Don’t settle for anything … EVER

Hi all.

This is going to be a very, very short post today, but I felt I needed to impart some wisdom to all of you.

NEVER, EVER settle for anything. If your gut and heart is screaming at you, telling you NOT to do something – LISTEN. The last thing you want is to wake up one day regretting the decision you made.

There is a reason you have a sixth sense warning you, telling you not to do something. Too many times we balk at it. We think we know better. Our heads rationalize it. We have people who mean well telling us it’s a great thing to do. But I’m telling you. If your gut tugs at you and tells you ‘No’, listen, and listen hard.

Take it from someone who recently made a very huge mistake. I wanted something so bad that I rationalized it even though I knew in my heart it wasn’t the right path for me. As soon as I did it, my gut crumpled. It knotted and twisted. I’d just broken my own heart, my own dreams, because I I rationalized it. I talked myself into it, I listened to everyone else and not the little voice that said, “Don’t do it, Jenny.”

Please, take it from me, don’t wind up feeling like this. Listen to that little voice. You’ll be happier for it.

As for me… I’ve made my choice and now I must live with it. I will turn it around and I will make it a good decision, a good choice, one that will have a positive outcome. Good things come to those who keep positive vibes around them so come on world! Bring on the good, happy vibes. It’s up to me to climb up and out. What an adventure it will be. 🙂

The time the earth almost swallowed me

I was young, perhaps five or six years old. I was playing outside barefoot, the cool green grass beneath my feet, the sun in my hair. I’ve forgotten what I was playing with. It doesn’t really matter. I can tell you that terror wrapped its ugly hand around my throat as the ground started to shake. I screamed and took a step for home, but my little white house with its yellow shutters and windowsill flower boxes with red geraniums, fell into the mouth of the earth.

I screamed for my mom, but she never came. I was alone. I backed up onto the sidewalk. The cracks in the ground chased me. Fires sprang up all around me. The earth rumbled and grumbled like a hungry beast, vibrating beneath my small legs. I started to cry. A sliver of earth shifted beneath me, jutting upward a piece of carpeted dirt. I looked down as the gap between my feet grew wider, its insides tumbling into an abyss. Wider and wider it grew until I had nowhere to go. I fell in, screaming at the top of my lungs. Falling, falling into darkness.

And then Superboy came with Krypto, the Super Dog (do you remember them?) and rescued me.

They took me to a beautiful 2 story home with a really nice yard. My mom and dad were there, along with my brother and my dog, Gypsy. All was okay. No one was hurt, yay Superboy and Krypto, my favorite heroes of all … that is until I discovered a plastic dinosaur that lived in my home that could make himself really big whenever anyone bullied me.

But that’s a story for another time.

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The above was a recurring dream I had as a child. I don’t know why I dreamed of Superboy except he had a dog sidekick and who doesn’t like super dogs that fly? I also think deep down I really like Superboy with his dark hair and blue eyes, but I digress

I’m not sure where the dream came from. I’ve never been in a real earthquake, but I know the thought of one scares the beejeebies out of me. If I felt one in real life, I would completely freak out. To this day I am terrified of being swallowed by the earth. I can’t tell you how hard I prayed that I wouldn’t experience one when I visited San Francisco many years ago. A year almost to the day after I was there, an earthquake in San Francisco claimed 63 lives, most of them when the Oakland Bridge fell in on itself.

I know a lot of people say to me, “Well, you live in Florida. Look at all the hurricanes.” Yes, this is true, we have horrible storms and hurricanes but there is a difference between them and earthquakes …. there usually is advanced warning with a hurricane and we can evacuate. There is no warning when the earth is going to shift. It’s like trying to run from a tsunami. Where are you going to go? I have a hollow feeling in my stomach just thinking about it.

I wonder how people in earthquake prone areas deal with the ground shaking. Please let me know. Maybe I won’t be so fearful if I understand.

As to the recurring dream, did you have any as a child that stuck with you? If so, I’d love for you to share, too.

2014 – what a freaking year!

I don’t know about you, but 2014 was a mixture of good and bad.

I spent much of the year on a personal level looking for a job. 9 months in and I finally landed one working for a real estate company in their property management division. Even though I bitched and moaned for the 1st 9 months that I kept going on interviews and kept getting turned down, I realize why I had to wait. This job is perfect. Low stress. Lovely people to work with. I’m pretty much my own boss as far as what I do, and I’m making the upper folks take notice of my work. From what I understand, they love me and the work I’m doing, and I couldn’t be more content. Thank you, God, for once again keeping your eye on me and knowing what was best.

As for my writing – well it’s been an awesome year. I had a short story, The Passion of Millie Hudson published by Hypothetical Press in their READING GLASSES anthology. What a great bunch of stories by some pretty fantastic authors, if you ask me. If you like speculative fiction, this is an amazing collection of some kick-butt short stories and I’m thrilled to be part of the collection.

Reading Glasses — Available through Amazon

I also accomplished a lifetime dream – I got a publishing contract with Month9Books for my debut YA epic fantasy novel, IN THE SHADOW OF THE DRAGON KING, the first installment in the Chronicles of Fallhollow series. It is slated for release in 2016, and if 2015 goes by as fast as 2014, release day will be here before I can blink my eyes.

What does 2015 hold for me?

Writing, writing and more writing. I am wrapping up the second book in the Chronicles of Fallhollow series and I am almost ready to send to my publisher. The third and final installment has been started, but it’s a long way from being done.

This year will be a crazy ride as I’ll be preparing for In the Shadow of the Dragon King’s release. That means I’ll need to take a crash course in marketing. I need to come up with a plan to spread the word. I’ll guest blog, guest host, conduct live interviews, interact with YA readers however I can. Suggestions from all of you would be worth more than all the gold in the world. Anyone in the marketing business who would love to tag along for the ride and help me jump in and get my feet and legs wet, I’m open to suggestions. Goal for 2015? Are you ready?

I want at least 5000 people lined up, eager and ready to purchase Dragon King before it’s release. It can happen. All it takes is the dream, the determination and a can-do attitude. Dragon King WILL be #1 on the NY Times best-seller list. It, and it’s three siblings, WILL be made into films. I won’t take no for an answer.

Now that you know my story, what was your biggest accomplishment in 2014? What is your biggest ‘gonna happen’ dream for 2015?