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An author whose book I bought a few months ago has reminded me to review it three times. I'm not going to name names, but I mention it because I've learned something about myself from the requests. At first I felt guilty because I haven't finished reading the book. Then I started to resent the pressure to review the book. This author is fairly well known, but I have to admit I began to lose a little respect for her after the repeated requests. I understand the impulse. I'm waiting on a couple of reviews myself, but I'm not going to pressure the reviewers to review my books. I'm trusting them to keep their promise to review them. And, yes, I have already promised this author I will review her book when I finish reading it. This author's repeated reminders have reminded me that I have a tendency to put other people's needs before mine, which has made me think about my priorities. When I felt guilty that I was letting the author down by not hitting her

The Kindle edition of All She Ever Wanted is free from February 24-25, 2012. Get your copy today! If you like it, go back and post a review later!! Thanks!

Sometimes in life things happen that distract us from our lives. We're moving along a path. We're certain things are progressing like they're supposed to. We know there are some things that need addressing, but they don't stop life. We just deal with them or don't as the case may be. Then a truth is uttered. Then something happens to make us face something we've been avoiding. Then something is thrown at us changing everything. It stops us in our tracks. It shows us an alternative option we hadn't considered. It makes us question everything we thought we knew. Sometimes we can talk to a friend and get a new perspective on things. Sometimes we have to just keep the whole thing to ourselves. Sometimes we can talk to a friend without revealing too much even if just to feel less alone. In the end, whether we can talk to others or not, the decision is one we must make on our own. Somtimes it's not even about making a decision. Sometimes it's about deali

FREE Kindle download of Love in Silhouette: Poems all day February 14th and February 15th, 2012. Download yours today!! Invite a little poetry into your life!! Enjoy!!

Some of you may recognize this post from last year... As I pondered what to write for Valentine's Day this year, I decided to revisit my post from last year just to refresh my memory. As I did, I realized I don't really have anything different to say in regards to Valentine's Day.  I took some flack for this post last year, so I'd love to say I had some life epiphany or reason to change my mind, but well, I didn't, so I stand behind what I said last year. Oh, one small update. It's now twenty years of marriage instead of nineteen - It has been a year after all. :-) The post below orignally appeared on February 14, 2011. Confession time: I hate Valentine’s Day. I have for… well, as long as I can remember. Oh, yeah, when I was younger I played along, but I never really liked it. Okay, hate might be too strong a word, but it’s the word that came to mind… If you love me on February 13 and you’ll still love me on February 15, why do I need you to make a bigger

I'm seriously bothered by this quote I keep seeing posted on Facebook. "Your past doesn't define you. Let it go." Did I mention that it seriously bothers me? It's not that I entirely disagree with the concept behind it. It's that I find it disempowering when its intention is to be empowering. It's a message about moving forward, or so one would think; however, when we disavow our pasts, we devalue our experiences and therefore our selves. When we don't value our selves, we can't actually move forward. What happened in your past, happened. Nothing is going to change that. What you did yesterday, you did. Nothing is going to change that. Who you were yesterday is who you were. Nothing is going to change that. Letting the past go doesn't honor it. Regretting it doesn't honor it either. Dwelling on it doesn't honor it either. I'm not saying we can't change. I'm not saying who we were has to be who we are. I'm not say

"Pike would not back away. His arrows pointed forward, not back." from page 94 of The Sentry  by Robert Crais . Disclaimer: I am a little enamored with Joe Pike. There I said it... He grabbed my heart from his first appearance in The Monkey's Raincoat  and took up permanent residence when I read L.A. Requiem (Elvis Cole Novels) . No worries, my sanity is intact. I know he's a fictional character. The above sentences leaped off the page when I read them and left my heart pounding. I grabbed my laptop and started a new blog post at one o'clock in the morning - the rough draft anyway - thanks to those two sentences. Sometimes we move forward without resolving what needs resolved because momentum propels us forward. We find it easier to keep that "move forward" attitude in tact even if it means leaving behind people we cherish and things that are important. We let little things slide until they become issues that didn't need to become issues. Barri

Ray Ellis reviewed Reflections in Silhouette, over on his blog, Urban Fiction Unleashed! Check it out! Urban Fiction Unleashed: Book Review***Book Review***Book Review : Book Review: Reflections in Silhouette: Poems by T.L. Cooper The last time I read poetry Ronald Regan was still in his first term as ...

I'm not Linus. I don't carry a security blanket, but I do keep a brown teddy bear that I've had since infancy. I love this teddy bear. His name is Teddy. Okay, I wasn't particulary original with that one, but, hey, he's been with me since before I was born... It's not like my naming skills were at the top of their game when he entered my life! A family friend, Jean Wright, bought Teddy for me before I was born. I slept with Teddy. I played with him. I tossed him in a toy box. I ignored him. Eventually, somone in my family, probably Mom, stored him in the attic in a box with a bunch of other stuffed animals and dolls. I remember when I found him as a teenager. He'd been in the attic for years. I almost cried as I hugged him to me. I felt like a little girl. I didn't understand why he evoked that emotion in me, and I still don't. Perhaps it was because I loved Jean so much. She was a wonderful, kind, sweet, loving soul who always treated me like I wa