Shannan Albright's Blog, page 19

Pick Me Up Monday - RomCon Bound!

Happy Monday once again!Is that a smirk I see on his face? Hum...he looks happy to see us don't you think? Lol! There are some guys who are so hot with a hairy chest. Sighing here. Well, back to my post :) Thanks to those who commented on my blog and on Facebook about my last post. Your words of encouragement meant the world to me. To those who shared their own stories on body image touched my soul. I'm blessed to have found such beautiful people inside and out.  I've finished my final edits and should be getting my cover soon. I'll reveal that to you along with a little about Dark Hunter later this month. Zeke's book Dark Desire is coming together quite nicely and love the characters since they are playing nice with me. The same with Soul Fire, the historical paranormal I should have out this fall. This week I'll be away to Colorado Springs for RomCon and looking forward to a wonderful time with some of my favorite authors and readers. I connected with some great people last year and look forward to catching up with them. I'm hosting two paranormal events this year and will have lots of stuff to gab about next week. Due to the fact I'll be a zombie on Monday my post will be delayed so look for it no later than Wednesday next week. Well back to Zeke, he's yelling in my ear at the moment, since I made him take his shades off so we could finally get a look at his eyes. And...you will just have to wait to find out what's really behind those damn shades of his. That's all for now, have a wonderful week and we will chat again.

Body Image- My personal Journey

 
Shocking picture huh? I don't normally talk much about myself. And this is far from the norm of my usual blog posts. For me this is a topic of great importance, and I couldn't let this go without saying something. I still struggle with body image every day of my life. I've been looking at this post for a while, trying to find the courage to share it with you. It's tough since I find the topic a very painful and personal area in my life. I don't mind talking about my journey as an author, and let's face it. My books are much more fun to talk about right? There are also much safer emotionally speaking.
Then why write this blog post?
A good friend of mine and fellow writer Siobhan Muir had an article she shared on Facebook in regard to plus-sized models. The article talked on the way plus sized models manage the media. It caused a bit of stir and ever since I read the article, a slow burn began in my gut. Reading the article was painful, bringing out many memories I thought buried.
I come from a family where the women are at least five-foot seven and all have the typical model body. In fact, my mother and several of my cousins have done modeling gigs. Then here I come, 5'3" with a body like Marylyn Monroe instead of Twiggy. (For those who are too young to know, Twiggy was one of the first super models who became popular in the late 60s and was as skinny as a twig, hence the name.)Yeah, try getting clothes in the 70s and 80s that flattered that type of figure.
My hours spent in a dance studio didn't help things much since I developed quite a bit of muscle. I used to get teased when I wore shorts in school about how muscular my legs were and to this day can't wear shorts in public with any comfort.
So, to say I had a sucky body image of myself is putting it mildly. I spent my life in an endless cycle of starving and bingeing my body. Eating one meal a day and sometimes that meal only consisted of a bowl of veggies. Then after weeks going like that I would eat everything in sight, unable to stop.
I'm surprised I never tipped over into anorexia. I hate throwing up, so bulimia was never an issue with me. Then in my late forties I started forgetting things, stuttering, and the room would spin. Concentration on the simplest thing was impossible and my ability to communicate what I was thinking became so bad, co-workers thought I was high or drunk. Frustration and isolation were my constant companions.
What was wrong with me, why was this happening? It ate at any self-esteem I had. I ended up losing a job because of it, which made everything worse. Depression was a constant getting so bad I could barely think. I would spend whole days just crying, feeling sorry for myself. My husband worried since this was not like me. I've always been a fighter, never-say-die type of personality. It got so bad I finally went to the doctor and had a three-hour glucose test done and surprise! I found out I suffer from hypoglycemia. Oh goodie, I thought. Then they lowered the bomb on me. It turns out all the years I spent starving my body put me in this position. I also discovered I was straddling the edge of Diabetes, which runs on both sides of the family.
I've struggle with hypoglycemia and my body image even now, and the road is a rough one to recover from. It's so easy to say don't let the media sway you, ignore what people say about how large you are, and not let it get to you. Yeah, easy to say, hard to put into practice. Let's face it, words hurt and when you're vulnerable within yourself, they can haunt you for life.
I have always stood out because of the way I'm built, though I have never been considered obese, I've heard plump quite a bit. I have the build of Marilyn Monroe, which by today's standards is not what is considered beautiful. I'm sure as hell a far cry from Twiggy!
I can spout tons of statistics about what the average woman's real size is. There are millions of young girls out there who struggle like I do because of sharing an unrealistic body image. But I don't want to get stuck on numbers. Anyone can get onto the internet and get those. And frankly to go on and check those stats just makes me depressed as hell.
What is beauty anyway? That’s  the true issue here. Because at the end of the day all you have is what God gave you. I'm finally seeing the light and realizing that I just may be alright at a size 12 instead of a 0. Not that I ever got THAT small Lol!
I wanted to share this pic here. I believe this is a more realistic of the body type I, and many other women are born with. If I could take back the years, I would do so many things different. I know for a fact I wouldn't be fighting with the health issues I am faced with now. Having to prick my finger whenever I feel even slightly off kilter-which happens at least several times a day, and worrying if I will pass out or worse go into convulsions before I can get a glucose tablet into my system. Great way to live huh?
When I look at this picture, I for one see a woman who is mature and beautiful. What do you see? I'm not putting down those born with what I call “skinny genes”. But, we need to advertise the beauty of all women, regardless of shape. And stop the ridicule. Instead of being weight conscious it would be wonderful if all that energy could be funneled into becoming health conscious.
If there is one thing sharing my story can do, I sincerely hope it's to keep another young woman from feeling like she is lacking simply due to the way she is built. If she can see past the media hype and look deeper to the beauty that is there, then my post would be worth it.
I'm still fighting to be comfortable in my skin, and it's a battle I live with every day. Maybe one day things will change. I can tell it is getting better, but I still have a way to go. My mother used to say, beauty comes from the inside and radiates outward. This is the mantra I say every day. Like a flower opening to the sun, let your curves show and embrace your body as the unique extension of who you are.

