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IN THIS LIFE

Book 1 of the Past Life Series

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When psychologist Lottie Morgan meets Galen, their encounter is as intense as it is eye-opening. Something about him is familiar.

His looks. His words. His touch…

Lottie can’t resist the urge to know more about him, or the smoldering memories that surface every time he’s near. Only Galen’s keeping a dangerous secret, one linked to a life shared thousands of years ago. One that could destroy the relationship Lottie has with her current lover David.

One that is about to cost Lottie her life—again.

Take a trip to mysterious ancient Egypt,

where powerful passions ignite and deadly deceptions begin.

The Past Life Series starts here.

Get your free copy today.

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Sneak peek into Chapter 1

When you’ve known someone your entire life, there isn’t a lot they can say or do that can surprise you anymore. So when David entered the bedroom, tea and toast in hand and a determined look on his face, I knew the words that would come out of his mouth before he even said them.

“No, Lottie. You’re not going into work today.” And he watched me with an expression that said he knew what I intended to say, too.

“I’m feeling better.”

“Really?” He sat down on the king–sized bed and placed the food tray in front of me. “Eat this. All of this. Then we’ll talk.”

I smelled hot green tea and fresh toast and, for one brief moment, my stomach reminded me that it was empty before rolling over with nausea again.

He sent me a long look. “I figured as much.”

I shifted in bed and tried again. “I have a meeting with my boss today, David, plus a new client who’s expecting me. I’ve also got four appointments that I can’t walk away from.”

“You have the flu and can get your clients sick.”

Now he stared me down, aiming for intimidation despite the bare feet, blue jeans, and faded T–shirt. And I saw why the men that David commanded feared and respected him. Powerful stature aside, his green eyes had a way of cutting right through you until you felt compelled to obey his every word.

However, I wasn’t one of his men.

I nibbled the toast to prove a point more to me than to David, and my stomach pitched again. David said nothing, probably because he knew better, and I pushed out of bed and headed for the master bathroom. Halfway there, my legs turned rubbery and I knew I’d lost the battle.

Another therapist would have had a field day with my stubbornness.

I leaned against the counter and dropped my head. I felt beaten and fatigued, and uneasiness I’d been experiencing since getting sick prickled at me once again. I couldn’t pinpoint the emotion except to call it restlessness, living in a fog that would eventually lift and reveal something with life–altering clarity that I hadn’t discovered before. It was an irrational sensation and one I attributed to the flu.

“I’m on leave for the next two weeks,” David called out. “Take advantage of that and stay one more day. You know you need the rest and I can take care of you over the weekend until you go back on Monday.”

His taking care of me wasn’t the issue. The love of my life was an ace in the kitchen and a neat freak with an affectionate bedside manner. I simply wanted to get back on my own two feet, and under my own terms and steam. I grabbed a brush from a drawer and worked it through my hair. As I bent over to get the underside, dizziness followed and I held on to the counter until the room settled down. I drew in a breath, straightened and tried one last time with determined optimism. My hands moved up and down, up and down and then once again.

Two hands became three, then four. I felt a gentle tugging at my head and the weight of something heavy settle on top of it. The hands stroked and pampered, moving from my hair to my face and neck. A noise followed, the sound of a lid removed from a bottle, and a rich, spiced scent spread over the room and over me. I inhaled, long and deep, wanting more. Much, much more.

“Does it meet with your pleasure?” someone asked.

I could not answer. The aroma was too intoxicating and reminded me of him. Of us.

The person spoke my name and repeated the question, and still I could not answer. My name was uttered once more.

“Lottie?”

Hands settled on my shoulders and shook.

“Lottie?”

The aroma started fading away.

“Lottie, can you hear me?” The scent evaporated and I shook my head to clear the remnants of its evocative memories. David stood just behind, a firm grip on arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I just need a moment.” I saw his worried expression in the mirror and its intensity surprised me. “What’s wrong?”

“Enough of this already.” David steered me from the bathroom back to our bed, tucked me in and made sure I felt comfortable. He stood near me for some time and asked, “What happened in there?”

“A little nausea and another dizzy spell.” I rubbed my forehead, trying to put a name to what I felt. “Maybe I still have a fever, too.”

David touched my forehead, shook his head and sat down beside me. He was studying me now, probing, and trying to see something he didn’t see before.

