Terri Herman-Poncé's Blog: Terri Herman-Ponce, page 13
December 9, 2014
10 Ways to Keep Earning a Living as a Writer
Great advice here for writers from Bob Mayer, and it was well-timed for me. The one thought that stood out the most?
“Understand that everyone else isn’t doing as great as they pretend they’re doing, so stop comparing yourself. You control your career, not anyone else’s.”
Amen. Click the link below to read more.
More Writers Than Ever Are Earning A Living BUT . . . 10 Ways to Keep Doing it!.
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Bob Mayer, earning a living, writing
December 7, 2014
Facing End-of-Year Stress? Tips for Mental Peace and Quiet
A few weeks ago, I sat in my car after a full day of errands and realized I was tired. It didn’t take long to figure out why. I’d released three books this year, held a full-time job, and managed a family and home. Oh, and I faced the upcoming holidays, too. There was planning and baking and cooking to do, not to mention gift buying and wrapping. And, of course, there were also life’s every day stresses that came at me when when I wasn’t looking.
copyright Alan Cleaver | Flickr
I was facing burnout, big time, and realized that unless I made some fundamental changes I was going to lose my sanity. So I retreated to my mindfulness and meditation books and rediscovered some wonderful tips that help make for a much quieter and peaceful mind.
Accept that you’re feeling overwhelmed. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re bombarded with messages telling us that we’re not productive unless we’re multitasking. That we have to juggle three, four, or five things at once and we’re always supposed to be on the go if we’re going to get anywhere, literally or figuratively. But in case you haven’t noticed, the concept of multitasking is bull crap and unattainable. The brain and body are single processors. It’s how we’re designed, and for good reason. We’re not machines but living, breathing, feeling humans. So, when you’re feeling stressed, acknowledge that you’re feeling stressed. Stop what you’re doing, pay attention to the overwhelming emotion without judgement, and just be. Focus on your breath, the cool drawing in and the warm release, and keep breathing until the stress subsides. Then, when you have a clear head, refocus and move ahead.
copyright Glowing Star | Flickr
Do one thing at a time. Reading email and talking on the phone and buying Christmas gifts online, all at the same time, stretches our brains and our emotional versatility too thin. Same for any other variation of juggled tasks. If you’re going to eat, then just eat. Don’t read email or watch TV while you do it. If you’re talking to someone, focus on that person. Same for work or shopping or cleaning the house or mowing the lawn. Whatever it is that you’re doing, focus on what you’re doing. Everything else can wait and will take place in time. In the end, doing so will make you feel less scattered and fragmented.
Put down the smart phone. Seriously. Do you really need to check it every two, three, or five minutes? Think back to when smart phones didn’t exist. How did we survive? Umm, very easily and peacefully, thankyouverymuch. Smart phones have their uses and their time and their place–just not during every minute of every day. Same thing applies to being on your computer. Step away from the technology and go back to being human.
copyright unknown | Flickr
Unless you have a hard deadline, put it off until another day. Not everything has to get done now. Assess what is your most critical task or need at the moment, and work on that and only that. Everything else can wait. Then lather, rinse, and repeat.
Say no. Not only to others but to yourself as well! There’s a way to say no without being abrupt or rude, but saying no is critical to a sense of peace. It’s also very liberating. You’ll be surprised at how resilient and resourceful other people can be when you remove yourself from the picture.
Well, that’s the helpful list that was most top-of-mind for me. Have any other mindful techniques to share that can help bring peace back into what can be a very crazy time of the year? If so, please share. I’d love to know what works for you.
Namaste.
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Copyright © 2012-2014 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: helpful tips, human behavior, mindfulness, om, positive thinking, psychology, reduce stress
December 3, 2014
What Do People Like to Read on Blogs?
Fabulous post by the equally fabulous Nicholas Rossis on what people like to read on blogs. I was expecting a generic list. Instead, I found something inspirational.
