Monday, June 30, 2008

Now Available: Good For Something

Casey never had a really serious relationship; while Nicolette just got out of a bad one.

Nicolette Marchand relocated to South Florida to get away from an abusive lover. In her new home, she loves the sun, the beaches and the bookshop owner with the hazel eyes and beautiful smile. Spending her evenings in her home away from home, life was really good. At least, until the phone started ringing.

Casey Addison, bookshop owner, was a native of South Florida. She never really cared about anything or anyone other than her store before now. A chance encounter with a fellow book lover changed all that. She thoroughly enjoys the company of her bookshop's new fixture. Unfortunately, someone is threatening her new found happiness and Casey gets caught in the middle.

Helping each other, will these two women discover a love they never knew they needed? And can Nicolette open herself up and trust that together, they are both...

Good for Something?

Buy now: Total-E-Bound Publishing.

For an excerpt click Amarinda Jones.

Also, don't forget to celebrate with me by clicking Romantic Dialogue or calling the show the show at (310) 984-7600 and enter Show ID 245692.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Freaking out . . .

Okay, my book will be released in the next few hours and my chest is tightening up on me. My eyes are welling up with tears and I can barely breath. I'm so excited I'm making myself sick. I just can't believe this is finally happening for me. This is too freaky.

OMG. How do people handle their first release? I'm not doing so well.

Deep breaths, in, out, in
, out.

Parents, Adult Children, and Divorce

There is something I have noticed on TV programs as well as from acquaintances that has bothered me. I can wholly understand a young child being scared of their parents getting a divorce. If they are dependent on both parents and have always had both parents living together, then that is what they have come to expect. But adult children freaking out when their parents think about divorcing. That I don't understand.

I wouldn't want my parents to stay together if they were unhappy and really don't want to be with each other anymore. The fact is that if they did have a divorce from each other, that doesn't mean a divorce from me.Life is so short, why would I want them to be unhappy for the rest of that short life?

They do no need to stay together for my peace of mind. I am responsible for ensuring my
own happiness, just as they are responsible for their own. Let parents live their lives for themselves and leave off all the unnecessary pressures.

Maybe I am way off base here. Or maybe I am making this issue overly simplistic. But would those adult children want to stay in a relationship that is bad for them. I would wager no. So what makes their parents' happiness any less important?

Your thoughts please
. Am I over simplifying this situation?

Friday, June 27, 2008

Membership Drive, June 28, 2008

Join us at Siren-BookStrand, click below:

Siren-BookStrand MEMBERSHIP DRIVE Saturday, June 28

There will be prizes and scavenger hunts...

Monday, June 23, 2008

Romantic Dialogue Author Interview . . .

My first book, Lust Bites: Good For Something, will be released from Total-E-Bound on June 30.

To celebrate the Romantic Dialogue Crew, Aleka Nakis, Catherine Chernow, Tia Fanning, and Maddie James, has invited me to participate in an author interview.
This will be a fun night which begins at 9:00 p.m.

So stop by and say hi: Call the show at (310) 984-7600 and enter Show ID 245692. Or, visit the show at: http://www.nowlive.com/show/AlekaNakis.

H
ope to see (talk to) you there.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Accolades at Work

This past Tuesday, the project my boss and I had been working on for about a month was presented to the nine member commission. They were so impressed, commenting on the thoroughness of the information provided, the organization, the clearness and specificity. According to them, they have never received anything with this level of detail from any other section of the County.

We've had people from other departments, divisions and offices call to congratulate us on our work. The Director of our division was also very happy and is still telling us good job, even three days later. We were very pleased with ourselves, and still are. To see what we did click
here, the document is 44 pages and requires Adobe.

The problem with the project is that it will be used as tool to determine who will (the library positions) that will be eliminated. How does one feel good about that? At the end of the day, we will give up over hundred vacancies, and about fifty warm bodies. The worst part about that is the lowest earning staff are the ones who will be most affected.

