Mia Kerick's Blog, page 6

COVER REVEAL of Shira & Aisling’s new book & an EXCLUSIVE QUOTE for Momma Mia!!!

Yes, you heard me right! Tonight I am honored and privileged to be able to reveal the awesome cover of SOLITARY MAN by my two friends Shira Anthony and Aisling Mancy!!!

FIRST, HERE IS MOMMA MIA’s EXCLUSIVE COMMENT from AISLING MANCY!!!

(Yes, ladies and gentlemen, you’ll only find it here!!)

I asked AISLING to briefly discuss the experience of co-writing with SHIRA ANTHONY!!

He responded…

“Charlie Worsham said, ‘I believe the better I can write on my own, the better I can be of service in a co-write. The big thing with a co-write is trust, and it’s not so much what you get the first time you sit down with that writer. It’s the relationship that you build that you’re in. So you can trust throwing out all your ideas and how strong you think they might be.’

When Shira and I sat down to discuss story ideas for A Solitary Man, the trust was there, it was implicit, and it was an incredible pleasure bouncing ideas off each other. A symbiosis occurred and that transcends writing. We hope you enjoy our story. Thank you for reading our books!”

Aisling, you are welcome–we are so happy to read your books!!

NOW, are you ready to see the cover? Well, here it is!!!

COVER REVEAL!

Authors Shira Anthony and Aisling Mancy have teamed up to write a red-hot action-packed thriller!

A Solitary Man coming from Dreamspinner Press November 6th!

Excerpt:

Evan pressed the button on his phone to connect. “Freddy? What did you find out?”

Fred laughed. “For this, I’m going to exact a price.”

“You mean the keg I sprang for at graduation doesn’t get me a freebie?” Evan shot back.

“We’ve been out of law school for how many years now? Eight?”

“Nine this year,” Evan corrected.

“Credit’s no good anymore,” Fred answered. “I’m thinking dinner at Ivy at the Shore next time you’re in LA. On you, of course. Including a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.”

“For that,” Evan said with a chuckle, “this had better be good.”

“It’s good. And it was hell to get.”

“Okay, okay. Dinner on me. Assuming you and Margie put me up for the night,” Evan replied. “I’m looking forward to seeing your McMansion.”

“Deal. Took a little digging. Seems your mystery man did some undercover work for the FBI.”

“And?”

“My buddy in the US Attorney’s office wouldn’t give details, but word is Constantine got fed up with the bullshit after a case went bad somewhere down in South America.”

“Drugs?” Evan asked.

“No. He dealt with human trafficking. Specifically, child sex trafficking. My friend says the guy’s good. He tried a few cases where Constantine was the government’s key witness. Knows his stuff. Works his ass off and gets into his work. I got the impression sometimes he gets a little too close.”

Now that was interesting. “Why?”

“Seems the guy’s rabid about protecting kids.”

“Any idea why?”

“Nothing anyone would tell me,” Fred replied.

Evan leaned back in his chair. At least Xav wasn’t a slacker, but it didn’t make Evan feel any better about the prospect of bumping into him at work. “Anything else?”

“Constantine grew up in LA, went to school in Boston.”

“Boston?” Even more interesting. So much for his initial assessment of Xav as a broceanographer.

“Yeah, you’ll love this.”

Evan could almost hear Freddy’s grin over the phone.

“He did undergrad at MIT. Mathematics major. Master’s in criminology from U Penn with an emphasis in cryptology. The FBI was probably falling all over itself to recruit him.”

No shit. This just got better and better. “What the hell’s a guy with that kind of background doing in North Carolina?”

“I could ask you the same question,” Fred shot back. “Of course, if you decide you want your own McMansion….”

“You couldn’t pay me enough to come to work for you,” Evan joked. Fred was serious—they’d had this discussion a half-dozen times before.

“Try me.” Fred paused for a moment and then asked, “This personal?”

Evan had no intention of telling Fred he’d slept with Xav. “Not personal.”

“’Cause word has it he’s gay,” Fred said. “Out but not advertising.” When Evan didn’t take the bait, Fred added, “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

Evan shook his head and sighed theatrically. “Don’t even go there, Freddy. You know I don’t mix business and pleasure. I just want to know what I’m dealing with. That’s all.”

“You can’t bullshit a bullshitter, man.”

“Thanks for the help,” Evan said, foreclosing the topic. “I’ll let you know next time I’m out your way. Tell Margie she’s a brave woman.”

“Always do. Laters. And make sure you get your sorry ass out here soon.”

“Will do.” Evan disconnected the call and rubbed his mouth. Mathematics major at MIT and a master’s from U Penn? No wonder the FBI had recruited him. And he’d pegged Xav for a surfer! What the hell are you doing in Dare’s Landing, Xavier Constantine?

About A Solitary Man

Sparks fly when Chance meets tall, sexy Xav at a Wilmington bar and they have the hottest one-nighter of their lives. But Chance doesn’t do repeats, Xav seems detached, and they go their separate ways without a word. Two months later, when closeted Assistant District Attorney C. Evan “Chance” Fairchild meets Dare’s Landing’s newest deputy sheriff, Xavier “Xav” Constantine, Evan isn’t only wary. He’s irritated as hell.