Pick Me Up Monday - News on books coming soon and Hot Mojave Knights A Reader Event!

Happy Monday! I love leather and jeans on a man don't you? Here is my yummy hunk to help you get through the week. Been a busy week for me with edits on Dark Hunter sent in and working hard to finish the rough draft of Soul Fire. What is that? It's the next series I'm working on and this will be a self-published effort so I'm very excited about it.  Along with Dark Hunter I'm also working on Dark Desire, Zeke's book in the Dark Breed Enforcer series and hope to have it submitted by September. Things are heating up in my Dark Breed world, the stakes are higher, villains turn to Allies and an evil the world has never seen begins to stir. Oh yeah, things are getting interesting now.I have finished my revamping on my website check it out at www.shannanalbright.com and let me know what you think. I'm still adding things to it, especially the reviews for all of my books  In other news Hot Mojave Knights is gaining momentum as we are four months out and we have got a lot of wonderful surprises in store for you. Keep checking the site www.hotmojaveknight.com to keep abreast of all the updates and we will see you there in October. Well, back to work for me, tons to do and little time to do it in. If you are going to Romcon come by and say hi. See you next Monday.  

Pick Me Up Monday - Website Redeux

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend and ready for the week ahead. I saw this and couldn't stop staring. The man has such intense eyes, they seem to pull you in. I'm happy to report I'm now past the third chapter hell on two of my WIP's and should pick up the pace quite a bit now. Thank God! I have also begun the arduous task of giving my website a redo and hope to have an unveiling on it very soon. I am really enjoying how it's coming together and will be announcing my new look through twitter and Facebook. I'm also now on pintrest. Just search Shannan Albright and you will see me :) In other news I'm waiting on edits and my book cover for Dark Hunter. It's a novella in my Dark Breed Enforcer world and should be getting it ready to go for a June release.  I'm also finishing up my second year as president of my local RWA chapter and looking back, am so very happy to have had the opportunity. My term, though at first was a bit chaotic, smoothed out and put me in a wonderful position to help others to get published.   With this behind me I will have more time to devote to writing and my dream. Hot Mojave Knights a reader event held here in Las Vegas. In an intimate setting to give authors and readers time play and talk books. Plus let's not forget the Knights all ready to do what it takes to get your favor and win the title of King of Mojave Knights. It promises to be a weekend to remember. Well, that's all for this Monday, Have a great week and we will talk next Monday. 