“You were immobile for almost five minutes,” he said, tucking my hair behind an ear.

“I think you’re exaggerating.”

“Five minutes.”

The restlessness I’d been feeling surged through me again, stronger this time, and I didn’t like the way it felt. Something seemed off, and I wasn’t sure if it was with David or with me. Remnants of last night’s sleep started trickling in, and then a connection clicked into place.

“I had a dream last night and I started remembering it in the bathroom.” I closed my eyes, trying to remember more. “I was in a room with a servant who was waiting on me. She was preparing me to meet someone. A boyfriend.” No, that wasn’t quite right. “A lover.”

I felt a tingling uneasiness as I said the word.

“A lover?” David asked.

I opened my eyes, saw David’s grin and recognized the bait for what it was.

I grinned back. “The lover wasn’t you.”

His grin widened and then faded away. “That still doesn’t explain your behavior in the bathroom. You looked like a statue.”

“I’m tired, David,” I said, sliding down under the covers. “ The human mind is capable of doing unusual things when a person is under stress, like when they’re sick, and the gods only know I’ve been feeling a lot of that these past few days. Forget about it. It’s not a worry.”

David paused. “Is that your professional assessment?”

“Yes.”

It looked like David wanted to say more but he got up and walked to the windows that overlooked the backyard instead. I wasn’t sure what was going through his mind but I knew him well enough to know not to pry. It always backfired whenever I did. So I let him have his moment, toyed with the toast, and then passed on it in favor of some tea. My cell phone rang as soon as I put the mug on the nightstand, and I answered it on the second ring.

“Tough night’s sleep, Lottie?” The voice on the other end was male and one I didn’t recognize. “You shouldn’t tell your boyfriend about your other lovers. Especially those you dream about.”

“Who is this?” I asked.

“I’m disappointed you don’t recognize me.” He laughed, the sound crawling over my skin like a snake over sand. “I’m the man you dreamed about last night.”

Click here for your FREE copy of IN THIS LIFE

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: alternate history, Amazon, David Bellotti, free, free ebooks, In This LIfe, Kindle, paranormal, paranormal books, paranormal suspense, Past Life series, romance, suspense, Terri Herman-Ponce

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Published on June 11, 2015 06:30

A Story Idea Is Not A Story

There are many reasons I’ve been in a writing funk for the past 5 or 6 months, and a recent blog post by Bob Mayer exposed one that I didn’t even realize had been impacting me.

An idea is not story.

I’ve had a number of ideas that I thought would recharge my writing since the end of last year, and not one of them has taken root. Why? Because not every idea can get transformed into story.

How about you? Have you gotten too excited over a story idea that never made its way into a novel? Or, worse yet, have you ever started telling the story idea only to discover half-way through your new novel that it’s not working?

Here’s something to think about that Bob Mayer mentions in this blog:

“I was watching Biography on TV one time and they were covering Clint Eastwood. He would talk about one movie or another and say, “The thing I liked about this screenplay was . . .” And he would sum it up in a sentence or two. He didn’t go on and on saying, “boy I really liked the great scene on page 28, and the twist on page 43, and . . .” I find many writers get too caught up in the minutiae of their story and lose sight of the big picture. He bought the screenplay for Unforgiven based simply on this pitch: “It’s the anti-western.” For someone like Clint Eastwood, who’d made so many westerns, the idea of doing the antithesis was intriguing and drew him in.

What do you like about your proposed book? What will draw the reader in?”

Click here to read Bob Mayer’s full blog about idea versus story.

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Bob Mayer, Clint Eastwood, story ideas, success, writing, writing advice

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Published on June 03, 2015 06:27

REVIEW: Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Pirriwee Public School Meets Wisteria Lane

I’m not sure how I found Big Little Lies (maybe it was through Amazon? maybe it was a recommendation?), but I gotta tell you that I’ve still got mixed feelings about the book even though I finished it last week. It was uniquely written. It was entertaining. It was masterfully told. So why am I having trouble settling down with how I feel about it? Maybe I should explain…

Like I said, I’m not sure how I ended up buying the book, but when I did I was aware that it was released last year and that it had nearly 9,000 reviews (holy cow!). So I did the usual thing when I discovered it: checked out the cover (loved it); checked out the title (found it engaging); and read the first couple of pages (not quite what typically grabs me but it felt like something was there so I went with it). So, here the book earned points.