Xavier is a former FBI agent turned deputy sheriff who is hot on the trail of a South American child prostitution ring. Evan is fighting to put an end to rampant cocaine trafficking and chafing under the thumb of an election-hungry boss. When someone tries to kill the thirteen-year-old witness who holds the key to both their investigations, they’re forced to work together as they put their lives on the line to protect him. As Chance and Xav collide in heat of a sweltering North Carolina summer, dodging bullets and chasing bad guys isn’t the only action going on.

Pre-order A Solitary Man from Dreamspinner Press!

About Shira Anthony

Shira loves a great happily-ever-after and never writes a story without one. She’s happy to write what her muse tells her, whether it’s fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, or contemporary romance. She particularly loves writing series, because she thinks of her characters as old friends and she wants to visit them even after their stories are told.

In real life, Shira sang professionally for 14 years, and she currently works as a public sector attorney advocating for children. She’s happy to have made writing her second full-time job, even if it means she rarely has time to watch TV or go to the movies.

Shira writes about the things she knows and loves, whether it’s music and musicians, the ocean, or the places she’s lived or traveled to. She spent her middle school years living in France, and tries to visit as often as she can.

Shira and her husband spend as many weekends as they can aboard their 36′ catamaran sailboat, “Lands Zen,” at the Carolina Coast. Not only has sailing inspired her to write about pirates and mermen, her sailboat is her favorite place to write. And although the only mermen she’s found to date are in her own imagination, she keeps a sharp lookout for them when she’s on the water.

Shira looks forward to meeting you at Gay Rom Lit!

Find Shira on blog, Twitter @WriterShira, Facebook, and Goodreads and

Subscribe to Shira’s monthly newsletter

for updates, free fiction, and subscriber-only contests!

About Aisling Mancy

Aisling is an author who lives, most of the time, on the West Coast of the United States. Aisling writes adult fantasy, adult LGBTQIA romance, and fiction for gay young adults (C. Kennedy).

Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Aisling doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic awkward, and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Aisling contemplates such weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the straight people come from? When not writing, Aisling can be found taming waves on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the much maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling at all things ordinary.

Aisling looks forward to meeting you at Gay Rom Lit!

Find Aisling on blog, Twitter @AislingMancy, Facebook, Goodreads, and

Aisling does respond to emails because, after all, it is all about you, the reader.

I am going to rush out and buy this book!! So exited to read A SOLITARY MAN!!!

Mia

Filed under: Uncategorized

Wanna WIN SOME STUFF??? Check out my blog!!!

I’m nice.

In fact, I’ve often been accused of being too nice.

But beneath this nice exterior… is a lady who wants stuff.

What is it that Mia Kerick wants? You may wonder.

Well, first, let me tell you about the nice things I’ve got that you might want. K?

I have fourteen published books. All signed… or unsigned, if you’d prefer, by Mia Kerick, the author (yup, me).

There are shiny new Young Adult books: Intervention, Not Broken, Just Bent, The Red Sheet (original cover), Us Three, Inclination, Love Spell, Come to My Window, “A Hard Day’s Night”.

There are New Adult and Adult books: Beggars and Choosers, Unfinished Business, A Package Deal, Out of Hiding, Random Acts, Here Without You.

HINT: Mia Kerick will be focusing on YA from this point on, and an “ALTER EGO” of Mia Kerick will be writing the New Adult and Adult stuff in the future…. Yes, it is time to separate the men from the boys… STAY TUNED for more information!

 

 

 

But here’s a reminder: these books include the last of the Mia Kerick adult books.

And there’s swag. Not a lot of swag… but there will be some Mia Kerick stuff thrown in to make opening the box more fun!

Do you want this grand prize? The Complete Mia Collection from Day One of her writing journey? Those of you in the United States are eligible to win (shipping is just too expensive out of the country- SORRY!)

Okkkkaaaaayyyy… this brings us back to what I want. (I look like a want something in the selfie below- don’t ya think?)

Here’s the deal: I need reviews. All authors need them; reviews are our lifeblood! Readers need reviews, too, to help them choose the best book for them.

In order to register for the raffle—which will be of the names-in-a-hat-variety—all you have to do is place a new review (posted after 9/28/15) of any Mia Kerick book on Goodreads, Amazon, your blog, Facebook, or somewhere else that takes reviews, like Dreamspinner Press or All Romance eBooks. It can be a review of a book you read a long time ago and never reviewed. It can be a review of a new Mia book you have been meaning to pick up and read. It can be short and sweet or long and complicated! And, of course, it must be an honest review- good, bad, or somewhere in between. Then private message me on Facebook or leave a message here on my blog telling me your name, which book you reviewed, and where you placed the review and you will be entered into the raffle.

Sound fair? I figure it’s a win-win-win situation all around!!!

I will open the contest TODAY 9/28/15 and will close it at midnight on October 30! There will be a Halloween Drawing!

This is my first time running a big contest so please let me know if I have missed something big. Or small.

THANKS!! Good Luck!!

Mia

Filed under: Uncategorized

A VERY Personal Statement by Mia Kerick “Accepting Myself”

There are thirty bags of clothing in my garage.