Tuesday Tidbits

Happy Tuesday! Here in Las Vegas the temp is rising and for those who are basking in the summer heat here is a little something to cool you down...or get you steamed up :)
Due to the holiday, Monday Pick Me Up is Tuesday Tidbits. I figured everyone; me included were busy being with family and friends eating all that wonderful BBQ and enjoying the day. I had a marvelous time getting with my mother-in-law and eating hamburgers and chatting. She has been my muse in so many ways, from teaching me how to oil paint to being my fan with my writing, I couldn't ask for a more wonderful mom.  For me, the hardest part of my WIPs has always been the first three chapters. This is my Mt. Everest to climb, and for some reason, it takes at least three or more revisions for me to be happy enough to finish them. After getting through those chapters the rest of my WIP's (usually) flow and finish quickly. There is always one that breaks the rule, Passion's Flight being the one which to date, has been the hardest for me to get through. Still, the majority holds true to form.
Unfortunately, I'm struggling with the first three chapters on three books I'm working on right now and have already changed the beginnings on these multiple times.  I'm a glutton for punishment it seems, lol! All I can say is once I'm through this hell the rest will be bliss and should easily have them finished and ready to go soon after. Well back to the battle at hand perhaps I will talk about procrastination next, it would seem to be something I'm a master at  when begining a book. Have a wonderful week and we will chat again. 

Special Guest Gabrielle Bisset Author of the Sons of Navarus Series.

[image error] Once in a while you come across an author you fall in love with right after the first chapter. Gabrielle is one of them. We have circled each other in the social media for well over a year and finally I decided to check out her work. All I can say is wow, these books are hard to put down. The characters are believable and plot well thought out and the sex? Hot don't come close to the way she can make a page sizzle. I finally got a chance to have her on my humble blog and answer some of my questions. So grab your coffee enjoy.   Do you do anything to get you into the zone to write?   I always have a glass of iced tea and Sirius Radio on before I start writing.  I hand write everything first before typing it, so of course, I need to have my pen and notebook with me too.  Other than those outside things, I have to reread what I wrote the last time to edit and then I can get in the zone.     Which authors inspire your writing?   I've always been inspired by all kinds of books.  I loved mysteries as a teenager, so all those Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes stories are in my brain rambling around.  Then all the classics I read in college inspired me to write great stories like those.  It's hard to pin down one author who inspires me.  They all do, in some way.   What is your favorite book, character and why?   The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes would have to be my favorite, and of course, Sherlock Holmes my favorite character.  Doyle's stories are so well written, so crafted.  I love the character because he's so intellectually superior yet so emotionally crippled.  He's such an incredible study in what a human would be like without emotions that I find myself drawn to read the stories just to try to figure him out.      Do you prefer to write erotic or sweet?   I tend to prefer erotic, if I'm writing romance.  When I'm writing outside the romance genre, I don't include much sex at all in my stories.   Which famous person, living or dead,  are you drawn to?   Alexander Hamilton.  Of all the Founding Fathers, he's the most interesting to me.    Where do you see yourself in five years?   In five years I see myself with my Sons of Navarus series completed...whew, just thinking about all eight books done makes my head spin.  I'll be writing, but I don't know what.  I've been playing around with a fiction story for a while, so I might be there instead of romance.  I just don't know.  Or I might be doing both romance and some other non-romance genre.    Finish this sentence: I know I’ve made it when_______________?   I know I've made it when I only work as an author and can support myself as I do now.    What advice would you give aspiring writers?   Don't be fooled into believing that the ebook revolution means all you need are some words on a page and shazaam—it's a book worth selling.  Grammar is still key, no matter what anyone claims, so know it like you know your name.  Take the time to learn how a well-crafted story is constructed, and above all, remember that everything you publish represents you. A shoddy story full of grammar and factual/historical errors may be tolerated at the $.99 level, but it doesn't change the fact it isn't good.  Time is on the writer's side.  Use it to create the best stories possible.   What do you see yourself writing in the future?   I plan on continuing to write romance as I have the Sons of Navarus series based on eight characters and I'm just readying the second book for release in May.  I can definitely see myself writing in a different genre too, though.    If you could have one superpower what would it be and why?   I wrote a book entitled Destiny Redeemed and one of my characters had the power to manipulate and travel back in time.  This would be the superpower I would want.  I love the past, so being able to travel back to different times in history and see firsthand what they're like would be incredible.   What time of the day are you at your best to write?   I write at night because I home school my son and then go to my day job until late afternoon.  It's probably best that I write when the sun goes down because I'm a night owl by nature.     And now for something completely different…     What do you look at first with an attractive man or woman, face, body or smile?   I don't know if it's one thing for me.  The men I find attractive tend to have something special about them that just seems to radiate from them even when they're just standing around.  To be honest, though, it's probably the body since what I find attractive facially may be quite different than what others do.   Explain your perfect day.   I wake up and the sun is shining in my window and I can hear the birds outside.  It's already in the low 70s and the forecast is for sun all day.  I exercise and listen to music, and then I eat breakfast.  After that, I spend a few hours working outside in my yard and sitting on my porch enjoying the beautiful day.  A fun lunch with some friends and then I'm back home to hang out with my kids, who are nice enough to carve out some time from their busy schedules to see me (LOL).  Finally, after a great day, I sit down to write and make tremendous progress on whatever book I'm working on.  Now that's a perfect day.    Do you have a favorite holiday what is it and what makes it special to you?   I love the Fourth of July!  When I was a young child, I thought that the fireworks were for my father and me since we shared a birthday on July 7.  And since my uncle's birthday was on July 5 and we'd always have a joint party for all three of us, the idea of fireworks to celebrate the three of us seemed quite logical to my five-year-old mind.  Even now, whenever the Fourth comes around, I think of those days as a child with my family and smile.   What key words describe you best?   Romantic, generous, focused, driven, strong     [image error] Blood Avenged Blurb:  I am everything you desire.  I am vampire. Powerful and manipulative, Vasilije does as he pleases. A vampire beholden to no one, he takes what he desires, drinking deeply the pleasures this life has to offer.

