Debra Anastasia's Blog, page 59

Hunky Hero Giveaway Hop!

Hello Ladies!


In honor of our super hunks, I'm giving away 1 eCopy of Poughkeepsie and 1 eCopy of Crushed Seraphim!





 











Satan Jack insisted on giving a lucky winner a crystal Crushed Seraphim bracelet. When your Devil looks like this:


[image error] 
You listen! 
Please enter the rafflecopter below to make sure Jack has your information. 









a Rafflecopter giveaway
<a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js"&am... need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.

What the Hell is a Blog Hop?

I recently explained what the frick a blog hop is to my sweet friend and because it took me a while to figure it out, I thought I'd post it here as well.


Okay, hops are an interesting beast, I'll give you three versions, first when a hop comes to you:

You and the hoppee (let's use when Bittersweet Seraphim is coming out, I'll do a hop) I would contact you and ask for you to post something I've come up with, such as an article, a character interview, a giveaway, etc. You would set up your blog post with my info, maybe include an intro and make sure it goes up on the right date and time.

Let's say you are the hopper! This part is a ton of work. You contact bloggers, authors (you are always welcome at my blog BTW) and ask if they would be interested in hosting you. You compile a list and create a post to send to each stop with clear instructions on what they need to do and when. This information should have an blog hop banner if you can whip one up, or have one made. Then one the day they post, you have to get back and comment as best you can.

Now the last type is joining an already existing hop. Usually hosted by a few bloggers with a grand prize, until you get the hang of the hops, avoid the ones that charge money. Read the instructions carefully and make sure to sign up on time and make the required post on the right day. If you check out the side of my blog you can see I have two lined up: http://debraanastasia.blogspot.com/

and here is where I signed up so you can get an idea of what they look like: http://riverinaromantics.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/hunky-hero-giveaway-hop-sign-up.html


Can anyone else think of something to add? 

Disney Trip part #12

A woman begins screaming, another joins her. They are staggering through the crowd, right toward us. I am about to hand GC from my shoulders to Mr. A's arms, so I can help, figuring that they are injured or in distress. Then I notice that their arms are flailing. It looks like they are fighting. They are headed right for the us screaming and sobbing….


As the women draw closer…I find myself day dreaming about pool experiences . Well, not really, but how else will I work in a pool flashback?

Flashback* * *

During our August 2006 trip we claimed the Pop Century Hippy Dippy as our pool of choice. There's a phenomenon during Disney vacations. There's an "us" and 'them" mentality. The grizzled guests that have been there a while and the fresh crop of park newbies. You come in as a fresh crop, likely to be horrified by the guests who have been in the boiler room August heat, who have become park warriors, Especially if you decide to have a leisurely soak in the pool before you go to any parks. You stuff a pristine jiggler in a swimsuit and give the girls a little fluff. You add your sunglasses, flip flops and sarong. Your fake tan is in place (it only looks like serious bruising in some places) you take your immaculate family down to the pool; edge gently in like baby deer . Ahhh, heaven. 
"Look at the play dough giraffe and elephant, see the finger prints?" 
We all raise a distasteful Grand Floridian type eyebrow at the sweaty, purple, panting guests straight from Animal Kingdom's humid nightmare diving straight into the pool . Luckily, the heat and exhaustion gets to all of us, and in next to no time, we're sweaty warriors, scaring the newbies with our raccoon inspired sunburns, blistered feet and chaffed thighs . We dunk our steaming selves in the pool, talking loudly about bowel movements.

During that same visit Mr. A and I had a special night out at Coronado Springs, leaving the kids with the grandparents. In the morning, they came over to enjoy the pool with us. The water slide and fantastic pyramid seemed like a great bunch of fun for the little kidlettes. As we arrive the pool is surprisingly empty. All guests are instead choosing to wait in lounges on the super sweltering pool deck. Mrs. A and Grandma get all excited, we love empty pools! Lucky us! Grandpa and Mr. A do not see the empty pool as a good thing. They have this ridiculous thing they like to use called "common sense." It's really annoying to those of us who expect miracles daily . The life guards are making themselves scarce, so the boys go off to find out the official reason for the lack of marinating sweatballs (o.k.….guests) in the pool.

