Shiloh Walker's Blog, page 88
February 3, 2013
Can you help?
Can you help?
I posted about this a week ago and they were able to reopen the fundraiser. Many people are unaware of the fact that the Pine Ridge Reservation is pretty much one of the poorest areas in the country. The infant mortality rate (how many children who will die before age 1) is 300% higher than anywhere else in the country. That figure absolutely staggers me. It sickens me. And what really hurts is the fact that many of these deaths are preventable.
They are working to build a new home for Healthy Start, where they can provide better care for babies and at-risk moms so these children can have a better start at life. These programs DO work… but they need help.
In December 2011, the program lost its first office due to high levels of asbestos. Then it was placed in a mold-infested trailer with holes. When that situation proved unacceptable, the program moved into the storage room behind a video store. Recently, the Indian Health Service deemed the room unfit due to the threat of the Hanta Virus.
Read more at Indian Country Today
This is what they face… can you imagine the only option for health care for your child being a trailer with holes in the walls? A storage room?
They’re working to raise funds to build a new home, but they need help. The government isn’t going to do it…they’ve broken endless promises to the Natives of this land and these kids shouldn’t have to wait for a safe place to get health care.
The fundraiser at Indiegogo was re-opened with the deadline extended another 21 days. Even $5-$10 can help give a child a better shot at life… can help ensure a child will HAVE a life. Help if you can… spread the word. Thank you.
What’s in the Heart – Can’t be Taken from Kitty Farmer on Vimeo.
Image via Indian Country Today | Deanne Fitzmaurice
February 2, 2013
Soldiers… needing some cards
FYI, if you’re unfamiliar with my Soldiers/Helping out posts, please visit this page for info. These people are just looking for cards/support. This isn’t a dating/hook-up sort of thing. It’s okay to share the names, but do NOT post to Facebook.
Justin Coney
Bryan Otriz
A-CO 409 IN 4/2 SBCT
FOB Mushon
APO,AE 09355
~*~
Jorge Baeza
or
Latini Pasquale
or
Emmanuel Morales
B-CO 2-7 CAV 4 BCT ICD
Naghlu High
APO,AE 09354
~*~
Jeremiah Hochstedler
or
Jennifer Anderson
4-2 SBCT S-6
FOB Masum Ghar
APO,AE 09355
~*~
Tempie Devers
RC-South KIFC
3 ID HQ I&S CO
APO,AE 09355
~*~
Courtney Daisley
376th HRC
APO,AE 09355
~*~
Hector Hernandez
Dyn Corp Force Protection
Camp Bondsteel
APO,AE 09340
~*~
Jason Crawford
HHC 2-23 INF
BN ATTN- S2
FOB Spin Boldak
APO,AE 09355
~*~
Kevin Torres
VFA-4 Unit 60123
FPO,AP 96602-6111 (he has till the end of feb for cutoff)
We’re talking EMOTION here!
“What’s wrong, duchess?”
She shivered as he whispered it, his lips pressed against her neck as he spoke.
“Whatever is wrong with you, calling me that?” she said, swallowing around the knot that had lodged in her throat. Easing away from him, she eyed him nervously before glancing around. Nobody could see them from here, unless of course Patrick had managed to stash his men in the hotel. Not likely, that.
“I dunno. Seems to suit you. The accent. The way you carry yourself…all smooth and elegant.” He touched his finger to her lip. “What scares you?”
“I don’t see how that could suit me,” she said faintly, ignoring the last part of his question as she tugged her tank down.
“Why are you afraid?” he asked, putting himself in her way.
With a brittle smile, she shook her head. “I’m not afraid,” she lied.
“Don’t lie to me. You know as well as I do, it doesn’t work. You’re terrified, damn it. Why?”
Dru shook her head. “It doesn’t do any good to talk about it. You can’t help anyway. I must go.”
Part of her questioned why she wasn’t furious with him—this was a stranger. She didn’t know him. But all she could think about was how much she wished she could stay. How much she longed to go back to him . . . lean against him, touch him. Taste him. Take him.