When one of his own is staked, Vasilije must travel to New Orleans to exact his revenge. There he meets Sasa, a beautiful woman who arouses him like no other has for centuries. Vasilije’s need for vengeance is equaled only by his passion for her, but what he finds in his revenge is just the beginning...   Blood Avenged Excerpt: Vasilije looked around the room he’d just appeared in, his body alert to any danger. He’d followed the sense he’d gotten before Teagan’s spirit had been extinguished and knew he was in his home in New Orleans. Everything about the place was Teagan—from the Turkish cigarettes he smoked, to the bottle of Guinness that sat on the coffee table, to the musky scent that identified him as one of Vasilije’s vampires.
     And the beautiful woman staring at him.
     “Who did this?”
     Big brown eyes stared back at him. “I don’t know. It happened so fast. I left to grab another six pack and when I got back, someone had a stake...”
     Vasilije stood watching the stranger as she cried, needing more information but forced to wait until there was a break in her tears.
     “Who are you?”
     The woman dried her eyes and sniffled. “Sasa. I was his girlfriend.”
     At the use of the past tense, she began tearing up again, but Vasilije didn’t have time for it. Whoever had staked Teagan couldn’t have gone too far and any more time wasted with Sasa’s crying may mean he’d lose the fucker.
     He moved to leave and her hand caught his arm.
     “Please don’t go.”
     She looked up at him with such a sad expression for a moment he didn’t want to go. But he couldn’t let Teagan’s murderer escape. Vasilije touched his hand to hers to remove it from his arm, but all this did was make her squeeze tighter.
     “Please,” she begged in a voice that matched the pathetic look in her eyes. “Don’t leave me alone now.”
     The urge to tear his arm from her hold and leave her to her misery spiked in him, but it was overruled by that small part of him that understood her sadness.
     “Fine. Follow me. And keep up. And if I tell you to do something, do it. Do you understand?”
     For a second, she looked surprised and Vasilije thought he was going to hear a string of irritating questions. None came, though, and when he turned to head out the door, she followed silently.
     At the street, he stopped and inhaled deeply, hoping to sense something that would help him find Teagan’s killer. Nothing came. But there’d been something in the apartment...something that he was sure he recognized.
     Eyes closed, he let his other senses take over, but he got nothing. “What did he look like?”
     “I don’t know. It was so quick. Blond, I think.”
     Vasilije snapped his head to the left to look at her. “Man or woman?”
     Instantly, Tatiana’s threat repeated in his head. Now I take something you cherish.Had she staked one of his vampires in retaliation over Alex? Vasilije doubted even Tatiana would stake a vampire herself, but she wasn’t above having someone else do it.
     “Man.”
     That didn’t mean Tatiana wasn’t behind Teagan’s murder. And who was this woman who claimed to be Teagan’s girlfriend?
     “Did you see which direction he ran?”
     Sasa shook her head sadly. “No, I’m sorry. Are you his sire?”
     “How do you know about that?” he asked, more suspicious than he’d been just a minute earlier.
     “Teagan was a vampire, and you just look like a sire would. That’s what you call them, right?”
     As she spoke, Vasilije studied her under the streetlight’s glow, still unsure she was who she claimed to be. Not bad looking, she seemed like someone Teagan could like. He’d always preferred brunettes with big eyes and bigger tits, and although she didn’t measure up to porn star level, she still had a nice body. He could see her as Teagan’s girlfriend.
