It's My Birthday - and YOU can Score Some Gifts!

I'm a little late in posting this due to some personal matters requiring my attention. Read on to see some of what's going on – and how you can score some gifts!

It's the official first day of Summer, and even better, it's my birthday today! The year I was born, June 20 actually fell the day before Father's Day, so my arrival was a gift for my dad, who  became a dad for the first time that year, (No, I am absolutely NOT going to give a clue as to when that occurred! LOL!).  Another factoid – my younger sister was born the day before Dad's birthday, so we were both "presents."

Being that I was born right as Summer began, it also makes sense that is my favorite season. There are a few reasons for that – as a kid, a big one was the fact that my birthday always coincided with the last few days of school. Think about it, what are the two most important days in any kid's life? Birthday and the last day of school! There were some years that the last day actually fell on my birthday – does it get any better than that? Lol

A while ago, I realized another factor played into my love of Summer. It's something I've paid more attention to over the last few years, (though of course there are always exceptions) and it's that people's favorite season tends to be the one they were born in. Sort of makes sense to me. I always say I'm going to look more deeply into a possible link, because I think I can use that theory in some way, shape or form in some upcoming book (well, at least on the ever-growing list of the ideas, anyway).  But it could play heavily into many of my books, especially the paranormal, though even the historical settings of my books could use the idea as an added layer to the world and characters.

Of course, the excitement over my birthday is a lot different now. I don't mind. It's still awesome to be the recipient of good wishes and such. But the fact is, it's not as big a deal as it used to be. The world and all the obligations keep turning, and work and responsibilities still need attention. Now, however, what I really find interesting about my birthday is all the different people who share it, or the events that took place on that day.

Errol Flynn 1909 - Actor
Olympia Dukakis 1931 - Actress
Danny Aiello (Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr.) 1933 - Actor
Brian Wilson 1942 – Musician, Beach Boys
Bob Vila 1946 - Television host ("This Old House")
Tina Sinatra 1948 - Producer, actress, second daughter of Frank Sinatra
Lionel Richie 1949 - Singer, musician
John Goodman 1952 - Actor
Michael Anthony 1954 – Musician, Van Halen
John Taylor 1960 – Musician, Duran Duran
Nicole Kidman 1967 - Actress

That's some fine company to be in! And check out a few notable events from this day:

1782 - The US Congress approved the Great Seal of the United States.
1791 - King Louis XVI of France was captured while attempting to flee the country

1793 - Eli Whitney applied for a cotton gin patent. He received the patent on March 14.

1837 - Queen Victoria ascended the British throne.
1863 – West Virginia became the 35th state to join the US.
1910 - Fanny Brice debuted in the New York production of the "Ziegfeld Follies".
1947 - Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was murdered in Beverly Hills, on order of mob associates angered over the costs of his project, the Flamingo resort in Las Vegas.
1948 - "Toast of the Town" debuted on CBS, hosted by Ed Sullivan.

There's a lot more, but those were just some fun facts I stumbled across, while researching for various books.

And, as much as I do love Summer, there are pitfalls – the sorts of things that never occurred to me as kid. Would not have been in the universe of my imagination back then! lol The biggest problem - productivity falls way down. While there's Summer camp, it includes all sorts of extra activities – or at least driving to those activities. Family vacation is way more than its week or so away – never mind the pre-planning. Vacation is bookended by laundry and shopping and packing and unpacking. The next thing you know, it's time to bring DD back to college and prep the Little Guy for middle school. It goes fast – way too fast, if you ask me.

So what I plan with this post is to give some of you a chance to slow down the craziness of Summer – curl up with a good book, on me! That's right, for my birthday, I'm giving away presents – two people who comment will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon gift card, a copy of any of my titles, and some fun goodies to go along with it.

So tell me, what's your favorite part of Summer?

Catching Up

Here we go again – if you follow this blog, by now, you know I'm probably one of the worst bloggers ever. The last several months have been incredibly busy, and what time I've had to devote toward writing (anything), has gone toward the projects I've been bouncing between for months, rather than this blog. One project is now complete, the other is thisclose to being done. Family issues have taken a chunk of time as well, and unfortunately, the blog was the sacrifice while I worked through it all. I still haven't figured out how I managed when I was working full time. While I now have more time available, I find it fills up much more quickly. And no matter how carefully I plan out my days and weeks, something pops up nearly every single day to trash that. However, I take great satisfaction in knowing several of my house projects are also done, though that list seems to grow way faster than I can keep up with.

 

I've decided to try some new things here – I'll be hosting some author interviews and the like, and I thought I would also do some brief reviews of some of my recent reading material. I've managed to read a few books while at the gym (thank you Kindle App!), it's a great way to make that 45 minutes on the treadmill or elliptical go much faster.

But before I get to all that, I figured I should share a little about the projects I've been working on. As I may have mentioned before, I am a HUGE fan of History Channel's original show, Vikings. I have long planned to write a series about Vikings, and the show inspired me to push that plan to the top of my ever-growing list of books I plan to write. I recently finished the first in what is currently a trilogy, though I may want to add to that. I had a lot of fun writing it, even through the dark moments of the story.  I'll share more info on the release of that book as I get it. In the meantime, I can't wait to get on to the next books. I already know that book 2 will be a deeply emotional book. The heroine is introduced in book 1, and at that point, she's not very likeable, so I have a tough road ahead of me to redeem her. But her story is a bit dark, she's suffered tremendously, and that's part of what drove her behavior in book 1. I'm looking forward to revisiting the gritty and bloody world of 9^th century Scandinavia.

The other project is the third in my Medieval Warriors series. I'm also enjoying this – these characters have been kicking around in my head for a very long time, though their story has changed drastically from its first incarnation. It's also a bit longer than the first two books in the series, and I am calling it a prequel, since it tells the story of Gillian and Royce, the parents of Marissa and Rowan from the first two books. I also have a fourth book planned in that series - and it's got a cool paranormal twist!

And lo and behold, just this last week I think I solved the huge plot dilemma I had for a shelved project. This one is a vampire tale, and incorporates several BDSM elements. I've combined both of my favorite genres with this one! This story also has some very dark moments, which I love to write. So that story is now back in the queue for finishing/polishing.

Last but not least, summer is finally here. I love summer – it is my absolute favorite season. That may have something to do with the fact I was born the day before the summer solstice. I have found over the years that people tend to prefer the season they were born in most of all. Of course, there are exceptions, but generally, most of the people I've discussed this theory with have agreed. So if you're a summer baby like me, enjoy! For those who prefer the colder climates, don't worry – they'll be here again before we know it.