Grandma and I get to talking to a lady in a nearby lounge who has a young daughter. We're big talkers and can get a story out of anybody. The woman told us that her daughter had spotted a turd in the pool. Scarier still, the little girl is some sort of turd spotting expert because, where she went to summer camp, turd spotting and pool evacuation happened daily. (She may have even gotten a merit badge in it). We made polite conversation, but we were wondering in our head why the girl was sent to the big toilet camp. Poor little thing. Needless to say, Grandma and I are dreaming up the various diseases you can get from pooped-in pools. Salmonella? West Nile Virus? Cataracts? Don't pools shut down for days after this type of situation? The boys are back. According to the life guards they were "Checking the Levels." 
Levels of what we wonder? Poop? Every stray leaf is looking suspicious, but the little expert is staying quiet, so we think there has only been one single turd violation. Grandma goes to speak to the life guards. She's on to them and their secret sun-burnt language. 
"Checking the Levels" is code for "Dookie in the Pool ." By now, if you have read this far, you know we had great fun with this information. Musing, while we waited for Grandma –
"Geeze, I hope at least it was a baby".

This comment then took us to the bad place. What if it wasn't a baby??? Worse still what if it was a full grown man…

"Be on the look out for any adult that comes to the pool with a newspaper and a roll of t.p."

If you were at the pool at that time you could recognize us as the group screaming laughing trying to hold themselves up on lounge chairs.

Grandma came back. She, who feels straight bleach is the only way to clean any thing (including all clothing white or dark), was satisfied with the answer from the life guards, and clears her grandkids for a swim in the toilet, I mean moderate-priced pool. We went in. And kept an eye on the turdometer girl. When she got out, we got out.

Ahh, pools. We love a good pool. The Anastasias were overjoyed at the invention of the Intex pool. The luxury of a pool for the price of a really large water balloon. It is our Hillbilly heaven. We have a really small one, but we have really big fun in it. My kids learned to swim underwater in that gizmo, and it cools the Jiggler down. Actually, I think it's having to see the Jiggler on a daily basis that has inspired my neighbors to purchase very expensive privacy trees. Why not a fence you ask? Well if they had a fence then their dog wouldn't be able to poop on my lawn. There we are with the poop again. I hope this isn't my "theme" this chapter (or for my entire report… or life.) Seems like it is though . 
Well, we recently returned from a vacation to visit my in-laws. Our Intex pool was now our Intex pond. We had run out of chlorine. As we all jump in I am brought back, by the smell, to the lake of my childhood. We had a tippy dock and my friends and I were always on it when the ice cream truck rolled into the parking lot. We would sprint like Olympic swimmers and make it to the beach in time. I understand now, that the ice cream man needed us to make money, and was likely to wait. But, the worst part of the lake, was a sweet, giant German shepard that liked to poop in the kiddie area (here we go again folks) and we learned to swim around the accidents. 
Hhmmm. Weren't mom and I condemning another mother for letting her girl swim with poop? Mom ? People in glass houses! (shouldn't throw turds?) Well, my fabulous pool should not look and smell like the lake. So I bought some shock for it. I put in a small reasonable amount. I was not pleased with the results. In goes half the bag. I was so delighted, clapping at my pristine water balloon. I proudly show Mr. A what I had done.

Him: That is a real powerful smell coming from the pool, where's the bag?
Me: I hand him the half that is left.
Him: You put in enough shock for a 6000 gallon pool
Me: *vacant happy look*
Him: Our pool is 600 gallons
 This part gets past the blond, soaks in to the very small part of my brain that makes reasonable choices.
OOpps.
We're waiting to see if it eats through the liner. Fingers crossed.

End flashback* * *

Where was I? Oh that is right! The Anastasias were in the dark in danger!!!

