Sheila Seabrook's Blog, page 2
September 28, 2018
AND THE WINNER IS…
Earlier this week, I did a special giveaway for my newsletter subscribers and the winner is Sandra from Connecticut. Congratulations! Sandra has won:
– a signed copy of Love Under Construction, a standalone novel written for The Thurston Hotel series
– the exact same journal I’ve been using for my latest creative outlet, sketchbooking and art journaling
– my favorite gel pens (since I can’t actually sketch or draw yet, just call me the queen of doodling)
– and a box of Butter Maple Shortbread Cookies that I purchased in Banff, Alberta, Canada! Yummmm!
August 10, 2018
#BookLoversDay Book Fair
It’s #BookLoversDay and we’re having a book fair. To join in, the only requirement is that you read a story. So from August 9 to August 12, pop over to www.irisblobel.com/082018bookfair and read.
Happy reading always!
June 24, 2018
What You Focus On Grows
It’s raining out today. One of those glorious, deep-soaking rains that my little part of the world desperately needs. I’m stuck inside the house—it’s summer, after all—contemplating life.
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This has got me thinking about some of the things that have had a huge impact on my life. People, places, sayings. Lately, it’s been a saying by life coach, author, and singer/song writer Christine Kane:
“Your attention is the most powerful resource available to you at any given moment. What you focus on grows.”
Today, these words feel powerful. But for a long time, I didn’t get what they meant. For me, the elusive part of the saying has always been how “grow” relates to attention and focus.
“What you focus on grows.”
I just didn’t get it. How did this relate to my personal growth? Or was it only about work and goals and achieving things?
After a few weeks of reading Christine Kane’s words every time I opened up my computer, after mulling over the meaning of that last line, it finally made sense.
You see, I’d recently developed a small practice to gain control over my monkey brain. You know the brain I’m talking about, right? It’s the one that likes to control our thoughts, because distraction and chaos make it incredibly happy. It’s also the one that’s scattered and splattered and uses every excuse out there to prevent us from reaching the finish line.
I think it’s the ego’s first cousin…
A few weeks ago, I instilled the following habits to overpower my monkey brain:
1. Every morning, seven days a week, I sit down at my desk and meditate for three minutes. Sure, it’s short, but it’s enough time to quiet the monkey thoughts and train the brain to focus.
2. At eight-thirty, Monday through Saturday, the Freedom app shuts down everything but my Scrivener writing app. No more internet. No more email. Freedom takes the choice away from me. I can write…or choose to sit there for an hour and a half, and stare blankly at the screen.
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Through these habits, I’ve learned that if I want to do something—write a book, learn to quilt, or cut out processed foods—the more focused time and attention I put on the task, the faster I grow and achieve my goal. And now I want to take this simple process of attention and focus, and grow it into other areas of my life. Baby steps…but that’s another life’s lesson.
So now tell me, when you read that saying, what does it mean to you? Or like me, do you need some time to mull it over to absorb and grasp the lesson there?
May 13, 2018
Happy Mother’s Day
We all have someone important in our life, so whether you’re a mom, step-mother, doggy-mom, daughter, sister, aunt, friend or whatever, I wish you a day filled with love and joy!
To celebrate Mother’s Day, let’s have a contest!
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We all create our own story…every moment of every day. Drop me a note right here and share a brief moment of your own personal story (about whatever you wish to share today), and I’ll enter you into a draw for a signed copy of one of my paperbacks (your choice) and some chocolates. 
April 1, 2018
Latest Book To Rock The Bestseller List
First off, I’d like to wish everyone a Happy Easter. I hope you’re out there spending time with your family and/or eating some wonderfully delicious chocolate.
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Now on to the latest news…
There’s a new book out and it’s rocking the bestseller lists in so many genres, it’s created a new Guinness World Record. Have you heard about it yet? They’re already talking movie rights, TV rights, franchise rights and a whole bunch of other rights…and the book hasn’t even been released yet.
It’s about an undercover journalist/superheroine who infiltrates a nudist colony on British Columbia’s famous Vancouver Island where she investigates an unsolved murder and discovers the secret behind her parents’ romance, the truth of her biological parents, the secret of the sexy stranger who wants to make babies with her who claims he’s an alien from a distant galaxy, and if that’s not enough great stuff, finally meets the daughter she gave up for adoption years ago.
The book is titled WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS by April Fuhl and you can check out all of the deetz right here.
Do you believe it?! Aren’t you excited?!
March 25, 2018
My Characters Have A Life Of Their Own
My characters…it’s like they’re hidden in the shadows, too shy to make an appearance all at once. Or perhaps they just enjoy teasing me (driving me crazy would be more like it!).