From the start you’re aware that there is an alleged murder and that a detective is trying to figure out the alleged whodunnit. But here’s the thing. Big Little Lies isn’t a murder mystery (at least not in the traditional sense). So even though there are hints of police procedural in the story, it’s nothing like that genre. Not even close. For this, the book earned more points. I’m not a procedural fan, for the most part.

What is obvious is that this novel isn’t going to unfold in a typical way. It uniquely weaves in snippets of witness accounts about the murder that start out very benignly but that, over time, weave together with the story so that the big picture finally comes into view. By the time you reach the climax, all the cylinders are firing. Everything’s coming together. And you can’t help but want to keep turning pages to find out what the heck happened. Again, more points.

BUT, for me, the book read a like a weeknight soap opera a la Desperate Housewives, (prompting the review’s tagline). And this is where it lost points and this is why I’m having trouble rating it. And this is also where I realized I should have done a little more upfront homework and read the book reviews more closely before I dug in, because they hinted at what I generally don’t read…

Big Little Lies is very character driven, which isn’t a bad thing. I’ve read novels that are more character driven than plot driven. But I have trouble connecting with heavy character thoughts, and heavy character action, and heavy character interaction. Yes, it was like reading what happens to people in real life, but it wasn’t enough to keep me engaged from beginning to end. Yes, it was masterfully told. And yes, I knew I was in a professional’s hands, and that it was penned by someone experienced with writing and story and craft. But other than the heavy character-driven storyline, it also took a while for the story’s engine to really get going. While it was fun to watch the different character viewpoints work out issues related to marriage and divorce, kindergarten bullying and other bigger and scarier things, and then ultimately identify whether or not someone was murdered, I often felt like I was stuck in second gear for the first half of the book. If it wasn’t for the investigative snippets, and the chapter heading hints that brought your attention to an impending “whodunit”, I couldn’t honestly say the book held any real suspense.

So maybe that’s why I’m having issues? I’m a suspense reader and had the expectation that this would read more like true suspense? When it actually fell under a genre known as “domestic” novels?

Hmm. I may be onto something here.

I’m not against domestic novels, by the way. I just prefer them with the snap and zing I associate with domestic “suspense”.

Aha! I think I have my rating.

In the end, Big Little Lies was entertaining and solidly written, and I can honestly see why it gathered so much attention (and still does). As for the rating? I think I’ll settle on giving it 4 out of 5 stars. It’s definitely above average, but not quite what I hoped for. For that reason, and that reason alone, it loses the extra star.

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Big Little Lies, book reviews, reading

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Published on June 01, 2015 13:43

Banishing Writer’s Block

I’m battling writer’s block right now. And let me tell you, sometimes pushing past it is h-a-r-d.

Today I found a blog that talks about my very problem, and offers some very solid suggestions on how to work with writer’s block and tackle it.

Are you blocked? If so, you might want to check out this post.

Not blocked? Then you should keep this post for future reference because, at some point, you probably will be. :)

Click here to read about banishing writer’s block.

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: writer's block, writing, writing advice, writing inspiration, writing tips

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Published on May 29, 2015 11:14

Life Lessons for When Life Kicks Butt

Life has a way of kicking butt when you least expect it. Not that you can predict these things, but when it comes at you hard and fast it can leave you feeling helpless and insecure and maybe even angry. But it also teaches life lessons you can’t get any other way.

I’m feeling a bit introspective these days because the past few months have been hard for me. Lots of crap went down that had to be dealt with, and I gotta tell you it was a rough patch. It’s not over yet, there are still some remaining life tests hanging out there, but it occurred to me when I went for a run yesterday that those tough months could have been tougher if it weren’t for a few important things that got me through it.