Standing in the dark with my loved ones, I felt fear. If this situation gets big and more people are involved in the fight, it'll be very hard to maneuver the family to a safe place. If panic sets in, anything could happen. I keep my eyes on the woman while holding GC. I can make sense of some of what they're screaming.
 "Get her out!"
 "We need to get out of here right now"
 There is absolute terror in the one woman's voice and the other is just screaming. They're almost in front of us. A tall gentleman standing with his family next to us grabs them with both hands.
 He says calmly, "Stop, get away from her, let go"
 The screaming woman bursts out in complete terror, "NO don't, we have to get out"
 He physically pulls them apart.
 "What's wrong?" He asks as he steps between them.
 The screaming woman manages to say, "She hurt her arm."
 "Everyone open their cell phones, I need some light."
 Everyone holds their phones open. He sends someone for a cast member. The woman has a laceration. And both are soon whisked away. The man resumes watching the parade.
 I never did get to thank him, because the parade ended soon after. From his quick reaction, I'd guess he's a police man or more likey, a CIA agent. He prevented a panic. I've no idea if the women were drunk, or just overreacting. But it was scary. So thank you tall, quick thinking dude. All of us on the bridge really appreciated your leadership at that bizarre moment.

Then the lights go up. And the smoosh is on. We backtrack and find our naked double stroller. The crowd headed towards Main Street is shoulder to shoulder. We decide to go for it, just walk with everyone. Our sneaky plan of escape has failed. We must wait with everyone else (or so we think). After assessing the situation. The Anastasias decide to cram both kids in the double stroller, It was such a tight swarm of moving people I was afraid we would loose one in the swarm. I walked directly in front and Mr. A pushed the stroller carefully. The bridge was chaos, no pattern of traffic. We lock eyes, getting out is going to be sucktastic.

This is a blog hop! Are you an amazing, sexy author? Hop on! Bras optional!

Blog Hopping!

 http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/  Welcome to the berry cute, berry Hoppy Easter Blog Hop!



Come on! The Easter bunny? And Hopping?  Tits fantastic. 



Here you can win an eCopy of the wildly popular novel, Poughkeepsie and an eCopy of the first book in my Seraphim Series! Because my Easter Bunny craps magic and wonderfulness, I'm tossing in TWO crystal charm bracelets fro the winner as well. What else? How about 2 Temporary tattoos? You can be totally bad ass for a few days!

Hop on to the Rafflecopter and get you some!



a Rafflecopter giveaway
You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.

Disney Trip part #11

So while the kids have their in chicken. Mr. A and I start to plan our escape.

We're veteran Disneyites. And this will be the toughest planning challenge of our vacationing career.

When Mr. A and I were on our Disneymoon, and I was baking my sweet baby PC in my belly, I showed Mr. A my magic trick. I could navigate Disney World pretty well after countless childhood and teenage visits. We were ending or vacation and came up with a plan, we hit a few rides, got our picture taken with Mickey in Toon Town, hopped on the train that plopped us of at the entrance. We had sucked the Disney out of the day until the very last moment in the World .

He was so proud of my tricky, spy like skills then. Well, the student has surpassed the master and pretty much gone to the bad place. The man knows the hidey holes and secret passageways better than some cast members. One of my parents' gifts to him was to take him and I on a tour of the utilador. Very cool, but scary at the same time. The cast members had dropped all pretenses of being nice. No one was even saying thank you to each other. We hightailed it out of there and into the magical world above.

So Mr. A and I want to escape the most magical place on earth. It felt weird, I gotta tell you. We love being in Disney. It was almost like having your favorite childhood teddy bear grow teeth and crazy moving eyes and threatening you. It felt wrong. Like putting on your underwear backwards. Like biting into tin foil.

But sometimes you have to wear your undies backwards , so we planned the unimaginable. We had to try and find the perfect window between Spectro Magic Parade, the fireworks, and another Spectro Magic parade. As we gazed at my castle from Ray's we came up with a plan. We're going to try and get out between the first Spectro magic and the fireworks.

This is a risky plan. Because Main Street is where everyone wants to be. Either they're trying to exit or guarding their personal viewing spot like a hungry momma bear protecting her cubs.

And all those people are in the way of my knife-sucking Fudge.

As we pack up the kids and all of our equipment, I glace at the couple at the next table. They're munching on their food like a pair of third day commando zombies. Their little 2 ½-ish year old girl is standing on her chair and leaning her huge, oversize toddler head over the wall toward the huge drop into Cinderella's Lagoon (moat, stream, pond?). I am just about to reach for her when she pulls her self back. The parents never looked up from their meal. Scary . Deep breath and we're off.

