again.

What it all boils down to is Am I worth it? Do I deserve all that I have and more. The answer is always yes. I am worth it. YOU ARE WORTH IT!

What's the point of droning away my entire life? To not take chances now to live while I can? So I can retire at (hopefully) 55 with decent enough health (fingers crossed because we all know that's not guaranteed) to travel and experience what life has to offer? What if I don't make it to 55?

We have to take chances. We have to enjoy the time we have. Not everyone has the means or is at a place in their life where they are able to do much, I know this. Of course it takes time. And when the time is right, do it. Do what you dreamed of, take the opportunity to live as others can not. Whatever it is, be safe and take care of yourself.

And if you are able, help someone who needs it, even if it's just a little bit. Even if the only thing you do is give them good advice. Make that phone call, send that text. Be good to one another. There is too much bad in the world already. We should start changing that while we have this short time on earth to do so. For our children and our children's children.

Back from the dead...or close to it

It has been a long few years filled with tears, joy, death, and birth. Love was lost and it's all finally healed. So much was happening all at once that I had to step away from all this. But now I'm back and ready for action. Look out world, here I come.

It's been a while

Sooooo...I have been working some crazy hours for the past few months, 11 1/2 hour days crazy. With my boys and work I haven't had much time for writing or much else. I did publish Heart Above the Sea in these past few weeks, but I removed Hunt for the Fallen from sale to make some serious edits. Win some you lose some.

On another note, I hate Facebook. I'm trying to figure out which other networking sites are decent out there. Too many bugs, hacking, and drama on FB, though I expect the drama everywhere. Blah.

By the end of next month I plan to have the edits complete and HFTF back up for sale. We shall see if I get the time :/

Until next time...dun dun dun

No motivation

There is so much going on right now, my head is going to explode!!

I'm working on turning this blog into my website. Mainly because I hate the other one.

That's really all I have to say for now, because, you know, head explosion and all.

email owns me

I get so many emails a day that I am constantly on my phone. I mean, from personal to business, book related to random nonsense, I definitely must have a few different email accounts to keep things somewhat organized. Not that I mind reading and answering emails, but I have now designated a time in the evening to do so.

On top of all that shiz, my iphone has decided to no longer refresh or promptly notify me of certain emails. Very sudden and weird. I haven't had any problems with it up until now.

Technology...ugh. I try to think about how different it would be to try to self publish or even communicate without computers, email, cell phones, etc. We did once, and I know it wasn't that long ago. I just can't imagine surviving without these things now. Dependence on electronics and recent technological advances...that's a bad thing, isn't it?

Oh and for those who have noticed that my bios and about mes have changed, it's personal, long story. HE is no longer mentioned for a good reason.

Ugh PDF conversions suck

So.....I found out that my ebooks become mangled after converting them to PDF format. For some reason doing this removes punctuation and misspells some words. A few of the mistakes are my own and I can see this in the original copies, but compared to the conversions mine are near perfection.

I'm going to try every which way I can to fix this problem. Once I republish my books I would appreciate it if you guys can report errors to me. I swear I'll love you so so much if you do.

I'll post when all my ebooks are back up for sale and put my email so I can get direct responses as usual. Thank You!!

Congrats to all the graduates out there, my little cousin Ricky included. Enjoy you're youth and your last free summer before it's time to become a grown up! J/k Good luck on the bright futures ahead of you and remember as Einstein said:

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."


So never give up!!

Gamers...Ugh

Anyone else out there have a gamer hubby? You know, one who has a specific game on the 360, PS3, or computer that they are basically obsessed (addicted) to playing? Yea, that's my hubba. He did go quite a few months with out playing, until about a week ago when my cousin called him urging him to hop on. Now, I'm not against gaming-he has his own room to play in and he's considerate of the families needs-but it does get pretty annoying after a while. Right? The noise, the trash talk, the times...ugh. Anyway :/


I've been working on my new website trying to tweak the details. I'm making the grand attempt at doing it all myself. We'll see how it goes. I may be placing a few calls to my brother for some assistance. I'll post a link when it's finally ready.