From the foggy mists of my imagination, my characters appear bit by bit. The longer we spend together, the more pieces of their personality they’re willing to reveal. If I take a wrong turn and attempt to shape them into something they’re not, they plop themselves down in the middle of the floor like a pouty two-year-old throwing a hissy fit, and refuse to cooperate until they get their own way.
They have a life of their own, beyond what I can see,
Take Abby Watts, the heroine from my upcoming release ONCE A HEARTBREAKER.
[image error]Abby is the sister of the heroine from A Time to be Tender, book three of the Rocky Mountain series. Restless. Independent. Kind of slutty. Full of guilt. She blames herself for what happened to Jane. If she’d met her sister like she was supposed to, Jane would have never landed in a predicament that nearly ended her life and left her with a lifetime of nightmares.
Abby loves her sister. And now guilt plagues her constantly for the lie she told to cover up her whereabouts on the fateful night that changed Jane forever.
It’s a lie she hasn’t quite revealed to me yet, a secret she’s determined to keep hidden. It’s the reason she won’t let herself fall in love with a good man like Zach Malone. A secret affair with the hunky rancher is one thing. But marriage and commitment…no way…
Did you like this inside scoop? What do you think Abby’s secret could be? Please tell me because I’m dying of curiosity…
March 18, 2018
A Power Message For Women Everywhere
This really touched me, so I just had to share. It’s by author Rayanne Haines who you can find at http://www.rayannehaines.com. Enjoy!
March 4, 2018
The Mob Museum, Las Vegas
Every day I look out my office window and see this:
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And typically from October to March, when I stand up from my desk to take a break, I see this:
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While the winter landscape can be utterly gorgeous, by January we’re dying to leave our winter jackets and gear behind, and escape the cold.
This year we headed to sunny Las Vegas to enjoy the heat and catch a few shows. Unfortunately, a cold front had moved into the city and we were forced to take our winter jackets along with us. (Yes, seriously, I’m not kidding!)
One of the highlights of our trip was our visit to The Mob Museum. Located in the downtown section of the city, we hopped onto the local transit bus and made the six mile journey from Caesars Palace north to 300 Stewart Avenue.
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No doubt you’re wondering why we would choose that particular site to visit.
Book four in the Caught Between series, titled Caught Between the Mob and a Hot Cop, is set on Serendipity Island at the Heavenly Estates Retirement Home. This story is about a plain Jane princess who is trying to save her family’s legacy, a hot cop who’s investigating a money laundering scheme, and retired mobsters determined to keep their home.
Of course, my story won’t have the violence level of the movie The Godfather. In fact, there won’t be any mobster violence at all. Instead, you’ll find humor, hijinks, a love story or two, and aging mobsters who will do anything to save their home, even if it means resurrecting their old careers.
Have you ever been to The Mob Museum in Las Vegas? Do you think a laugh-out-loud romance story with mobsters is possible? Let me know in the comments!
February 25, 2018
Sneak Peeks and Inside Scoops
[image error]I recently took some time off from writing the upcoming books in the Rocky Mountain Series to clean up my website. If you don’t already know this about me, then I have to tell you how much I love building websites. It’s like play, so taking a few days off from writing to work on the site is no hardship.
Anyway, a couple of years ago, I created pages for each individual book with hopes of giving you all an insight into the development and writing of each story. However, I didn’t complete the pages and they’ve been sitting there. I’ve never really talked about them because they’ve been half done and messy. But now, finally…
[image error]Ta da! Just go to my books page, click on any cover, and you’ll get the inside scoop on that particular story. Character info, blog posts I wrote giving the inside scoop on the stories, and more. Or click on the images on this blog post and get taken directly to the first book in the series (where you can then access the other books in the series).
I’ll be adding more tidbits and extras to these pages, so check back occasionally to see what’s new.
Do you like getting the inside scoop on your favorite stories? If so, what kind of things are you interested in seeing more of?
February 18, 2018
Be My Valentine Giveaway Winner!
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Did you take part in the Be My Valentine Giveaway? My Sweet Man did the honors and drew from the names of everyone who entered. If you posted a comment in multiple places, then your name went into the draw multiple times.
And the winner is … Angel H. C. Congratulations Angel! Please send your mailing address to my email at sheila @ sheilaseabrook-dot-com so I can mail you your book.
Thanks so much for playing along, everyone.
Did anyone do anything exciting to celebrate Valentine’s Day? We joined my siblings over at my mom’s place, ordered in food, and enjoyed good food with good company.