I’m not talking about those tall, white deodorized kitchen trash bags. I’m talking about heavy-duty, “a dumpster-in-a-bag”, construction-grade trash bags, each stuffed to the top with preppy attire in slightly varied sizes.

Enough white button-down collar oxford cloth shirts to outfit a (plus-sized) private girls school.

No (size sixteen or eighteen) woman in the state of New Hampshire with access to my garage need go shopping for denim, at least until the next decade.

An ocean of trash bags. I could drown in them. And in some ways, maybe I did.

***

As I got started on my adventure in cleaning out our “storage closet”, which is actually a small room off the master bedroom, I looked around at the boxes and bags stacked awkwardly to the ceiling, filled with clothes that I’d picked up at malls and online over the past seventeen years. I couldn’t help but think of the show on TLC called Hoarding: Buried Alive… and I wondered if they could possibly do an episode on me.

On the second full day of bagging and tagging clothes, I wondered if perhaps I wasn’t better a subject for a Lifetime made-for-TV movie about a compulsive shopper whose wretched husband holds an intervention to stop her from sending them to the poor house. (Incidentally, my husband has been remarkably patient with my little habit.)

On the third day, I was finally able to tackle the foundation of books that lay beneath the excessive piles of clothing, and a new concept surfaced in my mind about who this apparent compulsive buyer really is.

Here is a small sample from my extremely large book collection:

Intuitive Eating by Emily Tribole, Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: A Handbook for Unapologetic Living by Jes Baker,

embody: Learning to Love Your Unique Body (and quiet that critical voice!) by Connie Sobczak, How to Have Your Cake and Your Skinny Jeans Too: Stop Binge Eating, Overeating and Dieting For Good, Get the Naturally Thin Body You Crave From the Inside by Josie Spinardi, Embrace: My Story from Body Loather to Body Lover by Taryn Brumfitt, Two Whole Cakes: How to Stop Dieting and Learn to Love Your Body by Lesley Kinzel, The New Atkins Made Easy: A Faster, Simpler Way to Shed Weight and Feel Great — Starting Today! by Colette Heimowitz, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution by Robert C.Atkins, Weight Watchers the Fit Factor: How Getting Strong Can Help You Lose Weight… by Weight Watchers, Beautiful You: A Daily Guide to Radical Self-Acceptance by Rosie Molinary, The Diet Survivor’s Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self-Care by Judith Matz, Ellen Frankel, Self-Esteem Comes in All Sizes: How to Be Happy and Healthy at Your Natural… by Gary D. Foster (Foreword), et al, Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self by Frances Kuffel, Journeys to Self-Acceptance: Fat Women Speak by Carol A. Wiley, Read My Hips: How I Learned to Love My Body, Ditch Dieting, and Live Large by Kimberly Brittingham, Stop Dieting Now: 25 Reasons To Stop, 25 Ways To Heal by Golda Poretsky, The Easiest Diet in the World . . . and It Works! by Rich Stevens, Eat This! : 365 Reasons to Stop Dieting by Mary McHugh, Till We Eat Again: Confessions of a Diet Dropout by Judy Gruen, The Good Calorie Diet Philip, Ph.D. Lipetz, The Two-Hundred Calorie Solution: How to Burn an Extra 200 Calories a Day and… by Martin Katahn, The Prayer Diet: The Unique Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Approach to Healthy by Matthew Anderson, Dieting For Dummies by Jane Kirby, Never Satisfied: A Cultural History of Diets, Fantasies and Fat by Hillel Schwartz…, Fed-Up: A Woman’s Guide to Freedom from the Diet/Weight Prison by Terry Nicholetti Garrison, David Ph.D Levitsky, Making Peace With Food : Freeing Yourself From the Diet/Weight Obsession… by Susan Kano, Don’t Diet by Atrens, Dale M.; Valk, Peter, Real Women Don’t Diet!: One Man’s Praise of Large Women and His Outrage at the by Ken Mayer, The Dieter’s Dilemma: Eating Less and Weighing More by William Bennett, Joel Gurin, The 3-Apple-a-Day Plan: Your Foundation for Permanent Fat Loss by Tammi Flynn, Fat Girl Walking: Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin…Every Inch of It by Brittany Gibbons, Inspired to Lose by Howard Rankin, Ph.D., How To Lose Your Ass and Regain Your Life: Reluctant Confessions of a Big… by Kirstie Alley, Hot & Heavy: Fierce Fat Girls on Life, Love & Fashion by Virgie Tovar, FAT!SO? : Because You Don’t Have to Apologize for Your Size Marilyn Wann, Think Thin, Be Thin : 101 Psychological Ways to Lose Weight by Doris Wild Helmering, Dianne Hales, Fat Politics: The Real Story behind America’s Obesity Epidemic by Eric J Oliver, Fat Chicks Rule!: How To Survive in a Thin-Centric World by Lara Frater,  Jenny Craig’s What Have You Got to Lose : A Personalized Weight Management… by Jenny Craig

Get the picture?

 

 

I’m not a hoarder, nor am I a compulsive shopper. I mean, sure, those labels could be loosely applied to me, but they do not describe what is at the heart of the matter.

I am a woman in distress.

