If it were up to me, I would pick Bicycles

I've always supported the troops and every single man and woman who put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms we hold dear and near to our hearts and serve our country.

The military has always been a part of my family and my life in one way or another, with only a few short years when I did not know someone serving.  My father was in the army during the Korean War (way before my time). My husband was an enlisted Marine during Vietnam.  He spent his time in Japan and for that I am grateful. His two best friends, the men who stood up at our wedding, both served in Vietnam.  My husband is older than I am and while he was wondering if he would receive orders into the war zone, I was playing with dolls.  At the same time, I had a cousin serving as a Marine in Vietnam. Sadly, he was killed in action before I was old enough to really get to know him.

I have a nephew who joined the Marines and another who is in the Air Force and is currently in Afghanistan.  I try not to think about the danger he is in and keep him in my prayers daily.  There have also been friends who joined after high school and served during my adulthood.  I simply try not to think about the danger, something that has become second nature to me (or so I thought).

I learned to file the danger away after marrying a cop because it was necessary.  The first years of our marriage we lived in one of the top ten cities for crimes against individuals.  During the second year of our marriage, we experienced what was referred to as "Black August" when 8 officers were killed in the line of duty in one month in the state.  I would tell my husband each day that I didn't care if it was 115 degrees out, he was wearing his vest. Of course, he would have worn it anyway, I just felt the need to remind him there were no options as far as I was concerned.

Later we moved to a calmer community, but that didn't mean he was any safer.  The wrong car stop or a volatile family fight and things could go very bad for any officer responding.  A case in point, he was off work 8 months for injuries after responding to a family fight and wrestling with a man who was on some serious drugs.  So, quiet community does not equal a safe job for a cop. But, I learned not to really think about what he was doing or what could happen.  If I did, I would go crazy with worry.  I am sure there are many things he didn't tell me, or he told me much later.

As a wife and aunt, I can accept the danger and put it from my mind.  But, can I do that as a mother?

My son met with a recruiter while I was at RT.  He and my husband sat down and discussed the pros and cons with this young woman without a word to me.  I know why they did it. They knew I would freak.  My son has always been interested in the military. He joined ROTC his freshman year of school and often talked of joining the Marines when he graduated.  I bit my tongue because he has to decide his own path but I wanted him to do something safe.  You know, like origami.  Then, over the past year he was thinking about going to school in Colorado. He wanted to study bicycle engineering.  This was a career path I was 100% behind. He would still mention the armed forces. but I would remind him that people need good bicycles.

After I got back from RT, we sat down and discussed what my son wanted to do.  Instead of the Marines. he has decided to join the Air National Guard.  I met with the same recruiter Monday evening so my questions could be answered. While I am not thrilled that my son wants to enlist, I know he needs to follow his own path. Thankfully, he still has a year of high school, which means I have a year to get used to my baby  going off to boot camp and come to terms with the possibility that he may one day be deployed.

Have you ever had, or do you have, a loved one serving our country? How do you deal with the worry of the danger?

Celebrating My Newest Release~ Live For You

I am so excited to announce that my New Adult contemporary romance novel, Live For You is out!!!

iTunes | Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Smashwords
Amazon UK and Amazon Canada

The hero of Live For You is Cole Morgan, a full-time bartender and a part-time college student. And our intrepid heroine, Violet Rae Givens aka Violet Lynn, is the reigning Princess of Country Music. Both have secrets and broken hearts.  *cue dramatic music*

This book was such a departure from my usual writing. First, it's in 1st POV (not the easiest to write, IMHO). Second, I had to amp up the drama, the angst...the ohmygodiwillneverfeellikethisagain, because I clearly (ha!) remember feeling all of that in my very early twenties.  Third, this is the most I've ever tortured a hero. Ever. And the heroine didn't get out unscathed either.

In fact, I've never cried for so long and hard while writing those torture scenes.  But I did it. And now it's done. Live For You is all out in the Internet world and out of my hands, er, computer...or something like that. 

So, raise your glass and drink your favorite poison with me--because book release days make me a leeeettttllleee nervous. <G>  My drink of choice? An Appletini!

So, have you read any books in the new adult genre? What book? One lucky commentor will win an e-copy of Live For You!!!!

I had a dream...

I know it LOOKS like I'm sleeping peacefully. 

…Well, not an inspiring or populist dream that will be memorized and quoted by school children until the end of time.

But I had a dream, just the same. Actually, I’ve been having very strange dreams lately. In the good ol’ days when I first started writing, I had dreams about characters. I had dreams that inspired books. And I very, very rarely had dreams about myself. Most of my dreams have always been like films, looking in on someone else’s life like a bystander, sitting in a dark movie theatre with popcorn.

But recently, not only have my dreams been strange. They’ve been starring yours truly. And perhaps that’s why they’ve stuck with me longer than my usual dreams. I even told Jerrica about a dream I had about squirrels in one of our ROMANCE RAMBLINGS webisodes.

(For those of you who don’t know… I hate a squirrel. I HATE A SQUIRREL) I even coined a new word to discuss this particular dream – Freudianly. I know it’s not really a word but it so should be!

Anyway, for the last few weeks, we’ve been moving The Scientist from his house into an apartment. He could have moved in with me, but the plan is to wait until my angsty teenager graduates. Not that any of you care about this, I’m sure.

But I digress. Where was I? Oh, the moving. Right. Ok, so we’ve been moving stuff for days and I’m a little more tired than normal. So this week, after I dropped my teenager off at high school, I’ve returned home to grab an extra half hour/forty-five minute nap before work.

Have you ever had a dream where you’re doing exactly what you’re doing? Did you follow that? Well… I had a dream that I was sleeping in my bed, in the exact position I was really sleeping in. And a man came into my house. (I watch a lot of crime TV, don’t ask me why. I don’t know.)

Anyway, from the front entryway, a man grumbles, “Where’s the dog?”

Now adrenaline is coursing through my veins. I mean, I’m just 5’2. If a couple of men break in, I’m in trouble. I didn’t have the energy to even get out of bed, I was so tired. So instead of hiding or calling for help, I decided that the best way for me to deal with a pair of uninvited robbers was to scare them off before they got to me. Because if they get to me, it’s too late. I’m done for.

Are you following me in the dream? The man says (presumably to another man) “Where’s the dog?”

So I loudly answer, with all the sarcasm and bravado I have in me, “Reading, #*$%er!”

Yeah, that’s right. Some burglar wants to know where my dog is, and my answer is that the dog is off READING. And then I call the man one of the most vile things you can call anyone in an attempt to scare him out of my house.

Ended up the man was my ex-father-in-law bringing my son home sick from school. (All of this was a dream. While my son has a cold IRL, he's been at school all week.)

Anyway, I have laughed for days about the idea of my dog lounging around, wearing a smoking jacket in the backyard with a worn out old copy of War and Peace or maybe a little Pride and Prejudice for a lighter read.

But, seriously, these dreams are going to make me batty (if I’m not already). I need to get back to dreaming about characters or people I don’t know. Or maybe I should just lay off the crime TV.

Now I know they say no one cares about anyone else’s dreams (unless they have a starring role in said person's dream)… but I’ll be nice and ask anyway. Have you had any strange dreams lately? What do you think they mean Freudianly? (It is a good word, isn't it?) But most importantly, do you own a dog who likes to read? (Because mine would like to start up a book club with his peers. Maybe something they can do after their late night poker games.) 

Image credit: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/photo_12470759_dog-reading-a-blue-book.html'>damedeeso / 123RF Stock Photo</a>