     “Yeah, I’m his sire and right now I need to find the fuck who killed one of my vampires,” he said looking down the street.
     “What’s your name?”
     Turning to look at her, he raised one eyebrow. “You’re a curious one, aren’t you, pet?”
     “Well, I think I should know your name if we’re going to work together to find Teagan’s killer.”
     Vasilije continued to work on getting any sense of who he was looking for, but nothing came to him. Frustrated, he’d need time to think and find his way around this new place before he could search for the killer, and the last thing he needed was a weepy woman tagging along.
     “Uh, no. We’re not going to be working together to find anything. Just point me to the nearest place I can get something to eat and I’ll be on my way.”
     In a second, her hands were back on his arm and squeezing. “Please let me help. I want to see the person who did this brought to justice.”
     Justice? Vasilije smiled at the idea of justice, sure she would be appalled by what he intended to do to Teagan’s killer. Humans were always more squeamish than he thought they should be, considering their own history.
     “How long were you and Teagan together?”
     “Why?”
     Vasilije noticed her defensiveness immediately. Her body language screamed she was hiding something.
     “You just seem very attached. That’s all.”
     Sasa shifted her weight between her feet. “I was. I mean, we were. Attached. And even though we had problems, we were trying to work things out.”
     “Problems?”
     A sheepish look came over her face. “I forgave him and we’d have worked things out...”
     Sasa’s lip quivered for just a second, and Vasilije was afraid she’d begin crying again. Teagan hadn’t changed in his new home, it seemed. A notorious ladies’ man, his wandering eye had been the reason he’d moved three thousand miles away from the only place he’d ever called home. Obviously, that relationship hadn’t survived since Sasa stood next to him all dewy eyed over his death.
     “I see.”
     “It’s not like that. It doesn’t matter what you think anyway. I just owe it to him to find out who did this.”
     Vasilije smiled at Sasa’s words. She was probably completely unaware that the one she’d caught her boyfriend with was likely one of many. Such blind devotion.
     “Love, I don’t think you understand what’s going to happen when I find the guy who did this. My idea of justice and yours aren’t the same, I guarantee you.”
     Sasa’s eyes grew wide. “Why? Is there some kind of ritual you plan to perform when you punish him?”
     Vasilije’s fangs snapped into position and he grinned to show her the weapons he’d use to punish the motherfucker who killed one of his own.
     “No ritual. Just these and all the blood I can handle.”
     The shock at his words was written all over her face.
     “You plan to drain them?”
     “My kind of justice, love. So if you plan to stick around, you know what to expect.”     Purchase Links:  Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Avenged-ebook/dp/B006L8S59S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327865125&sr=8-1   Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-avenged-gabrielle-bisset/1107957636   To find out more about Blood Avenged and the Sons of Navarus series, including the next book, Blood Betrayed, due out in May, visit my blog at http://gbisset.blogspot.com/   And find me all over at Website:  Gabrielle Bisset
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon Author Page 