***

For all of my adult life, most of my teenage years, and a sizeable portion of my childhood, I have been tormented by the inability to accept my body size, which might be a first world problem, but it is my reality. At this juncture, I will not discuss the personal why’s or the political implications of this problem of mine, but rather, I plan to describe my personal experience with it.

I could give you a pertinent example, or a million. Maybe I will.

I’m allowing this personal statement, my manifesto, to flow freely. Call it a stream of consciousness, if you so choose. So in the spirit of structurelessness, I’m going to start here… don’t ask me why.

I feel like a link of sausage in these stupid Danskin leggings that Mom makes me wear to school. A fatty, juicy sausage packaged in a stretchy polyester casing. (And I was a normal-sized child… thin, even.)

 The anguish of body hatred isn’t a new thing in my life. I’ve been aware of, and uncomfortable with, my body since I was a child.

I worked at an ice cream parlor over a summer when I was in junior high school, I rode my bike to the CVS downtown and and spent all of my tips on Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. This was my first toe-dip into teen independence.

 In my teenage years I struggled with not being as small in body as I felt my person was in the world. A silly, dreamer, crossed with a nervous people-pleaser, I had never been popular in high school. Wearing my heart on my sleeve and a target on my back, I’d discovered that being insignificant was far better than being laughed at. So I isolated myself from the crowd and tried to stay safe by being as perfect as possible. “That’s right. Reclaim a bit of your lost power by keeping the girls jealous and the boys wanting you.” To accomplish this, I had to be thin.

In college I was so scared and alone, no girlfriends, just boyfriends, and when they dumped me, or I dumped them, which was somehow inevitable, all hell broke lose in my heart. I had no problem staying skinny then, because I’m a happy eater. I don’t eat to console myself, and in college I was too anxious to eat. But when I started working, the diets resumed.

I can still remember the first McChicken Sandwich I ever ate at McDonalds. Holy sweet fried chicken torture…. They were all I could think of. McChicken Sandwiches have become smaller and drier over the past 30 years. Just saying.

 

I remember returning from my honeymoon, about twenty-three years ago, completely disillusioned. Not disillusioned by the daunting reality of being a married woman, or distraught over how I was going to pay for a fifteen thousand dollar wedding. No, I was struggling emotionally with the six pounds I’d gained over the course of my wedding and honeymoon. Desperate, I headed straight to Nutrisystem, where they proceeded to weigh and measure me. The verdict: five feet six inches, 131 pounds (I have an amazing memory for details like this). “Yes, ma’am, you are indeed overweight and Nutrisystem can help you lose those unwanted pounds.”

  “Did you ever hold a pound of butter in your hand?” My mother asks me when I lose only two pounds this week when my goal was four. “That’s a lot of unsightly fat! Don’t give up!”

“Are you pregnant?” asks my 7th grade student, Tommy DiMato, when I wear a blue pleated skirt to school. I never wore that skirt again.

“Why can’t I make this bulge in my stomach go away?” Partway through a set of one hundred sit-ups and fifty leg lifts, I ask the trainer at the gym, where I’m the sexy juice bar girl.

“That’s where your ovaries are,” replies the trainer. “You can’t exercise them away.”

 

And then I was pregnant and I couldn’t fully enjoy the experience of bringing a precious new life into the world because I lived and died for the weigh-ins at my OB GYN’s office. I found myself dieting when pregnant, and confounded by the fact that I was gaining weight still. In my mind were the Downy commercials in which a gorgeous perfect skinny mother holds her similarly perfect newborn up in the air in front of her and they exchange perfect smiles. I knew that a fat woman like me couldn’t be that perfect mother.

“When did you start packing on the pounds, big Mama?” asks Dr. Dolman with a smirk when he comes to my room after I’m checked into the hospital for the induction of labor with my third child, thanks to the onset of pre-eclampsia. I wisely decide not to slap the face of man who will soon be delivering my baby, but it isn’t easy to hold back. “Have you ever been pregnant, Dr. D?” In case you’re wondering, I didn’t ask him this.

A few weeks after giving birth to Sienna, a close family member notices I’m still wearing a larger size in clothes. “It’s a good thing you have those beautiful J.Jill clothes or you’d look horrible,” she confides with a sly wink.

I thought I’d be able to brush aside my body acceptance issues as I experienced the miracle of pregnancy, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I worried that I would never be the same, and I wasn’t.

I have never uttered a single word to my kids with regard to body weight. In fact, I refuse to allow them to so much as mention the word diet, which might be overkill in the right direction. My mother was aware of every bite of food I put into my body, and felt it was her duty to comment on it, because, you know, “men don’t marry fat ladies”. So I took a huge step back with my own children, encouraging them to eat when they were hungry, and stop when full. I do not want them to ever feel that they need to change their bodies, but rather I hope they will embrace the bodies they have been blessed with.

“I took more hell for being fat than I did for being an absolute raging drug addict. I will never understand that.” ― Kelly Osbourne

I never want to go to parties with my husband because party snacks and drinks have calories. Lots of calories. If I eat and drink them, I’ll get fat. And then I won’t look decent enough in party clothes to even attend this type of event. My alternative is to go to the party, have nothing to eat, and drink water. And be envious of all the people who are eating and drinking the good stuff. Now you can see why partying isn’t high on my list of things to do.