What Do People Like to Read on Blogs?.
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories
December 1, 2014
YESTERDAY PEOPLE –release day!– “Epic” “Addictive” “Impossible to put down”
YESTERDAY PEOPLE
Book 3 of the Past Life Series
Readers are calling the Past Life Series
“Epic”
“Addictive”
“Impossible to put down” ___________________________________________________
David Bellotti’s only focus is to find his abducted twelve-year old daughter. When he sees her on a news segment with her captor, a renowned archaeologist who’s made a major discovery, David sets out to bring her back home. But the search leads him to a secret message that could alter man’s history forever.
A message David and his daughter inscribed twelve-thousand years ago.
A message that will prove dangerous in the wrong hands.
Protecting this powerful information seems simple until David realizes some people will use his daughter against him to get it, at whatever the cost. Now David must make a choice. Protect mankind from a secret past that must remain hidden, or save his little girl.
___________________________________________________
I hope you enjoy reading Yesterday People
as much as I lovedlovedloved writing it.
And if you do read it, please leave feedback or a review.
I adore hearing from readers.
___________________________________________________
Copyright © 2012-2014 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: alternate history, Amazon, archaeology, David Bellotti, Kindle, Lottie Morgan, paleolithic, paranormal, paranormal books, paranormal suspense, past life regression, Past Life series, reincarnation, soul mate, suspense, Terri Herman, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce, Yesterday People
November 19, 2014
sneak peek: YESTERDAY PEOPLE (chapter 2)
YESTERDAY PEOPLE
Coming December 2014
David Bellotti’s only focus is to find his abducted twelve-year old daughter. When he sees her on a news segment with her captor, a renowned archaeologist who’s made a major discovery, David sets out to bring her back home. But the search leads him to a secret message that could alter man’s history forever.
A message David and his daughter inscribed twelve-thousand years ago.
A message that will prove dangerous in the wrong hands.
Protecting this powerful information seems simple until David realizes some people will use his daughter against him to get it, at whatever the cost. Now David must make a choice. Protect mankind from a secret past that must remain hidden, or save his little girl.
___________________________________________________
Chapter 2
Present Day
“They’re heading west on Fairfax. Turn. Now.”
I jammed the Camaro into fourth, floored it, and threw the car left. Tires screeched and the car fishtailed over ice, and the Jag I’d been chasing slammed its brakes then took a hard right. I swerved, smelled the sharp tang of burning rubber, heard tires grinding on packed snow, and clipped a curb.
Nat’s disembodied voice broke in over Bluetooth. “Jesus, D-Man. You’re gonna kill the ride.”
The car was the least of my problems.
The Jag blew through a green light that turned yellow. I hit the gas. A Ford pulled out in front and I swerved to avoid it and a bicyclist, and threw the gear into fifth. The Camaro went airborne, barreling through the intersection and over a pothole.
“Christ!” Nat cut in. “You’re gonna be useless to Ada if you’re dead!”
“Just keep a lock on Ada,” I said, pursuing the Jag onto the highway and wondering what in the hell the driver was thinking. An open road was no match for the supercharged Camaro. “I’ll worry about the rest.”
I’d been chasing the Jag for almost fifteen minutes, and trying to find Ada for the last four weeks. First in White Rain, Australia, then through the back roads in Germany, and now across a remote area of snowy Massachusetts. Each lead brought me closer to her, but this had been the closest I’d gotten to Ada yet.
The speedometer inched toward one hundred.
Keep your head, Bellotti. Your daughter is in that car ahead of you.
I was moving in. Closer.
Closer.
A face peered up from the Jag’s back seat. Black haired. Sad-eyed. Focused on me.
It was Ada, and she was shaking her head.
My foot hesitated over the accelerator long enough to give the Jag a momentary lead.
Ada shook her head once more, emphatically this time, telegraphing that she didn’t want me to follow, and swiped her arm over her eyes and nose. She was crying.
