H.J. Harley's Blog, page 3

Stop...Recap time. #NashvilleAuthorEvent #RT14 #NOLA

Its been a minute since I've last blogged, eh? That's because I've been busy promoting Finding Nathan and hitting up the book outing scene as of late. I was lucky enough to get to go to NOLA for the RT convention, where I met the most amazing peeps. Alice Clayton is so funny and high spirited just like me. Tara Sue Me (Because Tara Cannoli just didn't work) was very sweet and friendly. I didn't want to leave her. LOL. Sylvia Day....can we say ER MER GERD. The amount of advice she gave me in the few minutes we chatted was invaluable. I mean...no words. The woman is classy, smart and talented. A few more are Kristen Ashley. the fabulous duo Christina Lauren, the authors of The Beautiful Bastard series. Oh, can't forget E.L. James and Helena Hunting. Helena was kind enough to text a friend of mine who was upset she couldn't meet her, from my phone. I mean who does that?? Helena Hunting, that's who. Tess Gerritsen, so nice. Jamie McGuire , Abbi Glines and Kristin Proby. I made a few connections while I was out in New Orleans and walked Bourbon Street. I was also lucky enough to have a great dinner with fellow TKS authors Callie Hutton, Moriah Densley, and Beth Yarnall. Which was great because we got to celebrate Beth's Birthday with her. If you're in New Orleans you MUST go to the restaurant KINGFISH. Oh holy cat in a hat was it delicious, beautiful inside and spotless. The staff was incredible as well. 
After I came home it took me two weeks to catch up on life. Housework, kid, hubs, writing, emails, etc. All that stuff was still waiting on me when I got back. My hubs finally figured out that our house wasn't self-cleaning, we don't have a chef, and we sure don't have a toilet paper or laundry fairy. Oh wait, yes we do...Me...lol and it was all waiting for me when I got back.
Next Kristin and I hit Nashville for an author signing. This signing was fantabulous as well because we were meeting up with other friends and going to see The Fault in our Stars, courtesy of the authors who were participating in the signing the next day. They rented out the movie theater. We went out to dinner with a few of them afterwards and then hit the hotel room. Plus, I got to meet Kaci Blue and Mamma Blue. Best road trip I had in a long time with those three. 
The next day at the event I met and had a blast meeting Heidi McLaughlin, Tina Reber and Jenn Sterling. I got to spend some time with Colleen Hoover, Griffin Peterson and Murphy. You guys, this chick is a hard worker and is beyond nice. All you need to know is Murphy is awesome. 
Pics to follow. 
Now, I want to talk about Nathan. The reviews are rolling in and I am so thrilled you guys are loving it! Thank you so much for all your support and patience. I'm working on Rachel, and it will be the best book yet, I promise. 
Whew, I'm just going on and on aren't I? Check out the pics and please feel free to comment, this way I don't feel like I'm talking to myself. lol
       Enjoy the pics!
                    HJ

FB Launch Party 6/2

Please join me at my book release party for FINDING NATHAN, Monday 6/2/14. This is the second book in the Jordan SPagnato Series.

There will be trivia, guest posts and prizes!

https://www.facebook.com/events/24465...

PRE-ORDER FINDING NATHAN in PRINT TODAY!

YOU CAN PRE-ORDER A SIGNED PRINT COPY OF FINDING NATHAN NOW.
You can bet your sweet patooty you read that right! You can pre-order a signed paperback copy of Finding Nathan today! 
If you want a signed copy with some HJ extra goodies mailed to you in time for release day. (give or take a few days for things out of my control!! :P) Because I put the order in myself and it comes to me then I ship it to you. I'll need orders by May 17th.  CLICK HERE