***

So let’s revisit my closet…

Here is how I ended up with a literal mountain of plus size clothes, growing at a fast clip in the next room:

*Maybe this outfit will make me look thin. I’ll buy one in every color.

  *Oh, my God, my jeans are snug around the waist. Calm down… it’s okay. You need to accept yourself as you are. Ever since you had Sienna you have continually dieted and returned to this very same weight! Hello! Maybe this is your body’s natural set point? I’m gonna go buy bigger clothes. I’ll feel comfortable and accept the new larger me. After all, bigger is better. Right? Right?

  *I think these jeans make my butt look a little bit smaller. I’ll buy five pairs. I don’t want them to run out or stop making them and then I’ll never be able to look this good again.

  *For the rest of my life, I’m only going to eat fruit and vegetables and drink black coffee and have popcorn for dessert… because mentally I can’t go without dessert. (And after nine months of eating more apples, oranges and bananas than a fruitarian…) Now I need new clothes… woohoo!! I’m gonna buy a crap ton of “skinny clothes” cuz I’m not going back to my former fat self.

*But bread and cookies and brownies and mocha lattes … they taste so good. I’ll only have one… I mean it. Did you know that it’s much easier to gain weight than lose it? But gaining is still equally torturous. Because I remember how it felt when I was fatter than I am right now… I was not attractive and people thought I was lazy and some people thought I was worthless … and I was almost not fat any more thanks to Peeled Brand’s Dried Mangoes. But rolling stones gather moss and I can’t stop the downhill roll. And up the scale I climb. Shit. Time for new clothes that I can breathe in.

  There are days I don’t eat until three in the afternoon because I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to be on a diet or not.

Sometimes I suffer over what I eat so much that I finally succumb to the “nothing tastes as good as thin feels” philosophy and I do something drastic like go on the Atkins Diet. I lived on a low carb diet for three years. My weight was under control, but it sucked to go out for ice cream because I’d have to eat the beef jerky I took from home. And I hate meat… and lettuce. Which made Atkins tough.

  *If I could just find the perfect pair of slouchy jeans I would not have to worry about being fat or thin. I’m going to go online shop and buy boyfriend jeans from every store. One of them has to make me look cool, confident, preppy… or maybe like a free-spirited hippy. You know, like I don’t care about how I look, and about what people see when they look at me.

  Twenty more minutes on this GODDAMNED TREADMILL and I’ll have burned enough calories to eat two Devil Dogs….

Aside: I just got distracted… I read a story of a person who lost a lot of weight but who did it did it in an admittedly dangerous manner. First impulse: I get an instinctive feeling that she is somehow better than me because she is thin. That she has more control over her life and is self-disciplined, and, generally, worth more. And everybody thinks she looks terrific and is saying so as I type this, even though they know that she lost weight in a way that could ultimately kill her! What does this mean? Hmmm… it means that being thin is more important than being … alive. ”You look great! Keep up the good work!” Huh?

I used to avoid my yearly medical check-ups because I so dreaded getting weighed. I DO NOT WANT TO KNOW THE NUMBER. Do you hear me??? I DO NOT NEED TO KNOW. Now I refuse to be weighed at doctor’s appointments. The regular nurses know that I don’t step on the scale. I hate it when they get new nurses.

 And so, I ended up with a room full of clothes of slightly varied sizes and styles, all selected with the hope that I would lose weight and fit into them or stay thin and fit into them or wear bigger clothes and fit into them because I accept myself. Or be the perfect garment that would change everything for me and let me be a cool, confident I-don’t-care sort of cowgirl.

***

Back to the why’s of this sticky situation I find myself in….

I have pondered this topic incessantly… I’ve obsessed over it, even. Why am I convinced that in order to be happy I need to be thin? All I can say is it’s a society thing… At some point we all bought into the “thin=smart, successful, healthy, disciplined, and worthwhile” scenario. You want respect? “Then get your fat ass off the couch and onto the treadmill… and, for God’s sake, put down the fudge brownie! There’s a fudge brownie flavored low cal yogurt in the fridge!” And don’t forget this wise assumption: “Everybody knows fat people are lazy and self-indulgent… and stupid… and, I’m just gonna say it— disgusting. #sorrynotsorry.” This is no exaggeration, although I wish it were.

I’m a people–pleaser and I am aware that society wants my body to be thin… and I’ve tried, almost every day, for more than thirty-five years to deliver to the public what it so desires: a thin person…. And I’ve failed.

Even the currently (terrifyingly) most popular Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, thinks that fat people got no reason to live. I mean, would he really be my president? Would he represent me, with all of my Rosie O’Donnell physical similarities? I highly doubt it. And where I should be furious at him for possessing this backward attitude toward women/fat/Rose O, I feel shame. As if maybe Rosie and me don’t deserve equal representation in the democratic process because we have belly rolls.

In the midst of the contents of my closet… among the piles of clothing and the boxes and bins filled with diet books and you-don’t-need-to-diet-books and dieting-doesn’t-work-books, I see the clear evidence of a tortured life. Of pain that I accept because I have a body that I can’t accept. All the hurt and resentment and embarrassment and shame are stuffed into this backroom… living in the closet where no one but I know it’s there. (My husband has a pretty good clue it’s there, though, because when the cats get in the storage room they never fail to knock down precariously stacked bins, and that’s loud at 2 AM.)