Here are the lessons I learned when life was kicking my butt:

Seek out the one friend you know will listen to you. And I mean just listen without giving advice. There’s something soothing to the soul when you can let it all out, cry or yell, or just sit in silence without getting feedback in return. Sometimes just having a sympathetic ear can help lighten the load. And knowing that special friend is always there for you, any time of day, can be uber-grounding.
Meditate. I know I’ve said this before but meditation really does make a difference. There were times when I meditated and my mind raced all over the place anyway, but coming back to my center — even just knowing my center was there even if I couldn’t completely calm it — helped soothe my rattled nerves and give me a little more focus.
Read. Or write. Or run. Or do yoga. Or go to the gym. Or…something. I discovered if I did something that used my brain and/or my body, I was able to focus on something other than my troubles. For me, running and yoga occupied my mind and my heart, just enough to ease my worried brain for a short while. It was also a great way to burn off calories along with the stress.
Don’t feel the need to ask forgiveness for feeling crappy. Some people really aren’t built for empathy or sympathy, and will take your crappy feelings as something personal against them even though they’re not. We’re all entitled to bad days or, as was the case with me, bad months. This is life. It’s not necessary for you to apologize for your bad times — as long as you’re not being mean to the people around you when you’re going through them.
Be selfish and give yourself time to heal. Because you will. You just need to allow it to happen, and the only way it will happen is if you adopt a healthy attitude of selfishness — the time and the space you need to regroup, find your center, and heal.
Understand that you can’t control everything. Life will be life and you can’t control what it throws at you. But you can control how you react. Focus on what you can do for yourself, what you can change in your heart and soul and mind, and try to let everything else go. It won’t make the tough situation disappear, but it sure as heck will help keep things in perspective.

Well, that’s it. My tough times aren’t quite over yet, but I’m going to keep these points handy so I have a reminder of what I’ve learned so far, and what I’ve still yet to learn. Who knows…maybe I’ll have more experience to share with you down the road. :)

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: life lessons, meditation, mental-health, psychology, self help

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Published on May 17, 2015 08:36

How Shifting Perspective Changes Your Life

Do you have a tendency to mind-read? Or jump to conclusions about what a person said or something that happened? Does your mind-chatter have a tendency to go off the deep end sometimes?

It’s a proven fact that your self-talk causes stress. And half the battle of getting better control of that stress is to work on tamping down negative self-talk.

I recently discovered a blog that talked about how our own thoughts can greatly increase or reduce the amount of stress we feel. See, the thing about our brain is that it never turns off — even when you’re meditating, which is something people misunderstand. (Meditating is meant to quiet the mind, not shut off thinking.) Anyway, this blog offers advice on how to challenge negative self-talk so that you’re better equipped to face what’s really going on in your life rather than constantly battle the thoughts running rampant in your head. I hope you find it as useful as I did!

Click here to read more about how to challenge and change your mind chatter.

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Bob Mayer, publishing, success, writing, writing advice

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Published on April 27, 2015 11:21

A Realistic Path to Becoming a “Successful Writer”

I seem to have found a theme lately, and that theme encompasses what it takes to be a successful writer.

One thing we often forget, as readers as much as writers, is that “success” as determined by society is, for the most part, unattainable. It’s lofty and unrealistic and based on the view that success is only achieved when we become a household name.

If you view success as measured by fame or fortune or being asked for autographs, the odds are you’re going to be disappointed. But if you look at success through different lenses, achieving success as a writer (or any other career or life choice, for that matter) is much more attainable than you realize.

Click here to read JA Konrath’s blog: The Path to Success.

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: JA Konrath, publishing, success, writing, writing advice

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Published on April 14, 2015 06:55

Top 10 Reasons to Shop at the Farmer’s Market

I have a passion for eating whole, and for eating food and not the food products that big box retailers and supermarkets would have us believe is “food”.

Doesn’t this look amazing? | copyright eyeflyer

I subscribe to Mother Earth Living and found this article about the Top 10 Reasons to Shop at the Farmer’s Market. One of the biggest reasons?

You can taste the difference.

Do yourself a favor and read it. Then do yourself a bigger favor and try to eat whole foods. It will truly make a difference in your life. :)

You can read this terrific article here.

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: farmer's market, health, healthy eating, Mother Earth Living, whole foods

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Published on April 08, 2015 13:43

The Basics of Being a Successful Writer

Writing is hard. Trying to make a steady income stream from it is even harder.

Bob Mayer recently posted a blog about what it really means to write, what it really means to publish, and what it really means to be a “success” these days. It’s a blog that, believe it or not, has been reviewed and revised since he published his first book in 1990. Though the advice may have been updated over the years, it’s still important to us today. Maybe even more so.

This is for all you writers out there.

Click here to read Bob’s blog.

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Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Bob Mayer, publishing, success, writing, writing advice