Writing and the Anti-Depressant

It’s been a while since I’ve had the time to blog. Life takes the reigns sometimes and there's just not enough hours in the day...if you want to sleep more than three hours a night that is. And as of late, sleep is all I’ve wanted to do. I don’t sleep all day, FYI. In fact I resist it so much that I’m not getting any sleep at night. Vicious cycle, eh? It’s no secret that I suffer from major anxiety. I don't mean the kind of panic attacks where your palms are sweaty and you feel uncomfortable. I’m talking the queen mother of panic attacks All. The. Time. I can't tell you how many heart attacks, brain aneurisms and strokes I’ve had in my lifetime. Please...at least fifteen a month for the last twenty years. All in my head of course, but the body mimics the symptoms. On top of that I have irrational fears of natural disasters like sink holes and tornadoes. Look, I’m from NJ...living in the south is a whole 'nother can of crazy I won't even open right now...I can deal with hurricanes and snow storms no problem. In fact, back home I’d sit and watch the thunderstorms...LOVED THEM. Here...you can’t just have a thunderstorm. Its always a severe storm with hail and damaging winds or an effin' tornado is attached to it. And the fact that I’m living on the biggest area of lime sink in the nation doesn’t bring much comfort to me either. Did ya see the guy that got swallowed by the ground while he was sleeping? Yeah, no thanks. Point being is that I have major anxiety issues, and they have gotten so much worse over the last 6 years. Id imagine because I had my daughter. I worry about everything…to the point when I wont let her be a kid sometimes because I’m so afraid she’ll break her neck on the trampoline or fall face first into the concrete while she’s running. Look, I’m her mom and I’m an effin klutz I tell ya. Anyhow, I knew it was time I did something about it because driving my poor fiancé nuts that I was dying every night and pretty much trying to convince him to rent me a Hazmat suit to go to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese wasn’t working for me. Lord love that man because he has dealt with me like a champ lol. So, I did some research and found a good shrink. This is where things get tricky. I’m not depressed…I’m the exact opposite of depressed. I just have major anxiety issues.

He puts me on these meds that take the edge off but I was still having panic attacks and ripping up my bedroom carpet looking for cracks in the foundation for the start of sinkholes, which we found one BTW. HA! (A crack not a sinkhole lol)  The fiancé was not happy. We need hardwoods in there anyhow was my reasoning. lol

I know it’s still not right so I go back to my Dr. and we talk about it. Now please, don’t misunderstand me. I am not in any sort of denial here. I KNOW these aren’t rational fears…so I need to fix this. Not the carpet, my brain. lol So He adds a new medication. It’s an anti-depressant. I said, but I’m not depressed doc. He explained it’s for dealing with anxiety as well.

Great news! Now we are on week two and I could give a shit less about sink holes or a truck running a red light and taking out me and my family…well of course I give a shit but I mean it isn’t ALWAYS on my mind anymore. Bad news…I can’t write for shit. Seriously. When this anxiety medication took away my thought process for irrationalities did it suppress my creativity as well? Was my over zealous thoughts a major factor in my writing? Is it blocking that part of my brain that makes shit up and gives me the ability to over embellish and write these stories? Because I feel like everything is in black and white now…I am so so tired often and I cant think of anything outside the box. I mean…I’ll get something down and look at it like WTF?

So my question is, do I have to pick between my sanity and my creativity? Or is this just writers block?

Has anyone else experienced this?  

Just a few things I'm whipping up.

Just a few things Ive been messing round with between writing....

Jus a few things I'm whipping up.

Just a few things Ive been messing round with between writing....

Dear Diary - Day 4 #Deadline #amWriting #FindingNathan #ICanDoThis #MyHandLooksLikeAClaw #amEditing

Goooood morning! Here I am at the beginning of day four. I've gone from procrastinating and taking my time to pulling off 40k for something I had no clue what I wanted to do with it. A lot of what I wrote prior had to go because t didn't fit with where my muse was taking me. Here is a look into my emotional journey over the last few days.   Tuesday night 1000 PM: Monday? You meanTHIS Monday? 11:00PM Wednesday 12:00AM Pull it together bitch! 12:10AM LET'S DO THIS
Wednesday 3:00 AM 4:00 AM Reflection 4:10 AM  6:30 AM Get kid off to school. 9:00 AM-3:00PM 3:00Pick up kid from school Rinse, Repeat and Oh...Eat! 1:00 AM Saturday I don't care what anyone says...I am proud of myself LOL Now I just hope you all enjoy it. 
HJ

Georgia Snow Storm 2014 #Snowpocalypse2014

We had to break out the big guns.  We survived. 
While it was way worse up by ATL, here we were ok. The state really didn't prepare people for it. I hope everyone gets home safely and stays warm.

It's a #Giveaway #Free #Amazon or #B&N #Giftcard

Enter to win a signed copy of Finding Jordie or a $10.00 Amazon/Barnes&Noble Gift card.
Enter here

ARe Best seller Woo hoo!

A friend let me know that  Finding Jordie made the best seller's list on AllRomanceebooks.com  That put a smile on my face. Sorry the blogs are sparse....I been working extra hard on Finding Nathan to make sure its the best book possible for you guys.