As I sit here sorting through the physical evidence of my lifelong pain, the television is on the Investigation Discovery Channel so I have something to keep me entertained while I work. Marie Osmond chirps on and on about the wonders of Nutrisystem, and the “rough day” she looked in the mirror, saw the dismal truth that she was fifty pounds overweight, and knew she had to do something about it. (I estimate that the diet plan plays a motivating commercial at least five times each afternoon.) I’m being brainwashed even as I recognize that I have long been brainwashed by a society that has declared I am not good enough as I am.

Is it time that I accept my full self, including my body, and love and take care of the lush frame God gave me with a loving attitude… by exercising for pleasure and health and eating a variety of foods? Yes. I think the day has come.

Even as I profess that I’m going to love myself exactly as I am today, can I still the niggling doubt that tomorrow morning I’m going to tell myself, “Fruit only, fatso! Cuz you’re big ass is going to a family gathering next month and everybody will see the fat girl you really are! You better get started right now!”

 But, maybe today IS the day I finally celebrate the real me. The me who I currently am. The woman who has raised her kids and loved her man and cared for her dying mother and written her books and emulated her sister and folded all the damned laundry and cared for so many hearts and souls of kids and cats and friends and family….

I so badly want today to be the day. “But,” the inner anxious me reminds, “thirty bags are gone… not thirty pounds.”

 No worries, inner me… I’m okay. I’m the way I’m supposed to be. I don’t need to change, not for myself, not for you, not for anyone.

I’m beautiful. I am. I am.

Filed under: Uncategorized

It’s RELEASE DAY for my first NOVELLA!!! “A Hard Day’s Night” welcome to AMAZON!!!

Today is the day!! Today you can meet Lennon and Fin, laugh at their mistakes (they won’t know) and fall in love right along beside them! Explore some popular culture in a Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist-style adventure!! And I promise you will be singing Beatles songs for the rest of the week!

It’s only $2.99 for the ebook- an entire day at the beach caught up in a slice of Lennon and Fin’s life for less than $3.00!!

What do you have to lose but $2.99?

Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Gay & Lesbian Fiction

And if you are a John Lennon Fan, this short novel is not to be missed!!

Find out why it’s a hard day and an even harder night in this ONE DAY ADVENTURE of music, friendship, breaking stereotypes, and LOVE!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NOVELLA AS A READING CHOICE FOR ROMANCE? CAN A NOVELLA SATISFY YOUR NEED FOR ROMANCE?? I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Mia

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COVER REVEAL TODAY “A HARD DAY’S NIGHT” by Mia Kerick YA LGBTQ Contemporary Romance Novella

Duh duh-duh daaaaaah!!! Here it is!! The moment you (I) have been waiting for!!

Here is the reveal of the awesome cover by Louis C Harris of my first NOVELLA!!

“A HARD DAY’s NIGHT” by Mia Kerick YA LGBTQ Contemporary Romantic Fiction with Humor

THANK YOU COOLDUDES PUBLISHING!!!

Within this short but sweet story are two cute teenage boys finding themselves and each other, plenty of Beatles music to sing along with, total beauty makeovers that will make you envious, shades of pink Disney T-shirts, boogying down to Taylor Swift tunes, a kiss or two that are a little bit more than sweet, and a photo session that will leave you breathless!! What’s not to like?

And maybe the two boys learn a little something about life, but you are gonna have to read it to find out!!

“A Hard Day’s Night” by Mia Kerick

Buy links in the comments!!!

Pre-order a copy today!!!

Mia

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I’M HAVING A RELEASE DAY PARTY and YOU are INVITED!! RELEASE DAY PARTY for MICHAEL J BOWLER’s SPINNER!!!

Hello, and thanks for coming to my BOWLER BOOK BIRTHDAY PARTY PALOOZA!!!  Sit down, everyone, make yourselves comfy, and listen to my speech… or um, my welcome. Yes, my warm welcome for the guest of honor, Michael J. Bowler.

Today a very close, very wonderful friend of mine is releasing a YA HORROR THRILLING WORK OF FICTION!! Spinner, by Michael J Bowler features a diverse cast of heroic high school kids, a slew of nasty cats, some devious and calculating adults and EVIL I can’t describe or I will most certainly have nightmares!! Now, maybe you are thinking, “I’m a romance reader” and  under normal circumstances, so am I… but Spinner is a refreshingly chilling change in pace that kept my heart pounding and my fingers turning the pages!!! (YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT.)

SO, in honor of our guest Michael Bowler…

and his AMAZING NEW RELEASE SPINNER…

THE AMAZON LINK to SPINNER is on my comments!!!! :)

I’M HAVING A RELEASE DAY PARTY!!! PARTY ON!!! WOOT!!!

Let’s start with some cupcakes… of course I will stay with my theme. BOOK CUPCAKES! See the tiny books I stuck on them?

