Book Cover Reveal for Uprooting

Book Cover Reveal for Uprooting

Hey friends,

After putting a poll out on Facebook and Twitter, our community of readers has helped select the book cover for Uprooting, due out in March 2020. I love the cover. It symbolizes everything this story is about. It accurately depicts how Harper learns to root herself in the present moment and turn to the gentleness of nature to get past her limitations and grow to her full potential as an artist, lover, and friend. This story highlights her process to learn to forgive herself and learn that life is full of opportunities to learn and grow.

Here were some of the comments from those who choose this cover design:

“The vastness of the field/flowers makes it seem like she has her whole life ahead of her.” Emily Browning Cromer

“The field of yellow snapdragons brings a sense of peace. The color yellow represents so many things from Sunshine to happiness and loyalty. The fragrance of those flowers planted in mass brings back childhood memories. I think the pollinators would love this field!” Tammy Boughter

“I love the one with the flowers… it gives the illusion of a dream world, to me.” Natalie Wetherbee

“When I think of wellness, retreat, life coach and green witch I think of serenity and nature so definitely this one.” Cheryll Jones

“Flowers represent a world of issues that can try to define us. With all the beauty around oneself, our vision can still be blurred.” Author L L Shelton

What do you think of the cover above? 

Readings, Musings, Writing and Fun

Readings, Musings, Writing and Fun

I’ve been busy for the past two weeks creating a bunch of new video and audio content. I love challenging myself to learn new things about the world. I don’t know what I’d do with mysef if I wasn’t always diving deep into learning and sharing mode. Well, below are links to the things that have been occupying my time recently.

A quick shoutout to you all for being so fabulously supportive with The Pet Boutique. Bumblebee would be so happy and beside herself with joy to know how much her character of Cashmere has meant to everyone. She was loved, and she knows it! hahaha Thanks for keeping this story afloat in the top ten on Amazon. And I can’t tell you how much the positive reviews mean to me.


FB Live Video with a Q&A on The Pet Boutique (Don’t worry – no spoilers!)

A reader sent in a thought-provoking question about Taylor and the power in a nudge. She wanted to know if I experienced such a life-changing nudge myself from friends and even strangers that set me on a new course in life.

Check it out


Writers – I did a new Live YouTube video for you!

I get a lot of questions about beta readers, what they are, how to work with them, and where the heck to find them. So, I figured, it was time to share some of that info with you.

All you need to know about beta readers


My Favorite First Kiss Scene

I love a good first kiss. I mean, who doesn’t? If you say meh, I don’t believe you! hahaha Perhaps more than experiencing that first kiss with someone special, writing about that first kiss between two people who belong together is equally as exciting. Here’s my take on that…

A Reading with a First Kiss


 

The Pet Boutique

The Pet Boutique

With every new launch day, and this is my 13th, butterflies swarm my tummy and take me on a giddy and anxious ride. It’s a thrilling day for any writer. I was inspired to write this story by my sweet and spunky sidekick. My beloved, Bumblebee, is in this story with all her spirited glory as Cashmere. I took all the wonderful memories I have of her and her silly antics and placed them in this story so I’ll always be able to come back to it and fondly remember her as the lovely furbaby she was. 

Here’s a quick blurb of The Pet Boutique: 

From the moment Lexie Tanner meets Taylor Henshaw in the dilapidated space that will one day become her aunt’s pet boutique, she knows she’s got her work cut out for her. Taylor self-identifies as a complicated woman, and there’s nothing Lexie enjoys more than a good fixer upper. But Taylor’s complications run deep, and way into her past. Surrounded by an eccentric and spirited group of family and friends, including a spunky and lovable dog named Cashmere, the two women navigate a series of obstacles that have them questioning their choices. As their journey unfolds, neither women is prepared for what happens when they start to break down the old and discover the new.

 

Acknowledgements

Writing a book is a team effort, and I’m so grateful I have an incredible team by my side. They see me through moments of doubt and anxiety, and also through moments of elation when the words start to click into place and I feel I have a story to tell.

To my beta team, Jennifer Morris, Felicia Haggerty, Dana Holmes, Alakshendra Tripathi, and Ted Beveridge, I am incredibly grateful for your honesty and support through this writing process. Thank you for taking my work seriously and for helping me to turn it into something I’m proud to share with others.

To my editor, JoAnn Collins, thanks for combing through every single word and helping to right the wrongs. Also, thanks for teaching me something new each time.

To Joanna Darrell, for your continued support. You keep me going, always reminding me why I do what I do. Thank you for being my friend and my greatest ally in this literary world!

To one of my best friends, Michelle Grondin, thank you for sharing your adoption story to help me better understand how Stephanie might’ve felt. I’m grateful that you helped me understand the intricacies of the adoption process and the emotions that go along with it.

To my sister and dear friend, Debra Ferranti, for always believing in me and helping me to heal after the loss of my sweet Bumblebee.

To Dorina Jasparro, for always being my cheerleader and for being the best auntie to Bumblebee, a.k.a. your sweet Cashmere.

