I felt like a fish in a fishbowl

Hello everyone! How are you all doing? I have to tell you, I’m floating on Cloud 9 after that fantastic Facebook Virtual Launch Party of ONE MORE DAY last night! Wow. Thank you so much, all of you, who came out to join us last night. Such fun and laughter and great food. And there were some pretty good giveaways last night, too. (For those of you who haven’t e-mailed me yet with your addresses to send your bookmarks, please do so as soon as you can so I can get them in the mail – kford2007(at)gmail(dot)com.

To keep the party rolling, I have the lovely and talented, Anna Simpson with me here today to talk about a moment in time she would like to freeze forever. Anna, my blog is yours.

***

Thanks for having me here today, Jenny. And inviting me to shout out about my great accomplishments is more than I deserve. In a book, I can freeze time, and loop it back. That’s on the page, but even when I do something I’m very proud of like Time Piece, I still have to use my inside voice.

Please don’t think badly of me. I’m an introvert and have been most of my life. So, Anna Simpson is more of a watcher than a doer. The writer in me is much more active, but she only imagines doing amazing things.

Let me share some moments from the quiet side.

Like the time a saw a duck land in a large, and I mean very large, muddy puddle. I barely believed my own eyes. I glanced over as I walked to my car. The puddle of water took up one corner of the gravely parking lot. Out of nowhere a mallard flapping his wings the way they do when landing set himself down making a vee in the still grey water. He glided to a stop as if he did this all the time. Once at the edge he waddled off into the bushes.

I know it wasn’t my imagination, but I felt as if I was dreaming.

Or the time I felt watched as I sat reading in the living room and looked out the picture window into a tree shading our front yard. There was our cat, all kinds of brown, lounging like a leopard on a branch his bright yellow eyes staring at me. I felt like a fish in fishbowl and burst out laughing. I quickly got my son, he was so young then, and the three of us watched each other for a time.

I felt his eyes on me. It was a physical thing.

I have thousands of moments I could relive. The first time I held my son or holding a puppy or wading on a beach on a hot summer’s day. All moments I’ve enjoyed and been grateful to have. All moments I can use when I write.

I had no idea how important the seconds in a day were.

What about you? Are there moments you’d love to slow down or relive? Please, I invite you to share. I’d love to read about them.

***

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have tons of moments that I wish I could freeze, moments I’d wished I’d savored a bit more. We are all truly blessed with this life and I really appreciate you sharing some of your poignant moments with us, Anna.

And a little bit more about Anna:

Anna Simpson, mother of Bossman, enjoys living the good life near the US-Canadian border, in beautiful British Columbia. You will have better luck Googling Emaginette than her given name. Anna chose a web persona that would standout; so far it’s one of a kind.

Would you like to connect with Anna? Seek her out at any of her web spots below. I know she’d love to hear from you!

Blog Twitter Facebook Goodreads

Anna, thank you for coming by today. I can’t wait to read your next story!! 🙂

{Blog Tour} One More Day by L.S. Murphy + More: Guest Post + #Giveaway (bookarooju.wordpress.com)
“Timepiece” or “ONE MORE DAY’s First Day, and its First Story’s Author!” (everonword.wordpress.com)

ONE MORE DAY Kickoff

December is a very busy month. There’s food to be bought, baking to be done, lights to put up and…a book to promote?

Yep, in the middle of all the fixings and trimmings, the strands of tangled Christmas lights, ensuring the dragon is well-fed, seven YA authors (myself included) are preparing for a whirlwind internet tour of the new anthology by J. Taylor Publishing, ONE MORE DAY. There will be virtual parties, giveaways, games, virtual cakes and good eats throughout the month of December, and everyone is invited to travel with us and join in the celebrations.

Not sure what ONE MORE DAY is about? From the back cover…

What if today never ends?

What if everything about life—everything anyone hoped to be, to do, to experience—never happens?

Whether sitting in a chair, driving down the road, in surgery, jumping off a cliff or flying … that’s where you’d be … forever.

Unless …

In One More Day, Erika Beebe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley and Anna Simpson join L.S. Murphy to give us their twists, surprising us with answers to two big questions, all from the perspective of characters under the age of eighteen.

How do we restart time?

How do we make everything go back to normal?

The answers, in whatever the world—human, alien, medieval, fantasy or fairytale—could,maybe, happen today.

Right now.

What would you do if this happened … to you?

***

Sounds great, doesn’t it? The book releases December 2, 2013, and to kick off the blog tour, I asked each of the authors a simple question: If there was one moment in time you could freeze for eternity, a moment you’d love for everyone to see, what would that moment be? From December 1 – 7th, you will find each of the authors’ answers right here, so I hope you drop by to experience those moments. Sprinkled throughout the month, you will also find various guest posts and/or interviews by some of the authors so you’ll have more than one opportunity to get up close and personal with them.