But when he reached for her, she evaded him.
“Meet me here tomorrow,” he said flatly.
“No.” She continued to back away, glancing around for signs that one of Patrick’s men might have caught up with her. Nothing. There was a shiny black car in the parking lot of the Waffle House across the street, but it wasn’t one of Patrick’s. If it was, she’d know. She’d feel it somehow.
“Dru, talk to me.”
She shot him another look. Then, finally, fury and frustration sparked inside her, and she glared at him as it bubbled over and spilled out. “Stop. Damn you, why couldn’t you have come into my life a year ago? Two years ago? Why now? I can’t have you now.”
Without bothering to explain, she took off running.
She was torn between hoping he’d follow, and praying he wouldn’t.
From the Reunited… due out next week!
Lauren Dane
Mari Carr
Delilah Devlin
TJ Michaels
Leah Braemel
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Felicity Heaton
Eliza Gayle
February 1, 2013
Friday Reads
I’m with Tori over at her blog…with guests! And prizes!
Visit us! Come try and win stuff!
Now… I’m kinda tired of my friday flashbacks and my brain is a mess. Finished a book this week and trying to get my brain in gear for the next phase of this project (don’t ask)… so instead, we’ll TALK books.
This one is my Friday read. What is yours?
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Source: goodreads.com via shiloh on Pinterest
January 31, 2013
A Q about Veil
And majority rules on this.
I have the first 30-ish pages of the unsold Veil book. Again, it won’t be finished and it won’t be sold.
However, due to all the questions I’m getting lately, would you all be interested in just having those 30 pages? Keep in mind, there’s no resolution. There will be no resolution. Veil is too complicated a world and would require hardcore editorial work-something I’m not willing to do on my own and I’m not doing it with my digital publishers, for reasons that I’m not going into.
But if the majority would prefer to read it…let me know. I’m trying to use a poll feature here, so if it’s working for you, go with it. If not, just please leave a simple YES or NO in comments.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
January 30, 2013
Blog Tour… STICKY POST
Many of you know that back in the fall, I lost my mind and did some bad things on the STOLEN blog tour. (Make sure you read…conest-y stuff!)
I apologize. I did a bad, bad thing and I learned my lesson. I won’t break into the houses of my friends and hold their secrets for hostage ever again (unless it’s a really, really good book) and to show everybody how sorry I am, I’m doing a making amends tour where I publicly apologize on the blogs…um, most of the blogs…and eat crow and try to fix things instead of steal and cause mayhem.
So, how do I fix things…hmmm… I know!!! Valentine’s Day is coming up…A good thing to fix! Lovers! Let’s reunite some lovers…(sensing a theme here? First I stole things with STOLEN, now I’m reuniting things with THE REUNITED…work with me…)
Reunited… like these two…
“I’ve got enough to deal with, just on my own. I don’t need your crap, too.”
“I’m sorry,” Joss whispered. He laid his hand on her neck, fingers spread wide so he could stroke his thumb along her lip, feel the graceful curve of her neck under his hand, the silk of her hair along his fingers. “It’s not an excuse, but you need to understand…” He trailed off, tried to figure out the best way to explain the truly fucked up mess that was his head. “The gifts that are in my head aren’t…mine. And I’m little screwed up over them at the moment. Actually, I’ve been screwed up over that for a while now and it’s…I can’t think clear. Nothing’s clear. Except how I feel about you. And I know it can’t be done, Dru.” Dipping his head, he took a chance, a quick kiss, desperate as hell, pressed to her mouth. “It can’t be done. It never started.”
She twisted away from him, staring at the headboard. Very intently, it seemed. Probably so she wouldn’t have to look at him. A soft shudder racked her and he groaned, feeling the rippling of her body under his. Killing him, damn it. Just killing him…
This time around, I actually asked for participation and asked nicely, and I asked for prizes instead of blackmailing…see? I’m learning!
Want to know some of the people going along with me this time?
And yes…we are doing prizes and we’re talking about lovers. The most important star-crossed lovers of our time, of all time. Han Solo and Princess Leia. Romeo and Juliet. Kermit and Miss Piggy.