It is hard to describe the amount of people (smilie representation.) And the darkness that we encountered. There's the lowering of the lights to create the ambiance and enhanced viewing of parades and fireworks. Now, we haven't watched a parade in a long time. We have real trouble sitting still at Disney and waiting the required hour to see some good sights. So, the light dimming usually signal "it's on" for The As. We try to hit as many rides as we can when the lines are short or non-existent.

So the ultimate plan is this :

Ride what we can until Spectro parade number one is over, hit Main Street (get my fudge) and get whisked away in an empty monorail where the Dream Team will award us a free night in my castle (okay that last part was only in my head. Is anyone else annoyed when they see the trip reports from the winners!! They're farting in my bed! Washing their jigglers in my light changing tub. It's not fair)

Well, we wander over to Fantasyland. Ahh the carousel is turning. It smells like a sweet night in Disney. The carousel line is out of control long. What can we do? Every line is a commitment we can not make without endangering our escape plan. Well GC decides she would like to see Mickey and Minnie's house. We wade through the crowds. Aren't these people supposed to be watching the parade!?

We walk through Minnie's. I love this mouse's taste. Better than any HGTV decorator. It was a cramalator. We're waiting our turn for the popcorn button and to take pictures in the chairs. Too much waiting. Our backwards underwear feels tighter; we have to get out of here. You can't look in Minnie's drawers without looking in Mickey's. Turnabout is fair play. We slap on the rubber gloves and tell that Mouse to bend over. Hmm. That sentence may be too much for the disney. But then again, we had to hear about Paris's body cavity search on every news channel in existence. Still. It's our sweet Mouse . I have gone too far.

A relentless hoper and positive thinker, I check the line for Mickey in the Judges tent. It's full up as well. Maybe it's just cast members ordered up to protect the Boss from our rubber gloves. Crap. I did it again.

We peek at the train. The people in line seem to be multiplying like a virus. And they look flatulent. And sweaty. No bypassing the Main Street stroll with a leisurely steam train ride. We begin the walk of shame. Leaving the Magic Kingdom. Usually our shameful, depressing walk is from Pop Century, our bags and purchases dragging down low with our spirits. But not today. We'll drag our Jigglers from the Kingdom. We reach the back of my castle. Around the sneaky bridge to the left.

At the peak of the bridge, we see Spectro Magic!! Our timing's off!! There's no way we're getting any further than we are. We abandon the stroller (naked of course). And put the kids on our shoulders. (Finally swing set muscles is here when I need him. ) I glance around this edge of the parade crowd. It's awfully dark here. People are filling in the space behind us. It's unreasonably dark here. There's no dimmed light at all. Just darkness. The kids are enjoying the tail end of the parade, but something has caught my attention in the crowd, just a few feet from the Anastasias.

A woman begins screaming, another joins her. They are staggering through the crowd, right toward us. I'm about to hand GC from my shoulders to Mr. A's arms, so I can help, figuring that they're injured or in distress. Then I notice that their arms are flailing. It looks like they're fighting. They are headed right for the Anastasias screaming and sobbing….Until Next Week!  __________________

This is a blog hop for authors! Slap yourself on this wild ride! 

Hannah Downing Blog Hop

Hey Guys!


Today I'm welcoming my Omnific sister,  Hannah Downing.


www.HannahDowning.com



She graciously let me grill her!  She is celebrating her book, Pieces of Us


www.HannahDowning.com

And I get to join her hop, and you can too!


Let's learn about her:


1) What was the most surprising thing about having a full length novel in the world, now that you have a year's worth of time to reflect on?
So much has changed in my life and yet everything is still exactly the same. It's such a strange thing. I still go to work, still have the same friends, still sit on my laptop late into the night writing, still read as many books as I can, still worry about paying the bills, going to the dentist and whether I've forgotten a family member's birthday. But, I think the most surprising was a few months ago when I was at the airport waiting for a flight and a lady was reading my book. I almost tripped over and fell flat on my face as I walked past her and saw my book's cover. At first I thought I must have been mistaken but she WAS reading my book. I then had a stupid conflict in my head of whether I should approach her and offer to sign the book for her but decided that it was rude and big headed and left her in peace to read. That moment really concreted for me that my novel was real. It's a confusing mixture of strange and unbelievably awesome to know that perfect strangers have read my book.