The Jag took off.
Like hell. I would not lose my daughter again.
I hit the pedal, gritted my teeth, and cursed the day Damian Sahin took Ada away. Lucky for me, Nat knew someone who knew someone who could track Ada’s location through her cell phone GPS, leading me to where we were now.
The rear window in the Camaro exploded and glass blew out all over me. I skidded, another blast tore through the car, and I yanked on the steering wheel, swerving hard and trying to avoid getting shot. A third bullet ripped through the passenger seat, shredding leather and kicking up foam stuffing. A fourth shot rang through and whizzed past my head.
Nat’s sharp voice cut in. “Are those gunshots?”
I chanced a glance in the rear view mirror. “Not sure who it is or when they joined the party.” I saw a blonde woman driving a blue Nissan. She was the one with the gun.
The blonde leaned out her open window, took aim, and squeezed off another round. It blasted through my window.
I swerved the Camaro, skidded to a halt, then jammed the gas and the gear to get moving again. The Camaro convulsed over plowed blacktop, hesitating before it gained traction.
By then the Jaguar was gone.
The Nissan blew past, and the blonde gave me a wicked smile and the finger.
I cursed. Slammed the steering wheel and the brake. Then cursed again.
“I lost her,” I said to Nat, and threw the door open and got out. I paced the snow-packed road, heart pounding and vision red, pissed that I couldn’t catch one damned break. Inside the car, Nat peppered me with questions I wasn’t ready to answer.
“D-Man. Talk to me. You okay? Jesus, talk to me. Are you there? Are you hurt? Are you dead? What the hell is going on over there?”
I leaned against the open door. “Yeah, I’m here,” I said, my voice deflated. “I almost had her. She was right there. Right in front of me.”
Bluetooth beeped with another incoming call.
“Did you recognize who was chasing you?” Nat asked.
“No.”
But something about the driver nagged. I sank back into the Camaro, half-listening to Nat go on about trying again. That at least Ada was in the States for now, and that would make things easier for us.
I wanted to believe him.
The phone beeped again and the dashboard displayed that it was Mommie Dearest. I cursed one last time.
“I got another call,” I told Nat. “It’s MD.”
“Better you than me.” And he disconnected.
MD jumped on me as soon as the call went through. “You want to tell me what the hell you’re doing this time, Bellotti? Three busted stop signs, a frazzled small community in the middle of nowhere, and a sheriff’s department that’s chewing my ear off over your antics.”
“I got a lead on Ada and followed it. I’ll pay for the damages.” I gave her my version of the story.
“You’re an employee of PROs. You want to keep it that way?”
“I was shot at. Someone doesn’t want me to get Ada and I need to find out why.”
“None of that matters.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“You ever think about how you’re putting your daughter’s life in danger with these stunts?”
“They were shooting at me, not her, and I need to know why.”
“No. You don’t.”
“This isn’t about keeping a girl from her father,” I argued. “It’s something else. I’m getting closer to her and today was the first time someone pursued, intent on making a point.”
“Intent on getting you killed,” MD corrected.
“No. This woman was a good shot. If she wanted me dead, I’d have been dead.”
And that’s when it hit me, why the driver seemed so familiar.
I’d been too preoccupied with getting to Ada to realize she was Kyra Brand.
___________________________________________________
Read the rest when
YESTERDAY PEOPLE
releases in December 2014!
___________________________________________________
Copyright © 2012-2014 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: alternate history, David Bellotti, Lottie Morgan, paleolithic, paranormal, paranormal books, paranormal suspense, Past Life series, sneak peek, suspense, Terri Herman, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce, Yesterday People
November 10, 2014
sneak peek: YESTERDAY PEOPLE (chapter 1)
YESTERDAY PEOPLE
Coming December 2014
Readers are calling the Past Life Series
“Riveting”
“One of those can’t-put-down-books”
“A paranormal without the usual suspects”
Chapter 1
Thirty-four months ago
Life doesn’t give do-overs. There are no rewind buttons, no second chances, and no extra seconds on the clock. Seconds that could make a difference either way. It’s unfair, and by the time you realize life’s playing hardball and knocking out your teeth, it’s often too late. There are no previews either. No sneak peeks to warn you that things are about to shift out of your control, and not for the better.