Want to know what you can win? How about some book money? How about some books? Maybe even some sweets and treats and goodies?
Some of the prizes…
$50 GC to Amazon, BN, BAMM or ARe (Winner’s Choice) from Shiloh Walker
SERENDIPITY, DESTINY or KARMA by by Carly Phillips – book or eBook
One of Five Downloads of Ruthie Knox’s HOW TO MISBEHAVE
ARC of THROWN BY A CURVE from Jaci Burton
The BOUND BY MAGICK books from Lauren Dane
STOLEN by Shiloh Walker
MIDNIGHT ALIAS from Elle Kennedy
Check back with us the last week of January through the first week of February and see how I’m trying to fix things, rather than break things. (I’ll break things in April…that’s when WRECKED comes out.)
Hosting blogs:
January 28, 2013
Blog tour…starts today!
Today I’m over at Under the Covers…sorta. With a friend. Making amends.
“You…”
Her pupils spiked, flared and she sucked in a desperate breath.
She swayed closer, and logically, Joss knew it wasn’t because she was suddenly overcome, like he was. She didn’t know him–he would have known it if she had. But she was closer, and she was there, and he could feel the warmth of her, feel her and damn it, he was just too fucking weak.
Groaning, he dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers.
He was fully prepared for the fact that she was going to haul off and belt him.
He was fully prepared for her to jerk away and scream.
What he wasn’t prepared for was for her to sigh against his lips, then open her mouth for him.
What he wasn’t prepared for was for her hands to come up, curl in the front of his shirt, tugging him closer.
But that was what she did and the top of his head almost came off as he caught the first hint of her taste.
The tip of her tongue stroked along his lower lip before pushing into his mouth. He nipped it gently and returned the favor, stroking her tongue with his, tracing the outline of her mouth with his. She moved closer, her hands moving down to his waist, tugging him closer still and Joss figured maybe it might be okay to touch her, too.
Fisting one hand in the back of her shirt, he used the other hand on her braid and tugged, angled her head farther back. She was long, and lean, fitting so perfectly against him and he fucking loved it.
Long and lean, but soft, too, cradling his so perfectly. He could feel the curve of her belly, her breasts, all of her and it was fan-fucking-tastic. Under her shirt, he could feel the silken warmth of her back and he wanted to drag the shirt away, learn all the curves and hollows and sweet delights of her body.
Damn it. He needed more. Couldn’t wait to peel her out of those clothes and get her naked–
“Mommy, look, they’re kissing!”
The high-pitched laughter managed to penetrate the drunken fog of need that wrapped around his head and Joss lifted his head, staring into those pale green eyes for an endless moment. By the time he’d slanted a look over, the little girl was being herded away by a grinning set of parents.
In the two seconds it took to check out their potential audience, his potential partner decided to extricate herself from his hands and Joss wanted to howl.
He felt empty–needed to haul her back against him, but how he could he explain that?
“Ah…” She stared at him, a rosy blush staining her cheeks.
He figured he could say something to help with the embarrassment he knew she was feeling, but he wasn’t exactly sure what he should say. If he lied and apologized, she’d know. He wasn’t so far gone he’d forgotten about that buzz he’d felt in her brain.
He’d have to be careful here. Very careful.
She continued to stare at him, her head half-lowered so that she watched him through her lashes.
“If you’re waiting for me to apologize, we’re probably going to have a problem,” he finally said. “If I said it, I’d be lying. You’d know it.”
She lifted a brow. Simple. Eloquent.
“Have dinner with me.” Fuck the case. He was still trying to wrap his head around the mess that Jillian had thrown into his brain and he could take a few more hours to adjust, right?
“That’s not possible, Mr…?”
Shit, what name was he using… “Baldwin,” he said, just grabbing one of his aliases out of the air. “Why not?”
“I’m spoken for.” She lifted a hand and glanced down at it, scowling at the pale strip on her finger.