2) I'm very excited about your upcoming young adult series! Can you tell me a bit about The Walker Series and when we will be able to get our greedy hands on it?I'm so excited about The Walker Series! The first book, The Time Walker, is currently with an editor before I do some re-writes and try to submit it to a publisher and I'm about 30,000 words into writing book two, The Mind Walker. These books are something new for me that I haven't tackled before, YA fantasy, but I'm LOVING it! I have a group of characters that I know inside and out and I love writing them and their quirky ways. I have no date on when you'll be able to read it as I haven't submitted it for consideration yet, but I'm hoping to do that by the end of this year. Basically, the plot is about a high-school girl, Holly, who discovers that her family is a long line of freedom fighting witches who can travel through time. She meets up with some other witches and might garner some attention from some handsome boys along the way. The series is planned to be four books long, each book focusing on a different power. Time Travel, Mind Reading, Walking the Astral Plain and Night Vision.




3) What is your average writing time like? Are you surrounded in calm music or is it chaos? I can't work in silence. I just can't do it. I make playlists for whatever manuscript I'm working on and then pump my iTunes with songs that remind me of the characters or the plot. Sometimes, I'll just have dvds playing on my tv while I write, but there is always something else going on. I usually sit on my bed with pillows propped up behind me, laptop on my lap and notebooks and pens scattered around me with chapter plans of character arcs or little drawings of things I'm trying to describe with words. I'm a visual writer so it helps me to write if I can look at what I'm trying to describe. I also drink a lot of Diet Coke while I write. I can't drink normal Coke, it's just too sweet, but I can drink the diet stuff by the gallon. The caffeine keeps my mind active and helps me to write faster. I also have a "no reading" policy when I write. I don't allow myself to go and read back over what I've written until the manuscript is done. I have to have that rule in place or I'd never get off the first chapter. If I let myself, I would edit and edit and edit, trying to get the perfect sentence, paragraph etc. but that's not plausible. So, I write, write, write and when it's all done then I read and reread and reread and start editing. This process works for me. I use the quantity over quality approach - just get as many words down on paper as possible and then the quality comes in as I edit all the rubbish away and replace it with gems, or what I hope is gems haha


4) I wish they had a Yankee Candle that smelled just like your book cover looks! Where there any other images that the lovely flower petals had to contend with to be your final over? The cover was such a source of stress for me. I had this idea in my mind of what I wanted it to look like and the publisher was great and recreated it for me as best they could, but when I saw it I knew it wasn't right. As the story is called Pieces of Us, I had this vision of a wedding photo shattered into lots of broken pieces of glass. In my mind it looked great, but in reality it was too harsh, too visually assaulting. I was devastated. I had no idea what else would fit the story and then the publisher sent me the cover with the purple rose petals scattered across the image and I knew it was right. Charlotte's wedding bouquet was purple roses and Cameron gives Charlotte purple roses several times in the story and to see the petals scattered, as if they had been torn from their stems and strewn on the floor was exactly right. I get so many compliments on the cover and I have to admit that I love it!




5) Okay, tell me your favorite song and movie!That's so hard! I'm a bit of a movie buff and I see almost everything that comes out at the cinema. I have several movies that I can watch over and over which would include: P.S. I love you, Titanic, The Notebook, Dear John, 500 Days of Summer, A Lot Like Love (incase you can't tell, I love romance). But I also love movies that make me think like: Shutter Island, and  Inception, as well as feel good movies like: Reel Steel and This Means War. I have to admit that my movie choices can sometimes (read: mostly) be influence by the actors in the movie. Example - At the moment I have a major celebrity crush on Tom Hardy (Look him up, ladies! YUM!) and so I have been watching a lot of his movies. As for music, I have a very wide taste and like most styles. At the moment on my iPod I have a lot of Eminem, Kesha, Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars and Rhianna.