Imagine how different life could be if only you could see it coming.
I arrived at the Soft Zephyr Charity Gala at the Blue Insignia Hotel in London with one goal in mind. Well, two actually. One, to mingle with investors who pumped money into Professional Recruitment and Operations, a global military corporation known as PROs that I worked for. And two, to forget about the woman I’d just broken up with. No rewind buttons on that one. That was a lifetime friendship turned passionate affair that ended up one giant, painful mess.
I wove through the crowd in a ballroom filled with crystal chandeliers the size of small cars, men in tuxedos, and women in gowns and jewelry that could fund Third World countries. I hated the pretense but this was, once again, life. Sometimes you just had to suck it up because it was in the job description.
It took a few minutes to find the bar and I scanned the ballroom, looking for familiar faces. But the place was packed and I wasn’t much up for socializing anyway. Broken hearts had a way of doing that to you.
“Would you like something to drink, sir?”
I turned to the bartender, amused by the word ‘sir’. He was older than me, probably by twenty years, and I’d just turned twenty-seven in June. For a moment I considered a beer but this was a swank event and I didn’t want to look like a second-rate tourist. I asked for an Amarone instead.
While he poured I felt the warm brush of someone moving in beside me. I turned and made eye contact with blue eyes that sparked with mischief, blonde hair that reminded me of a lion’s mane, and a mouth that made a man’s imagination go into overdrive. The rest of her was pretty damned good, too.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” I said back.
The bartender handed over my drink and the woman ordered hers. Tequila. Straight up.
I felt my brows rise and my interest pique. “I’m impressed,” I said.
“Won’t drink anything else.” The woman took the drink and held her glass up in salute. “Ever have?”
I shook my head.
“You’re missing out then. Tequila is the nectar that leads you straight to the devil.” She gave me a shrewd smile that made my knees buckle and my imagination stray to a bedroom and lots of sweat. “I’m Kyra Brand,” she said, holding out her hand. “You can call me Kyra.”
“David Bellotti,” I said, taking it. “And you can call me David.”
Her skin was warm, her grip firm, and the connection that fired between us made the temperature in hell seem tame.
“So, David,” she said, sipping her tequila. “What brings you here?”
“An invitation and a car.”
Kyra laughed.
“Actually,” I said, “I work for PROs. They just started donating money to Soft Zephyr Charity and I’m here sort of as a goodwill ambassador.”
Her smile widened just a bit. I decided I liked it. A lot.
“Sort of?” she asked, the mischief in her eyes kicking up a few notches.
I shrugged.
She went for more tequila, her red lips caressing the glass while her pink tongue darted out to lick the little bit that dripped over the side. I resisted the urge to tug at my tux collar, but it was getting way too damned hot in here.
“Let me guess,” Kyra said. “Ex-Navy SEAL?”
I shook my head. “Ex-Marine.”
Kyra nodded, like she approved. Then she leaned in, peering up at me with a beguiling look that made my heart stutter. “Tell me, do you know Mommie Dearest? Is she for real? Because I’ve heard stories.”
I had to laugh at that, and it felt good to laugh for a change. “I work for her. She’s my CO.”
“Wow. I can’t imagine that. I’ve heard she’s tough.”
Not the word I would have used, but good enough. “How do you know MD?”
“I know a few people in the biz.” Kyra motioned to the ballroom and the people around us, the deep plunge in her gown shifting just enough to tease at what was underneath.
Heat pulsed through my blood that had nothing to do with alcohol.