And BOOK-ISH balloons…

and of course we must have coffee, tea, and cocoa – I bought some special mugs for the occasion…

(Michael- of course you can have a mug of almond milk)

Now, to let you all know how much I adored Spinner, I will now read aloud my FIVE STAR review. You can find it on Goodreads and Amazon (soon) if you would like to re-read it. FIVE STARS- did you hear that part??

I’m a romance reader, and definitely not what you would call a huge horror fan, but as you know, there’s an EXCEPTION to every rule. Michael J Bowler’s FIVE STAR YA thriller, Spinner, is this exception to my romance novel obsession.

I have to ask myself why—why could I not put Spinner down, when I normally would never pick up a YA horror novel? So here’s my main reason: where I’m a romance reader, I’m an action movie lover! No, strangely, I don’t want to watch a love story unfold on the big screen; I want to be thrilled, challenged, made to think, and concentrate very hard, through every moment of a movie. This is exactly what Spinner caused me to do as I read each and every gripping page. And thus, I view Bowler’s exciting, un-put-down-able work of YA horror as interactive as I do a thrilling action movie. Just give me some popcorn and a soda and a copy of Spinner and I’m good to go!! That’s entertainment!!

Now on a more serious note, to thoroughly enjoy a novel, I also need to buy what the author is selling. In other words, I must believe in what he is trying to get across, and thus, I need the language to be right. Bowler, having had a great deal of experience with special education teens as a high school teacher, hits the nail on the head with his character dialogue. In addition, I need the relationships to be intense and to genuinely matter to me, and again, Bowler delivers. I wanted—no, I needed—to know whether there would be acceptance and forgiveness and yes, even love, between his tightly knit cast of characters. I found these two essential aspects of a book I can embrace—believability and a feeling that I actually care what happens to the characters—to be alive and well, and thriving, in Michael J. Bowler’s Spinner.

And finally, because I have read Bowler’s Children of the Knight series and FELL IN LOVE with each of the five books (even experiencing a mini-depression when I concluded the final one), I gained an insight about myself and what I’m looking for, particularly when I read a YA novel. I want to learn something. I want to be somehow enlightened, and even end up a more well-informed and compassionate individual for having read the work of fiction. If this also concerns you, I’d suggest you read Spinner by Michael J Bowler. You will emerge on the other side of the novel a more educated, empathetic, and tuned-in (to society) person.

I can see you are all spellbound by my amazing review of Spinner, but honestly, and you all know me well enough to know I’m a straight shootin’ type of gal, if you want to be truly spellbound you must read SPINNER!!

Okay, now everybody, get up. It’s time for a GROUP HUG in support of my dear friend and his amazing book.

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GOOD LUCK MICHAEL AND YOUNGDUDES!!

LOVE,

MIA

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COVER REVEAL PROMO FOR “A HARD DAY’S NIGHT” Mia’s first novella!! YA LGBTQ Contemporary Romance

Short but sweet.

I will admit, I didn’t intend to write a novella. But 21,500 words was all it took to write the skinny slice of Lennon and Fin’s life that I wanted to put forth in “A Hard Day’s Night.” Why drag it out? “A Hard Day’s Night” is the story of two teenage boy’s one hard day and one harder night during which they explore and discover their sexuality. A twenty-four hour journey…  modern with a touch of humor, lots of pop culture and even more FAB FOUR culture, sort of on the line of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist’s overnight self-exploration in Manhattan. Some stories are just kind of short and sweet, so why fight it?

So, the cover reveal is on August 10th. The preorder buy link on Amazon and the WANT TO READ on Goodreads will go up that day, too, if all goes according to the grand plan.

My awesome publishing company CoolDudes/YoungDudes Publishing has provided me with some awesome gifts to prepare for the big day.

This cover reveal promo image arouses interest in the book and the Beatles, huh? Thanks Louis C Harris

And Louis J Harris sent me a musical present this morning!!

How amazing is this???? You know you want “A Hard Day’s Night”, don’t you, my friends???

Get ready for a novella that can be read in a long afternoon on the beach, or a hot evening on the deck!

A HARD DAY’s NIGHT by Mia Kerick WOOT!!!!!

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FYI: Info on reaching Mia Kerick

Hi! My former assistant has requested that I make a statement so here it is:

Beckey White is no longer my assistant. The awesome and talented Kari Higa is doing much of my promotional work, if you have a promo issue, and if you need to contact me directly, I can be reached at miakerick@gmail.com or private message me on Facebook!!

Thank you!!

Mia

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The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick is a Foreword Review INDIEFAB Award Winner!!

OMG. Yesterday was the best day ever because of the SCOTUS decision to make same-sex marriage a right nationwide!! And for me it got just a little better, this time in a professional way. :) My daughter who attends Georgetown University and is doing a summer law internship in Washington, DC took this photo!!

The Red Sheet is a Foreword Reviews INDIEFAB BOOK of the Year AWARD WINNER!!! :) :D **Announced at American Library Association​ Annual Conference tonight in San Francisco.

“Foreword Reviews’ 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards Winners Announced: (Here’s the article)

June 26, 2015—Foreword Reviews’ INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards, judged by a select group of librarians and booksellers from around the country, were announced this evening at the American Library Association Annual Conference in San Francisco.

