Fuck You, Cancer!

Insidious,

You sneak in,

Like a thief,

Unseen.

Entering the body,

Forcing it

To wage war on itself,

Sapping strength,

Muscle and bone,

Like a pestilence,

Stealing health.

And much needed time.

Confusion, devastation,

Questions and doubt…

“Why me, God?”

Or maybe

“Why them?”

Like a vampire,

You suck life and vitality

Leaving behind

A hollow reflection

That reverberates,

Aftershocks of destruction

To crumble

friends and families;

Those left behind,

And think you’ve won.

But that’s the battle,

Not the war.

Some things you can’t

Take.

They belong to the fighters.

The fierce warriors

Who stare you down,

Refusing to let you take

The love they give,

The life they live,

They never back down.

They fight and believe.

They are heroes,

Fortitude and fury

They battle until the body grows

Weary.

They teach…

Love, compassion,

And take back

What you sought to destroy.

For friends, family,

And mankind.

Help and hope–

To restore faith, belief,

And healing.

The beauty of sharing strength

Of loving support,

Of community and humanity,

And remind the world…

It’s not how you die

But how you LIVED!

I lost a dear childhood friend to cancer today after a 6 year battle. Even more, two amazing kids lost a mom and a loving husband lost his wife. A brother lost his baby sister and two parents lost their baby girl.

A year and a half before that, there was my father-in-law. And before that there was another few friends and an uncle…and the list goes on. Cancer has reared its nasty head in nearly everyone’s lives, but the miracle is in their relentless pursuit of life. Of living. Of never giving up, even if their bodies give out.

https://youtu.be/AHZCAcSh7ls

A Tale of Two Fathers

As we celebrate Fathers and all the Dads (both with us and who’ve left us way too soon, leaving a giant hole where they used to be), reflection is natural.

In real life, my bio-dad wasn’t much there for me, but my step-dad who came into my life when I was nearly out of the house has been there for pretty much every milestone and hard time I’ve come across, and I’m grateful.

It also got me thinking about the awesome new release by the awesome author S.H. Timmins. This is a New Adult coming of age book with an awesome cast of characters to fall in love with and villains to seriously hate. Why am I mentioning this book on Father’s Day?

Well, imagine you’re a youngster from the wrong side of the tracks and your grandmother passed away leaving you and your single mother pretty much homeless. Shortly after the funeral, a wealthy man pulls up, talks to your mom, and before you know it you’re living a new life in a new home on the right side of the tracks. Turns out the guy was her mom’s boss and he offered to “rescue” them if her mother would be his wife, become mother to his son (the same age as the young girl), and never look back at her past.

Doesn’t sound too horrible so far, right? I mean, he took the little girl, Jolene, in and put her in all the best schools. How very altruistic, right? But things aren’t all that they seem. Especially after her mother dies, leaving her alone and in this man’s care.

Of course, there’s another dad in this story. He was the man Jolene’s mom had been dating before her grandmother died. His son, Cruz, was Jolene’s best friend in the whole world, and they both adored her.

Turns out that Cruz’s dad and Jo’s mom had been high school sweethearts, they’d broken up and he married Cruz’s mother because she needed his help. She found herself dumped by her college boyfriend and pregnant with a family who kicked her out. He stepped up. Even knowing Cruz wasn’t his, he married the friend in need which cost him his chance with Jo’s mom.

And yet he never looked back. Until his wife passed away from a terrible accident and they reconnected through their kids. Sounds like a good man, too. Right?

And yet one is an amazing person and one is a monster. The type of villain you can’t forgive or forget with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In Echoes of Us, Timmins wrote the characters so well that I felt actual hate for a fictional character. I cheered for goodness to win. Nearly died in anticipation of comeuppance and justice for the wronged. And the romance? Ooh la la! Yummy!

Curious? Don’t believe me? Check the book out. I dare ya! I guarantee you’ll love all the twists and turns and you’ll become a huge fan of hers. Just. Like. Me.

What A Trip (And a Tease)!

I took my first real vacation in a couple of years this last week. The hubby and I flew out to Arizona to visit my in-laws, but not until after I finished the first draft on my first full sized book. (YAY!)

As a military brat I’ve been on many flights– some fun (me on a plane with an entire college football team just after I’d become legal–and they were flirting), some boring (standard flight with no excitement or turbulence), some a tad bit crazy (the guy who stunk of pot and B.O. and told me he spoke a rare language from a country most people didn’t know which turned out to be Danish/Denmark, then proceeded to tell me that the Philippines would rule the world someday when he found out I spoke Tagalog)….but nothing like the flight my heroine took when she moved to Nashville. (I’ll share what I mean in a moment.)

Our flight to Arizona would’ve been fairly uneventful except that on the layover flight from Atlanta to Tucson, I wound up sitting beside a man with a horrible case of silent but violent gas. Hubby was stuck behind him. It was bad.

The flight home couldn’t have been worse, right? Wrong. From Tucson to Atlanta I was trapped between a French dude who was polite, but didn’t speak much English, and a Russian lady who was still breastfeeding her adorable toddler and didn’t have much by way of courtesy. When I tried to get to my seat, instead of getting up with her child so I didn’t have to worry about smacking someone in the face with my backpack, she just slid her legs to the side–mind you, she had an aisle seat. Fortunately, the Frenchman was kind enough to offer to take my bag so I wouldn’t hit anyone and I squeezed my way in.

Throughout the flight, the child was a trooper, but her mom didn’t pay attention or try to preserve my personal space as the little girl stretched and kicked. The whole shoving her little one under her shirt every few minutes didn’t really phase me because I figured it was her way to try to keep the child soothed and occupied so she wouldn’t get cranky.

Once we reached Atlanta we stopped at Bobby Flay’s cheeseburger place where I promptly had my glass full of Coke Zero shatter, dousing me completely (pants and top) in soda. Ugh. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to walk through an airport all wet and stained? It couldn’t get worse, right?

Wrong. The final leg of the flight had hubby and I sitting together, but the guy in front of us smelled like sour sweat and also had a huge gas problem. I really was kind of hoping by that point that the oxygen masks might fall down and save us from the odors. And the landing? Major turbulence that had some of the people around us freaking out. An old flyer like me? Felt like she’d just gotten a fun roller coaster ride.

I really was wishing my flight had been more like the one my heroine, Kalina Santos, experienced in my upcoming release, A Way With Words. Here’s an unedited excerpt:

“What are we doing here, sweetheart?” The desire darkened his eyes to a golden brown, but concern was there, too. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to do this with you, but I don’t want you to regret it. Tell me now if you’re not into this. There’s nothing wrong with getting caught in the moment. It’s a judgment free zone, right here.”
She pulled back; looked away from the temptation of those cat eyes (well, what else do you call eyes that are sometimes green, sometimes yellow, and seem to see into your soul?) and considered his words. His thoughtful generosity touched her as much as the thick erection under the soft cotton of his jeans aroused her. The irony wasn’t lost on her that he showed more concern for her and her feelings than the evil ex she’d been with for years and refused to allow to taint this moment with any more space in her brain.
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to join the mile-high club.” She leaned in and caught his earlobe between her teeth. “Somehow I think this bucket list item works better with a partner. What do you think?”

So what about you? What was your most memorable plane ride? Ever join the mile high club? Tell me all about it!