“So you know my story but I don’t know yours, Kyra. What brings you here?”
“Looking for a man.” Kyra gave me sly eyes and her red lips curved into an equally sly smile. “Preferably only for just the night.”
I paused, the wine at my mouth, and my gaze locked with hers.
An older man with a huge Rolex on his left wrist moved in on the bar and asked for a drink. His arm bumped Kyra’s, sloshing tequila out of her highball. I touched her elbow, urging her to move off to the side, and as she turned I got a good look at her bared back and a scrolling tattoo at the bottom of it. Something ignited and flared, and suddenly I wasn’t thinking about small talk anymore. If I had my head on straight, I might have heard the warning bells going off in my brain. The rare portent that life gave you when something was about to change if you made the wrong choice.
But only if you made the conscious decision to see it.
“You here alone?”
I heard the words but didn’t connect that they were coming from my mouth. I was on autopilot now. Wanting to forget a broken heart. The fact that Kyra didn’t look anything like Lottie, the woman I’d loved and lost, made things much more tempting.
“Yeah.” Another smile. Another sip. “Bad breakup. Left the boyfriend in Paris. Don’t really want to be here. Doing it anyway because it’s in the job description.” Kyra finished her tequila. “My company also donates to the charity.”
Again, our eyes met and held.
“I feel your pain,” I said.
“You mending a broken heart, too?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Four weeks for me, David.”
“Ten weeks for me, Kyra.”
We said nothing for a few seconds. The few calculating moments when life hangs on a decision that will change everything forever.
Kyra inched in so we were breaths apart. “I have a room upstairs.”
I said nothing.
“And I’d love some company.”
That was all I needed to hear.
It took ten minutes to make our way out of the ballroom, ride the elevator to the top floor, and fall into her king-sized bed. The sex was frenzied and physical, and when the next morning came I felt drained and dehydrated and desperate for a shower.
Kyra mumbled something when I rolled out of bed, and when the hot spray hit my body the painful memories that I’d successfully shoved aside for the past eight hours came back, hard and fast. I leaned my forehead against the tile, swallowing down the lump of grief I still felt whenever Lottie came to mind.
It was often.
When I finished the shower, I redressed in my rumpled tux and slipped back into the bedroom.
And there it was. The moment when you realize there are no do-overs. No rewind buttons, no second chances, and no extra seconds on the clock. Seconds that could have made a difference either way, depending on what choice I made.
Kyra was on the bed, staring lifelessly up at the ceiling with blood pooling over her chest.
___________________________________________________
YESTERDAY PEOPLE
Available December 2014!
___________________________________________________
Copyright © 2012-2014 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: alternate history, David Bellotti, Lottie Morgan, paleolithic, paranormal, paranormal books, paranormal suspense, Past Life series, sneak peek, suspense, Terri Herman, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce, Yesterday People
November 5, 2014
cover reveal: YESTERDAY PEOPLE
I’m thrilled to unveil the cover for
YESTERDAY PEOPLE
Thanks to the fabulous Gabrielle Prendergast at
Cover Your Dreams
for creating it!
___________________________________________________
David Bellotti’s only focus is to find his abducted twelve-year old daughter.
When he sees her on a news segment with her captor,
a renowned archaeologist who’s made a major discovery,
David sets out to bring her back home.
But the search leads him to a secret message
that could alter man’s history forever.
A message David and his daughter inscribed twelve-thousand years ago.
A message that will prove dangerous in the wrong hands.
Protecting this powerful information seems simple
until David realizes some people will use his daughter
against him to get it, at whatever the cost.
Now David must make a choice.
Protect mankind from a secret past that must remain hidden,
or save his little girl.