Pick Me Up Monday - Special Guest this Week!

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great week. We are starting off with a busy one for me. I have Gabrielle Bisset on my blog on Wednesday the 22nd talking about her latest release in her Sons of Navarus series, Blood Prophecy. A series I am just loving and can't get enough of. I'm also kicking off my week with two reviews and an interview. I'll be at www.thejeepdiva.com and www.talkingsupe.com for my Knights of Excalibur series. On May 23rd I am interviewed by Read 2 Review at http://read2review.comIn other news I'm working hard on Dark Desire which is Zeke's book. With several other WIP's also in the loop time is a precious commodity for me at the moment. I am also preparing for my trip to RomCon and hope to see some of you there. I will be hosting a Paranormal Mixer and am part of some other fun stuff with some awesome authors.Well, I have tons to do and little time to do it so have an wonderful week and talk to you next week.

Pick Me Up Monday- Did I Ever Mention I Hate Mondays?

Here we are, another Monday. This beautiful pic should ease some of the suffering. I have always hated Mondays. They are the toughest day of the week, the one day where if anything can go wrong, you can bet it will happen on a Monday. I think what makes Monday's so hard is that it's hard to get back into they routine of your day once you've had two days to do as you damn well please. In my case, I have two glorious days to immerse myself in my writing, letting my muse go hog wild and any other reality just fades away.I think this zen area writers get into is the reason it can be so addicting. Then here comes Monday, it's sole purpose is to mess your flow up and pull you back into the reality of paying bills and day jobs.In my opinion? It sucks rocks.All right, bitching done and I feel so much better now that I've vented lol! What the heck have I been doing this week? Working hard on both Zeke's book Dark Desire and my historical Soul Fire. I find the hardest part of writing any book to be the first three chapters. For some reason I always end up rewriting those pages at least three times before I can move forward.
The good news? Both of these WIP's are almost past the third chapter and I now have them the way I want them so hopefully the rest of the writing will go smoother.

Well that's all for now, I have vented, and kibitzed and have not other reason to procrastinate further, so it's back to work and we will chat again next Monday. Maybe I should just call it the M word?

Pick Me Up Monday - Mothers Day, June Release and More

To all Mothers everywhere, this is for you.  Dark Hunter, my novella within the Dark Breed Enforcer world releases in June, no exact date as yet and waiting anxiously for the cover, which I will share with you as soon as I get it. Working on Zeke's story Dark Desire and it's turning into quite a book. I love the way the elements of my story line are coming together, weaving into each book in a natural progression, yet with so many surprises, even to me! That's what happens when you get strong characters though, and I'm thrilled by their input.
In other WIPs my historical dragon-shifter book has a name. Soul Fire is becoming quite an adventure and hope to have it released this fall. I am dipping my toe into the self-publishing world with this one and looking forward to sharing my vision with you. Doing a world within a world has been challenging when you must use the laws and historical facts in our reality in order to grow a world which could co-exist logically with our reality. Just one of the reasons why I love paranormal so much, is bending the rules  enough to make the most extraordinary of events believable. I am also working on The Summoning (no I haven't forgotten it.) I also have Cody's book in the beginning outline stage, so you should have the fourth Dark Breed Enforcer book ready for release in December or January if all goes well.  My Knight's of Excalibur trilogy is getting great reviews and for this week I will be at the following blog site:On May 6th guest post and series review athttp://www.romancebookjunkies.com

That's it for this week, have a great week and see you next Monday. 

Wild Hearted by Lea Bronson - Review

I don't give very many reviews, but every once in a while a story demands you share your journey with people. This is just the book. My review: Once in a great while a book comes your way that grabs you by the throat and won’t let go. The story of Tumor, a man of violence, irredeemable and unapologetic, and Luz. Luz is opposite of Tumor, she is compelled to save those lost souls whom society looks down on. The interaction between these two is volcanic, and slowly you start to see that yes, even the most brutal of souls can be redeemed. Gritty, violent and raw, this is a look at the underbelly of our society. The author pulls no punches as she tells a gripping drama, which has you turning pages and forgetting everything around you. This book is as real as it gets and should be put on everyone’s must read list. Thank you Ms. Bronsen for your vision and talent.