Thanks so much Hannah! Please follow her over to www.HannahDowning.com to join in on the fun today! Also, you can find links to purchase her book. Have a great day guys. 

(P.S. Please find your letter below!)






xo Debra

Unspun!

I'm honored to show some love for a dear friend, Rachel Firasek. She's an amazing author and has teamed up with a great group to tell you some great stories! Check them out! xo Debra











The Fates are said to control our destinies. From our first breath to our dying gasp, these creatures of legend weave the courses of our lives. Even the gods are subject to their decrees. Spinners of dark secrets, the Fates have been feared for the tragedies they weave. No man dared confront the Relentless Ones . . .  until now. 



*****



 Title: Creating Fate
(An Unspun Novella)

Author: Rachel Firasek

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Length: Novella

Release Date: July 10, 2012  
Goodreads link: HERE
Blurb:



She gave away her heart…
Giving her heart to a mortal wasn't something the First Fate planned. Losing him nearly shattered her soul. Upon his death, Clothos swore never to love--or weave life--again. Hoping she'll change her mind before it's too late, Zeus commands the spinner of life to take a much needed vacation from her immortal responsibilities. 



He had to hide his...
Dane is close to cracking the drug ring he's spent the last two years infiltrating, but needs to perform one last heist to meet the head man and prevent an impending war. An undercover agent, he's now on the run from drug lords, thieves and with the very woman whose tears make him forget his purpose.



Together they'll find a way back from the dark.
Chloe will have to put her trust in the man she believes may have killed her fiance, or face an eternity on Earth. Without the desire for life, hope could slip through the cracks of time if he doesn't love away her sorrow. 










About the Author:



Rachel Firasek grew up in the south and despite the gentle pace, she harassed life at full steam. Her curiosity about mythology, human nature, and the chemical imbalance we call love led her to writing. Her stories began with macabre war poems and shifted to enchanted fairytales, before she settled on a blending of the two.
Today you'll find her tucked on a small parcel of land, surrounded by bleating sheep and barking dogs, with her husband and children. She entertains them all with her wacky sense of humor or animated reenactments of bad 80's dance moves.



She's intrigued by anything unexplained and seeks the answers to this crazy thing we call life. You can find her where the heart twists the soul and lights the shadows… or at www.rachelfirasek.com .



 *****









Stealing Fate

(An Unspun Novella)

Author: Berinn Rae

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Length: Novella

Release Date: July 24, 2012

Goodreads link: HERE


Blurb:


She stole his fate…

Lachesis--now known simply as Lacey--is a Fate, an ancient goddess in whose hands our destinies are unraveled. When she's not weaving fortune, she does what she wants when she wants. Until she runs into a man she craves but hoped--and prayed--never to see again. It had been a dangerous gamble to betray the god of terror, but in war, hard choices--and enemies--are made. And she'll soon discover the most frightening of immortals can really hold a grudge.
Now it's his turn…
The most cruel of gods, Phobos is a predator who takes pleasure in terrorizing the world. After millennia of relentless searching, he finds the Fate who caused him to be cast from Olympus. Now he plans to use every bit of his talents on the goddess to regain his lost heritage without losing his heart in the process.



As the outcast god ignites her passions, Lacey must come to grips with the destiny she has long denied herself. And Phobos must find a way to escape the destiny that would force him to betray the woman he has grown to love.









About the Author:



Berinn Rae writes romantic science fiction/fantasy about extraordinary women who always get their guy. Her Guardians of the Seven Seals series follows mythical creatures we believed in as children, only to be forgotten as we aged. When not writing, she can be found flying old airplanes, watching SciFi movies, playing RPGs, and pampering an incredibly spoiled sixty-pound lap dog.



Berinn lives in Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband and dog. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA).



Born: Manchester, Iowa, USA

Schools: BA in Management Information Systems, University of Northern Iowa

              MPA in Organizational Leadership, Drake University



Find out more at www.BerinnRae.com





*****















Chasing Fate

(An Unspun Novella)

Author: Elle J Rossi

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Length: Novella

Release Date: August 7, 2012

Goodreads link: HERE


 Blurb:
She is forced to kill . . .
When a much-needed vacation turns into work for the third Fate, Atropos vows to sever the mortal's lifeline quickly and get back to the sea and sand. Having her mysterious quarry offer a deal in exchange for more time is an unexpected complication. Always surrounded by darkness and death, Attie takes a chance to get a taste of life and help right a wrong that never should have happened.