In the middle of all the ONE MORE DAY posts here, I will also bring you a few interviews and blog posts for other authors who have their own books they’re proud of and want to show off. After all, the spirit of the holidays and Christmas is not about tooting our own horns. It’s about helping others and giving them boosts, applause and accolades whenever we can.

J. Taylor Publishing has a list of many of the blog stops and the dates which you can find here. There is a virtual Facebook party on December 6, 2013, beginning at 7 PM CST. There will be giveaways, fun contests, and a lot of fun to be had, so sign up and I hope to see you there. I am also in the process of setting up a Goodreads giveaway, so stay tuned for more details.

Whatever you do, please make sure you visit each one of the ONE MORE DAY authors’ websites, take a look around and leave a message or several messages throughout the month. Don’t forget to like their Facebook and Twitter pages. We would all love to hear from you because without you, our words, our stories would be homeless. We bow to our readers’ stupendousness. You guys completely rock my world. On behalf of Linda, Erika, Anna, Marissa, Danielle, Kimberly and myself, thank you for your support, and have a wonderful holiday season. Hope to see you around the internet and don’t forget to bring your friends! The more the merrier!

Author Websites:

ARC Review: One More Day by L.S. Murphy + Others (bookarooju.wordpress.com)
“Anthology” or “So Many Stories, So Little Time to Wait!” (everonword.wordpress.com)
ARC Review: One More Day by L.S. Murphy and Various Authors (kookiekrysp.com)

“Dragon Flight” Exposed!

Squeeel!! My publisher, J. Taylor Publishing, gave the green light to the authors of the soon-to-be-released YA anthology, ONE MORE DAY, to share the first 500 glorious words of their short stories. That means I get to share Dragon Flight!!!! Are you ready? A few words of caution…keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times and don’t look down.

I grip the handles of the harness and squeeze my eyes tight as the coaster tops the three-hundred foot lift.

Oh, geez. What was I thinking? I hate heights. I hate things that go fast. Not a great combo for rollercoaster riding.

My pulse thumps in my throat as the metal beast curves to the left. I squeeze my eyes so tight they hurt. Oh, no. Here we go. Here we go. The scream hangs in my throat, waiting for the drop.

It doesn’t come. The steel dragon jerks to a halt, with me in the front row and nowhere to look but out and down.

What? No, no, no. We’re not supposed to stop! I’ve watched this ride a gazillion times. It never stops. I picture the track in my mind. Up, around, down, flip, corkscrew, insanity, heart attack. One and a half minutes of terrifying scream time. No. This can’t be happening! Why? Why now? Why did I get on this ride?

The answer sits in the seat next to me. Dean McCall. Damn his tall, dark-haired good looks and jewel-blue eyes. I’ve crushed on him since sophomore year, ever since he showed up in Mr. Wilkins’ history class wearing a pair of oh-my-God-nice-butt jeans and a Halo game T-shirt. I tried then not to salivate like Pavlov’s dog, but it was useless. Not much has changed since, as I’m pretty sure I just about melted out of my skin when he cornered me by the popcorn stand and asked if I wanted to ride Dragon Flight with him. Me! Book nerd extraordinaire.

So what if he waited for Grad night to notice me ? No one’s perfect, right? I gulped, mesmerized by his hypnotic eyes and charming, spearmint smile, and uttered something intelligent like, “Uh-huh.” Of course, my insides turned all gooey, and my heart struck up a crazy fast Congo beat because I’m such a feet-on-the-ground kind of gal. My brain shouted, Speak, you dolt! Tell him no. Tell him you’re afraid of heights. He’ll understand. Instead, I shook my head and said, “I-I … okay.”

Major face palm, but really, I had no choice. It was Dean McCall, and if I turned him down, I’d look like a moron in front of everyone who was anyone. Besides, who better to face my fears with than the cutest guy to ever walk the halls of Newbury High? Now, as I sit stranded at the top of this freaking ride, I’m beginning to question that logic.

I press my head back against the coaster’s seat. Get a grip, Amber. Breathe deep. You’re okay. You’re strapped in. You’re not going anywhere.

Clunk. Clunk.

My eyes spring open.

What was that?

I fight back the urge to scream.

The harness releases and lifts off my shoulders, its movement stopped by the belt latched to the seat. I squeak like a frightened mouse and clutch the restraint tight to my chest, my knuckles as white as the moon staring down at me. Oh, God, I’m gonna die.