Representing hundreds of independent and university presses of all sizes, INDIEFAB winners were selected after months of editorial deliberation with more than 1,500 entries in 63 categories. This year’s list of winners includes the Dalai Lama, Lev Grossman, Jeet Heer, Chuck Palahniuk, Zack Whedon, Georges Jeanty, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Kent State University Press, Rizzoli, Abingdon Press, Quirk Books, Cleis Press, and Six Sisters Stuff, among others. The winners represent the best work coming from today’s indie authors and publishers.

Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Honorable Mention awards were determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers along with Foreword’s editorial staff. The Editor’s Choice prize for Fiction was awarded to Out There, written by Sarah Stark and published by the Sante Fe publisher Leaf Storm Press. Joggling Board Press, an unconventional publishing house dedicated to books that amplify the spirit of the American southeast, was honored as the Editor’s Choice in Nonfiction for Edisto River, by Larry Price, Rosie Price, and Susan Kammeraad-Campbell.

Foreword presented Lee & Low Books with its Publisher of the Year award for the minority-owned company’s commitment to diverse voices in children’s literature. Lack of diversity in children’s literature has been a recent topic of discussion in the publishing world, but Lee & Low has focused on filling this void for a couple of decades. “For more than 20 years, Jason Low and his talented team have continued an honorable mission of increasing the number of diverse books available for children,” said Foreword Reviews Publisher Victoria Sutherland. “They are being honored by Foreword for more than books, however. We admire their leadership role in the indie publishing community.”

Foreword’s INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards program was created to discover distinctive books from the indie publishing community across a number of genres. What sets the awards apart is that final selections are made by working librarians and booksellers based on their experience with patrons and customers.”

Thank you to my readers, reviewers, friends (and lurkers) for sharing in my profound joy that an LGBTQ YA work of romantic fiction was recognized!!

Mia

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A Little Hypnosis Experiment with Mia Kerick… hehehe

I thought that today we would try a little experiment. ;)

Are you game? Wonderful!! Now, I am going to have to insist that you ask no questions, and just read the script below. Okay? Great. (And Chance César from Love Spell would love this game as he is not above having this type of fun.)

Make yourself nice and comfortable.That’s good.

Let’s start by taking a deep breath in…

Yes, very nice. Now hold this breath for a second or two.

And now release it nice and slowly, and release, as well, the stress of your day. Excellent…

Let go every last bit of your tension. A warm tingly sensation flows from your head to your neck to your back and belly, to your private areas, to your thighs and calves and feet. Oh, and your arms. And hands. Um… did I mention your shoulders?

You are getting very sleepy.

You may begin to feel as if your eyelids are becoming very heavy, and you may want to go to sleep, but you must keep your eyes open.

As you read each sentence on this script, you drop down deeper into relaxation.

Just focus on the words. Yes, just like that…

Focus on the pictures. You cannot look away….

Clear your mind of all thoughts except what the words and pictures bring forth.

From the hairs on the top of your head to the tip of your baby toe you feel warm, relaxed, and wonderful as you read the words and study the pictures.

The items in the pictures bring on feelings of happiness and pleasure, like rays of sunlight washing over your entire body.

(I had trouble choosing an image)

You will surrender to the desires you are experiencing based on the images you are seeing. You will not fight your urges…

You will allow feelings of unmitigated joy to surface when you hear or see the words, “Love Spell.”

You will experience an unquenchable desire to possess the story of Chance César’s struggle to make Jazz Donahue fall in love with him.

You NEED to purchase LOVE SPELL!! by Mia Kerick…. It’s on Amazon…. Just saying….

It feels so good to relax and know that Love Spell by Mia Kerick will soon be yours.

You feel so happy and peaceful as you envision the light pink, heart-covered book (yes, Love Spell by Mia Kerick) in your extremely relaxed hands.

Thanks to Love Spell by Mia Kerick all stress is gone from your body and your life. And the entire world, for that matter.

Thanks to Love Spell by Mia Kerick you are completely at peace.

Young woman sleeping on a green grass.

Love Spell by Mia Kerick fulfills your every reading desire.

Yes, that’s good. Breathe in… hold it… now release your breath.

In a moment I will count down from five to one. With each number I count you will become more committed to your need to purchase Love Spell by Mia Kerick. When I get to one you will wake up feeling refreshed and in the mood to shop online.

5 – Let yourself go completely, give yourself up to your urge to shop and then read a “whimsical love story that will make you laugh and cry”

4- Every number is an opportunity to further accept your need for Love Spell by Mia Kerick.

3- You feel better (and more sure of what you want to do with your $4.99) than you have ever felt in your life.

2- You will respond “I obey” when you hear me say number one

You will go to www.Amazon.com and conduct a search in the Kindle Store for Love Spell by Mia Kerick….

1- “I obey”

(You know what to do now.)

I’m in the mood for a contest… an old-fashioned throw the names in a hat and pick a winner contest!!

Prize will be Mia Kerick-related, depending upon your location- in the US I can mail you stuff, out of the US it will have to be something I can email you.

SO COMMENT and leave email address and I will enter your name!!

I’ll give it a few days before I draw a name… no set date so DO IT NOW!! (say “I obey, Momma Mia”)

It was lovely spending time with you today. Hehehehe…..

Mia

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