As for my ebooks.............It's pretty much all about the covers right now. I'm having a difficult time deciding on the most appropriate covers for each, and I know for sure I'm changing ones that are already published. Yes, indecisive is me.


I have briefly unpublished my short stories ebook due to editing errors and because I wrote a few more stories I want to add. It will be back up soon.


Well, I'm going to hop off here now so that I may work on my site, feed baby, contemplate book covers, play with baby, and pick up my big guy from school. Then, eventually, I will play some dance games on the Kinect because they are fun. (I will admit that my game addictions involve Mario, Sonic, and Donkey Kong. Shhhh) Also thinking about picking up Zumba for 360. I hear it's a great workout- I do have some baby weight to shimmy off.


Until next time!! Have an awesome day, week, month, and heck, year!!

Oh So Complicated

Hello!! First off let me just say that I have four books in various states of editing and completion. I don't have definitive dates for the upload of them. One in particular is a children's book my son helped me write and I happen to be very excited about that one. As soon as they are up I will blog it up.


On to funny times... apparently our Pomeranian thinks the baby is capable of playing fetch at four months old. Misa (named after Misa Amane from the Death Note anime), has been apart of our family since she was six months old. She's now three years old and this is the first infant she's been around for long periods. Toddlers are her favorite and she is so gentle with them. Every time the baby is in his chair Misa brings him one of her toys, setting it in his lap, then waits patiently for him to toss it. She will wait forever. Eventually I have to throw it, but she takes it right back to him. Another thing she likes to try to do is sit in his lap which is not very successful. I hate scolding her because she isn't hurting him or even trying to hurt him, but I can't figure out how to let her know, and get her to understand, that he's too little. She's a tiny work in progress. How does one get a dog to understand such things?


Until next time...A good week to all!!

Issues

For some reason Barnes and Noble is labeling Not a Nightmare as part of the Secrets of the Fallen Series which it is definitely not. It also has a review linked to it from my book Hidden Among Us. I'm trying to figure out how to rectify this. I'm not having the same problem with Amazon, all seems fine there. I'm hoping once it gets uploaded to Apple and Sony I won't have a similar issue.

As for reviews, my sales go up but there aren't any reviews. If you enjoyed reading one of my books please feel free to write a review. Even if you didn't I'd like to hear what you didn't enjoy. Whether you want to write a review or email me I always appreciate it. Those who have sent me emails in the past about editing issues know how grateful I am. And to all the new readers who don't already know-if you find any grammar/spelling/punctuation (proofreading/editing) mistakes please, please, please email me with them. I can not even count how many printed books by various authors that I've read with numerous editing errors. Since my books are ebooks I can control those, but sometimes I miss things as do the people who proof for me. That being said, please email me at christinaeb103@gmail.com if you find anything or have any criticism.

Thanks again to all the readers out there!!

Uploaded!!

Not a Nightmare is uploaded and should be available through Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com sometime this evening. It is currently for sale on Smashwords.com in the format for most ereaders. Check it out when you get a chance!

I'm going to yet again change the cover for Hidden Among Us once I have the opportunity to work on it. Not happy with how that one turned out :(

And lastly................HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I stuck to my new years resolutions last year and honestly, I could not be happier. My suggestion to all is to make 'em and keep 'em, because you won't regret it. Remember, if you make a resolution there's a reason you made it. A safe and wonderful new year wish to all!

News!

I'm finally ready to get back in the game. After a rough c-section due to placenta previa I had to receive a blood transfusion and ended up with a difficult recovery. My incision started to split open early in week two post-op and it's been quite a journey since. Sorry, I know, TMI.

Now week six weeks post-op I can say I feel great, still a little sore, but great. And that being said I've had some time to get one of my other books put together. By tomorrow afternoon or evening I'll have uploaded a collection of four short stories titled Not A Nightmare. Make sure you check it out!! Remember, since I self publish there may be errors that the person I have proofread or I don't catch, so if you come across any please shoot me an email to let me know. You guys know I appreciate it!