 He refuses to die . . .
Dru spent months praying for death to take him. Anger over the brutal killing of his family festered until those prayers turned to plans for revenge. Making a deal with the Death Fate was the only way to extend his lease on life. He only needed a handful of days to avenge those he lost, but within minutes of meeting Atropos he knew he'd want forever.










 About the Author:



Elle J Rossi grew up in rural Indiana surrounded by great people, a huge family, and more animals than she could count. But the sites and sounds of the world beckoned, so she left her small town to escape into a creative world full of music. As a full time singer she was able to lose herself in a thousand different songs in a hundred different places.
 After meeting the love of her life and settling down, she yearned to find a new and fulfilling creative outlet. Overly fond of the happily ever after, she wondered what it would be like to have her own characters lead her down dark and twisted paths. The very first word on the very first page sealed her fate. She'd found a new love. She'd found her escape.


Now along with weaving haunting tales about the journey to love, she's creating cover art for authors around the world and loving every second of it. For fun, she cranks country music to take her back to her roots, and sings karaoke anytime she gets a chance. Her husband, two children, and a cat that rules the roost keep her company along the way and guarantees she doesn't get lost in the enchanted forest.  She wouldn't have it any other way.
Find Elle at www.ellejrossi.com









*****


. Thanks everyone!

Dreamland : A teenage fantasy: Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia

Dreamland : A teenage fantasy: Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia: Poughkeepsie by Debra Anastasia Published : November 22nd 2011 H e counts her smiles every day and night at the train station. And mor...

Disney Trip part #10

The Anastasias have decided to travel on the Monorail this time. Though usually we opt for the ferry. Nothing like having the castle creep up on you. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the mysterious Monorail horse smell has dissipated. For the last couple of years, The monorail has smelled like a barn. Not that I mind the barn smell, but usually there's an obvious reason for it --like a horse or a cow. Weird. I wonder what that was. Next thing we know we are dumping out at the Kingdom.

The fear of the crowds stumbled out of the monorail with us. We have no happy Pop Century beds to collapse in this time. If we have a long grueling exit, we'll be traveling for an hour and a half. Mr. A, our chauffeur, had been battling the chicken in the toilet all last night. We are older then we used to be. At 23 we could stay up all night and roll right into the next day chipper and fun. Now 10 years later the all nighters will leave me and Mr. A like crying babies the next day .

First thing first, we pile Mr. A with my bags. The kids and I walk unencumbered through security. We wait for him. Why is it so hard to find "your party" after the security break? Truly, Mr. A takes forever to get all our bags inspected.  The kids and I wander a bit away. It's Disney for Pete's sake. Move along man. Finally he drags himself and the bags to where we are.

We have no plans. Well, that's what I told Mr. A and my offspring. Of course, I have a plan . I want fudge. I love fudge from Main Street. I wish I could eat it hands free like a dog. I'd hork it back using just my head, gravity, and tongue. And I would make awful slurping noises. That's not socially acceptable, so I usually suck it off the plastic knife they give you.

FUDGE.




[image error]
That's my secret plan .

I look at my walking children. We need to get a stroller, so we head under the train. There's mass chaos. No cast member at the counter. I can only see a pair of busy feet slinging strollers around behind the stroller curtain. Now, time, for The Anastasias is of the essence. We've yet to see the crowds. I keep hearing the 24 theme music in my head. "Dum dum dum dump" A huge clock is ticking for merry makers in the Kingdom to shuffle out and line up.

My mother gave us a bit o' warning, telling us the story of the new numbers of allowed guests. They used to cut it off at 25,000 guests but now they are letting in 75,000 before they turn the guests away trying to get into the Kingdom. Is this a true fact? Are we about to face a crowd Unlike Disney has ever seen before?

. Ahhh. Finally. A moment to enjoy. I know Mr. A will be so happy with the view.


Oohh!! Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café. Lucky you!! I remembered!