___________________________________________________
YESTERDAY PEOPLE
Book 3 of the Past Life Series
Available December 2014
___________________________________________________
Copyright © 2012-2014 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: alternate history, Cover Reveal, David Bellotti, Gabrielle Prendergast, paleolithic, paranormal, paranormal books, paranormal suspense, Past Life series, suspense, Terri Herman, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce, Yesterday People
October 29, 2014
IN THIS LIFE now available on #nook #kobo #ibooks — “this mystically romantic mystery will instantly intrigue”
Cover art: G.S. Prendergast
Great news!
IN THIS LIFE
is now available on
more etailer platforms!
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iTunes
Scribd
Page Foundry
“Inventive, original and thought-provoking; this mystically romantic mystery will instantly intrigue” --Hank Phillippi Ryan, Agatha, Anthony and Macavity-winning author
“Riveting…had trouble putting the book down” –WiLoveBooks
“Fast paced, well-written…amazing” –The Reading Café
“Evocative, sensual, engaging…thoroughly addictive” –Hesperia Loves Books
“A great read…a fabulous balance between paranormal and mystery” –Book Chick City
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
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.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iTunes
Scribd
Page Foundry
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Copyright © 2012-2014 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Amazon, Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo, ancient Egypt, Barnes & Noble, Book Chick City, COVET, David Bellotti, hank phillippi ryan, Hesperia Loves Books, iBooks, In This LIfe, Inktera, iTunes, Kindle, Kobo, Lottie Morgan, Nook, Page Foundry, paranormal, paranormal books, paranormal suspense, Past Life series, reincarnation, Scribd, soul mate, suspense, Terri Herman, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce, The Reading Cafe, WiLoveBooks
October 19, 2014
Clearing the lenses — looking at things differently
Over time, I’ve found that expectations
–and who we are and where we came from–
color how we look at people.
It also can make for some
not-so-pleasant reactions
toward others.
It never ceases to amaze me how we can become so wrapped up in our own world and points of view that we forget we’re sharing this planet with 7 billion other people. And because we’re always in our own head, operating from our own worldview and way of thinking, we also forget that our way of thinking isn’t the only way of thinking.
How many times were you sitting at a table with someone, or watching TV, or driving in the car, and the person you’re with says something and your first reaction is: “How the hell can you think that?”
flickr.com
copyright Adam Arroyo
Or, better yet, how about those times someone does something small, totally meaningless actually, that completely drives you nuts? To the point where you actually pick a fight over it?
I can tell you I have, and it’s something I work on every day (though not always successfully, but I try!).
Well, the other day I came across a little nugget of inspiration that stuck with me for those times someone else makes me react, and not positively.
Irked with someone?
Take a moment to look at the lens you’re looking through.
Is it cloudy? Clear it up. What do you see?
flickr.com
copyright Anna Henryson
These are simple words, but powerful ones. Because when we get annoyed with someone, odds are we aren’t looking at them, or what happened, through clear eyes. Eyes that want to see. Instead, we get wrapped up in our own heads and what we think is right, forgetting that someone else has an opinion that’s just as meaningful as ours.
So this is what I do when that happens. I try to understand what kind of lens I’m viewing through, and often I discover it’s clouded by misconceptions and perceptions that don’t always fit. I’ve found that when I take the time to understand my own lens, that initial knee-jerk reaction (the one that isn’t necessarily good for the moment or the relationship) fades, leaving me with a clear view of who I’m with and how I’m really reacting. And then I can respond (or not) in a much better way than originally intended.
So what about you? Do you find your lenses get clouded over when you’re dealing with others? That you think your lens is the only lens to be looked through? And when that happens, what do you do?
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Copyright © 2012-2014 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: helpful tips, human behavior, inspiration, kindness, mindfulness, om, positive thinking, psychology, relationships, thought of the day
October 14, 2014
20 Ways to Choose Happiness | The Psychology of Success
I ran across this wonderful post about how to choose happiness. And yes, it IS a choice. This is a great reminder for when you’re having a bad day and a good one because it applies to everything!
20 Ways to Choose Happiness | The Psychology of Success.
Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: happiness, psychology, success