He reached out and caught her hand, rubbing his thumb over the area where the ring had rested. He remembered now… that odd dream. The vision. Seeing her staring at the ring, snarling like a caged beast as she tore the bit of jewelry from her hand and threw it. Seeing the rage on her face. “He doesn’t make you happy.”
Tugging her closer, he slid his free hand up her arm, cupped her cheek. “He doesn’t even know much about you, does he?” He brushed his thumb across the satin of her skin and thought about kissing her again.
“No. And that’s probably for the best,” she whispered, tipping her head back and staring at him. “Look, this is all terribly…well. It’s quite intriguing, and I wish I’d met you a year or two ago, but I’m engaged and that’s all there is to it.”
Joss grinned at her. “Is it?” Dipping his head, he pressed his mouth to hers. “Will you do one thing?”
“What?”
He shuddered as he felt her lips moving against his. “Tell me your name.”
BN | BAMM | Indiebound | Amazon | Book Depository
Read more about the book… and you can also read about the contest.
FYI, make sure you read the disclaimer. You have to check back to claim your prizes.
January 26, 2013
Win an ARC of WRECKED…help save a life
From the IndieGoGo fundraiser page for the Healthy Start Program on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
It’s difficult to convey the human challenges that people on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota are facing. The infant mortality rate (IMR) is the number of deaths of babies under one year old per 1,000 live births. The IMR on Pine Ridge is 300% higher than the national average – the highest in the US. Moms face racism, poverty and psychological challenges.
WHY I STOPPED FILMING TO RAISE THIS MONEY: After years of research regarding the history and reasons American Indians have the worst health disparities in the US, Kitty Farmer is producing a documentary film, What’s in the Heart – Can’t be Taken. (trailer)
“The statistics on Indian health are heartbreaking – American people have no idea the unimaginable and preventable suffering our American Indian neighbors are enduring. It’s as if we’re talking about a third world country.”
Many of these families don’t even have something as simple as running water in their homes. Can you imagine bringing a child into the world, knowing the chances that your child could die are 300% higher than anywhere else in the country?
The good news is that programs like Healthy Start can turn this around.
The bad news… (the above is beyond awful)…but they’ve lost their facilities. They need funds. Bad. There is less than a day left on this and they are $20,000 away from their goal.
Can you help out? Even $5 is a step toward saving a baby’s life.
And… if you help out, forward your paypal receipt to shilohwalker2011(at)gmail.com (please strike any pertinent personal date-all info is kept confidential and will be deleted, just used for the contest). Everybody who donates gets entered in a drawing for an ARC of WRECKED.
Donate here IndieGoGo fundraiser page
Saturday Snippets…author’s choice! And… I choose to do a contest post
She didn’t know him. He could tell.
A total stranger, and that’s what he’d seem like to her, he knew. How could he tell her he’d been dreaming of her for always? Waiting. Searching. Absently, without realizing it, he stroked his thumb across her arm, and it rubbed across the bare skin just below the sleeve of her shirt.
As bare skin touched bare skin, he felt something…a buzz in his brain. He’d had his shields up, tight and solid…necessary, considering the power he had rumbling inside his damned brain. It was like a time bomb, ticking, ticking…ticking…
But at the light touch, something scraped against those shields and he felt it. He knew. Her mind was a buzzing, bright light, one that vibrated with energy.
Psychic energy.
The shock of it had his still shaky control trembling.
Her pupils flared. She sucked in a breath. “You…”
Her eyes widened.
And a rush of images slammed into them both.
“You’ll come away with me, won’t you…”
BN | BAMM | Indiebound | Amazon | Book Depository
Other snippets!
Lissa Matthews
Rhian Cahill
Shelli Stevens
Eliza Gayle
Leah Braemel
Myla Jackson
Caris Roane
Jody Wallace
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
HelenKay Dimon
Delilah Devlin
Lauren Dane
Read more about the book… and you can also read about the contest. And since the book is almost out and the blog tour is about to start, why not let you all enter the contest again? :-)
FYI, make sure you read the disclaimer. You have to check back to claim your prizes.