I know it's hard to find your party

I've to take stroller matters into my own hands. I see a frazzled looking man headed for the stroller curtain with a naked double stroller.
Me- "Returning your stroller?"
Him- "Umm, yes, but I don't know what to do"
Me- "Don't worry sir; I'll take care of that for you" I say in a soothing voice
He stares at me.
I give him an encouraging smile.
He hands me the stroller.
Me-"Have a great night"

I've commandeered someone else's stroller. Mr. A likes to follow rules. He wants to stand in his line, give his name card from Epcot. I ignore him and load up GC and shove our name in. He hates when I commandeer naked Disney strollers, but in my defense, I never make them naked, I find them that way, abandoned.

A disapproving Mr. A leads us to Main Street. We are arriving at 8:35pm and people having been lining up for the Spectro Magic 9:00pm parade. Thronging is more like it. The parade crowd is phenomenal. Between the parade and the sheer volume of humans we can hardly recognize the road to my castle. Worst of all, there was no way to get to the candy store. With the FUDGE.

We shuffle slowly with the others trying to make their way down Main Street. We duck off to the side and head towards Future World. I look at the kids and assess their levels (Cranky, tired, hungry, etc) their hunger meter is high. I realize the kids don't have the Italian bloat Mr. The King and I are enjoying. Their meals were much more lunch-like and reasonable. I've realized even my flatulence at this point has a foreign flair to it. I love Italy. So we head over to Lungering Larry's or what ever that place with the monster singing is. The name will come to me. Either way, my kids (big surprise) are afraid of Larry. So we usually pick one of the surrounding tables. We're pleasantly surprised by a short line. This adds to our delusion that the crowds are not "that bad." I tell Mr. A to order and the kids and I scope out a table. We get a view of the castle at Ray's so I try to call Mr. A. Why do I bother? He keeps his phone in his pants and his Happy Mickey ring tone is just too freaking far from his ear. If only I could send a shock, like those evil dog collars.

Just a few years ago, I was eating in Ray's with Mom, Mr. A, BC and GC. I went for a condiment run. As I was walking back I focused on a little girl about 8 years old. She was running in one balcony door and out another scanning the tables. I stopped and watched her. Tears start streaming down her face. I never let her out of my gaze. 

Finally, I approached her, "Sweetheart, are you lost?"
 
Through her tears, "Yes!"
 
I put on my best teacher voice, "Okay, the first thing you need to do is look for a cast member" I guide her to a line.
 
Me -"I have a lost child here."
 
Cast Member jumps to work. Comforting the child and explaining that they would find her parents together. I stepped off to the side, but never took my eyes off of her. Within a few minutes a frantic father scoops her up. Hugs and admonishments. My gift that day was sitting not far from them and watching them all have a lunch together. It's funny how things work out. I never go for the condiments. Mr. A does it.

What I didn't know was Mr. A was reenacting the little girl's frantic search at that very moment. Although he says it's without the tears, I have my doubts . I get a phone call; Mr. A is given the clue of the balcony. He's wrangling a tray of food and drinks. The trays are apparently greased up just right so that as you move, everything on the tray slides in rhythm. Stop too fast and your whole dinner shifts sliding to the "lip" of the tray and teetering there to see if you are quick enough to counter gravity and send the whole thing sloshing back toward you without tipping all of the barbeque sauce and coke all over you. 

I suppose the cast members have long boring days and watching hapless happy guests play the game with their trays passes the time.

So his search includes opening and closing the doors to all the balconies while balancing his waxed up, zero friction tray (wouldn't automatic doors be really nice here? I guess that would bore the CM's also). I spot him coming for us saving the precious nuggets and sodas. I generously open the last of four million balcony doors for him. The kids devour their meals and Mr. A and I toast sodas. While he was ordering, he was told that they were all out of chicken. (The only thing my kids eat). Mr. A started to panic, within seconds, a Cast Member appears to tell the service counter person that chicken is in again. Now that's what I like to see. Unlike the "discontinued" almonds, chicken's either out or it's in. There's hope with the chicken.

So while the kids have their in chicken. Mr. A and I start to plan our escape.

Bittersweet Seraphim

Just a picture that is inspiration for Crushed Seraphim's sequel.