Just to give you a quick little description of Not A Nightmare:

This is not a collection of scary stories, though a few may be slightly disturbing. The first story branches off from the Secrets of the Hidden series to give a back story to the archangel Troy and his encounter with another important angel from the series. Troy thinks he may have imprinted, but he has to locate her to be sure.

In the second story, of the extraterrestrial kind, Jess finds her love life nonexistent and someone is watching her with the wrong idea about her intentions. With a busy career and money of her own all she wants is someone to go home to. But the universe has other plans for her.

Our third story follows lonely widower, Gregory, in a post world-wide breakout of a man made affliction. The caring man takes in wanderers and opens up his home to help those not infected. All the while he keeps a dark secret locked way.

Farrah faces a ghostly nightmare in the fourth story. After a devastating loss she fights to pick up the pieces and restrain from ripping her boyfriend's mom a new one. She plots to make things right again only finding she has no control over even her own life.

Almost There

We found out last week that I have placenta previa, meaning my placenta is completely blocking my cervix making it impossible to deliver the baby as expected. Bright and early Monday morning I have to go to the hospital for a scheduled c-section. Yay. Up until the last two weeks this pregnancy has gone great besides the 1st trimester nausea. So, as of Monday there will be a brand new bundle of joy joining my family!

As for my books, I have two that are incredibly close to uploading. Unfortunately these recent findings have set me back. And obviously a new baby will take priority. When I get the free time I will finish both. Hopefully before the new year. *fingers crossed*

Until then, everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving! Safe travels and well wishes to all!

Ugh Life

Nothing can ever go as planned.

We found out we're having another boy, he's due in November (YAY!!). Due to numerous doctors appointments and our oldest son's football practice and games, as well as sewing for the farmer's market, I haven't had much time on my hands for anything else. So my other ebook release dates have been pushed back to accommodate.

My still untitled mermaid ebook will definitely be out before mid-October, it's soooo close to final edits. The second book in the Secrets of the Hidden series will be out in late winter/early spring 2012, unfortunately. Until I publish untitled mermaid I am lowering the price  of Hidden Among Us for a limited time to hopefully generate a "buzz" if you will. It will return to its original $2.99 price when untitled mermaid is out, so keep that in mind. Untitled mermaid will be at $.99 as a permanent price.

This year so much has changed and I couldn't be happier. My son turned 10 years old on Sept. 17th and we've got another little boy coming in November. I can already feel that next year is going to be another funtastical one. One thing's for sure, it's been 10 yrs since my last baby, I'm having a hard time remembering what that's was like.

Enough rambling. Keep reading, my ebook or any other wonderful book out there!!

Thank You

I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who has purchased my ebook, you're the greatest! I'd also like to thank everyone for the emails about any errors. I know there is only a few, but that's enough to bother me. Next week I'm going to upload an updated version with the corrections.

It's been a busy and hectic time for me it being summer and all. With my son on summer break, pregnancy, writing, and sewing for the farmer's market, I've kept every minute of my days packed. It makes me thankful for all the supportive people in my life.

Thanks again to all! I'll have my updated version of Hidden Among Us up next week and my newest ebook up the week after!!

Next book news

No, this post isn't about the next book in the Secrets of the Hidden series. I'm actually thrilled to announce my next ebook, a stand alone book, yet to be titled, will be available by mid-July. It's a slightly different take on mermaids, and  completely apart from Hidden Among Us. This tale is more a paranormal romance which is very new to me. I've never written any type of a romance before, so I'm excited to hear what everyone thinks.

I'll post as soon as I upload it which may be sooner, I don't know yet. We shall see!!

Yet another book cover change

I'm so indecisive! I've changed my cover once again. It will take about 24 hrs to upload the newest one. Eventually I'll have another book uploaded and that cover will become my main focus.

If you find any editing errors at all, please, please, please email me with them: christinaeb103@gmail.com. I am completely open to constructive criticism and I know there are errors as I've recently found several. No worries, I am grateful for any help! Thank you!!!!