Ain't life grand. So have you destroyed any lives this week?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Strange Happenings at Work

So today started out good and ended bad. But since the good parts made me laugh really hard, I will tell you about that.

This morning South Florida was very rainy and dreary and miserable. So my friend and I decided to go get some tea, so that we could get warmed up. We were passing the welcome desk when we noticed the person sitting there had a strange look on her face. A male customer had walked away from the desk prior to us stopping. So we thought maybe he said something offensive to her.

Little did we know.

Apparently, on the second floor of the library in the male restroom, a man stood buck naked, taking a bath in the sink. He was also using the hand dryer thingy to dry his clothes. Security was called, so we waited around to hear the outcome. I had to restrain my friend from entering the restroom, she wanted to see this so badly. After a few minutes, the security guard exited the restroom escorting a male customer.

Now the area in which the library is located has a huge homeless population, but I was sure it couldn't be one of them. Turns out it was a man in his office attire, needing to get dry. The situation was comical and kind of weird. But I laughed really hard regardless.

The library always has a lot of strange occurrences. Some funny, some gross, some downright disturbing. At least we were spared from the man stripping down inside the stands of the library (trust me it has happened before).

So that was my morning, how was yours?

Sunday, June 15, 2008

To all the Fathers and my daddy,
From Anika

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Work and griping . . .

It’s been a while hasn’t it. I have been meaning to post. I have wanted to post. But my stupid job has been running me ragged.

I’ve been so busy recently I’ve even been taking work home with me and working way into the wee hours of the morning. Not a pleasant situation, since my home is my sanctuary (corny I know but it’s the truth). I unwind without anyone breathing down my neck, I watch the programs I want, or read a book, or write uninterrupted.

Anyway back to the gripe about work. There is a big project that I have been working on that directly relates to the budget reduction situation in Broward County. I think I mentioned it in a previous blog post.

So I needed some information and my boss insisted that I contact someone specific who was supposed to have already compiled the information. I know you can see the problem developing. I have to rely on another’s work. I didn’t really want to ask anyone. But my boss wouldn’t let up. Any who, so I go in search of this information guru to acquire the data that I need to complete my project.

Lo and behold, I contacted two separate people who supposedly had the information. Unbelievably, as both persons are handing me the document they each voice a disclaimer. Use this document at your own risk because the information is not entirely accurate. How the hell can someone give me information they are in charge producing with a disclaimer?

So by this time I’m tired as shit and I start to freak out. I have been operating on not a lot of sleep. Dammit, what the hell is wrong with these people? Why couldn’t they just produce the document correctly the first time? Or barring that, the document is three years old. In all that time the document couldn’t have been updated and corrected.

The result: I had to reinvent the damn wheel . . . again.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

MPA Degree/Diploma

I received my degree in the mail last week. I didn't even read it beyond the fact that my name seemed to be on it. Also, I'm not even sure if the college, any other information, or even the spelling of my name is correct on the document. So what did I do with it?
Stuff it in the folder provided to us at the graduation.

So the moral of the story:

Two and a half years of my life summed up in a piece of paper with my name on it; stuffed in a blue leather bound folder with FAU emblazoned on the cover; dropped off at my parents house for permanent storage.

Go Figure!

Monday, June 2, 2008

What was my weekend like?

Well. On Friday, my niece graduated from kindergarten. She and her class (all 17 of them) were so cute. They wore their Sunday's best and a graduation cap. They said the pledge,
sang a few songs, and collected their achievement awards.

On Saturday, I met author Sedonia Guillone for coffee. That was a lot of fun. We spoke of our upcoming projects and skimmed the topics of our current life situations. It was an enjoyable afternoon.

Sunday was a blur of writing and watching television. The writing was fun. My story is developing nicely. I am working on the second book in my Pro Union series.

Today, I received the edits for my short story
Dessert Box that will be published by BookStrand, and a note that said Great Descriptive Writing! Woo Hoo. Anyway, I finally have a release date for Dessert Box of July 15.

How was your weekend?