To Hector, for being you and encouraging me to be me.

To my readers, for opening your hearts to me with your support and encouragement.

And finally to my lovable and loyal Bumblebee, for bringing so much joy to my life and to this story. May this tale honor you in the very best light and allow your sweetness to remain in the hearts of all those you touched with your silly and exuberant spirit. Thank you for being my best friend and sidekick through it all…

How to Increase Optimism

How to Increase Optimism

To increase optimism is a practiced skill. It takes time to cultivate an optimistic mindset, and once you do, your life will dramatically change for the better.

Increase Optimism

Optimistic people seem to deal with chaos smoothly. They don’t get rattled by small things that pop up and get in the way of pre-planned events. They ride the waves of uncertainty with a smile and a boatload of faith that all will work out in the end.

Optimistic people rise above fears, stomping them out with action before they have a chance to root themselves. They view a setback as an opportunity to learn something. They go with the flow, remaining flexible even when a certain level of rigidity seems like the more prudent option.

Easy in the good times

I think for most of us, it’s pretty darn easy to increase optimism when times are good. From this position, it’s easy to say how we’d act in stressful times. It’s easy to say we’d be cool, calm, and collected when disappointment strikes.

From that vantage point, we can visualize how we’d handle things because our emotions are in check. We’re calm. We’re rational. More notibly, we’re not operating on the tailwind of hormonal fluctuations. Those fluctuations cause the stress hormone, cortisol, to press our nerves. We need our nerves to thrive on good fuel, not cortisol. The last thing we need is cortisol taking up a fight with our cells.

When we increase optimism, we have the feel good hormones on our side. In that position, hardly anything can crush us.

So how can we remain optimistic when stress rushes in unexpectedly?

How can we feel joy when disappointments knock on our heart?

I discovered something during my recent reflection on how to increase optimism. By its nature, optimism is a tool to help us deal with the hand we’ve been dealt. Put simply, optimism is what prompts us to learn from mistakes rather than feel defeated by them.

When we feel defeated, we shut down. We stop looking for solutions. Essentially, we start acting like victims. For the most part, we pout, cry, throw a fit, and go into self-pity mode. Essentially, we destroy any chance of finding a good outcome from a current circumstance. Defeat clouds our judgment. It places blinders over our eyes, making it impossible to see the way out.

So how do we avoid getting sucked into the vortex of defeat?

Do we just think we can be optimistic and bam we’re optimistic?

I don’t know about you, but I need real facts, real solutions, not just some mumbo jumbo psychobabble that ultimately ends up making me feel like a failure for not getting it.

So, let’s dissect this optimism thing. We want to:

  • feel good
  • be strong in the face of adversity
  • remain calm amongst chaos
  • maintain a clear mind to make sound decisions
  • find the lessons hidden in the struggle
  • walk away from a stressful situation with our wits
  • capture an inner peace

First Step to Increase Optimism

So, the first step to increase optimism is to decide that’s how we want to be. Truly imagine ourselves strong, capable, and calm.

We need to claim that view. Decide that’s who we want to be no matter what is happening around us. Nothing will happen if we don’t first decide. If we don’t make a pact with ourselves while times are good, it’ll be hard to once times get rough.

Times are guaranteed to get rough. This is life were talking about. It’s seldom a smooth straight uneventful road. How boring that would be anyway! We don’t want that. Rather, we want to be challenged on some level. That’s when we see what we’re made of. That’s when we feel life breathing alongside of us and when we feel the extremes of being alive.

Embrace these challenges. Don’t resist them. We need to decide who we want to be, and then we need to go out there and be that powerful person.

Second Step to Increase Optimism

Seek solutions instead of problems. Oftentimes, when we’re faced with issues, we end up going down a rabbit hole of anxiety. We worry over the negative possibilities, forgetting about the positive ones that may result. When we choose to find the problems, we land in a precarious position of becoming part of the problem.

By switching our attention to the more positive possibility, we effectively begin to search for solutions. Whenever we are in a solution seeking phase, we’re going to increase optimism.

Our brain wants to find a happy ending to the situation at hand. So, it’s going to go on a hunt for that and find it. But, only as long as we keep marching in that direction. We also can’t forget to celebrate the small advancements forward. They are advancements after all!

Third Step to Increase Optimism

Our imaginations are powerful drivers of positive change. If we let our minds wander, it’ll take us on a journey. And, what that journey becomes is due largely in part to our ability to steer it in the direction we favor.

This is great news.

We have the power to turn that vision into whatever the heck we want it to be. Want to be more financially savvy? Visualize yourself living in that reality. How would you be spending your time living in that dream? What kind of contributions would you be making? Would you be serving food to the poor? Fostering a bunch of dogs? Reading to elderly patients? Telling stories to children? Investing in people’s dreams? Living in peace? Vacationing in paradise?

If you don’t imagine your life optimistically, what’s the alternative? Is that really the alternative you want to see happen? I’m guessing if you’re reading this post, likely not.

To begin visualizing, turn on an alarm for one minute, and in that one minute, close your eyes and see your struggle disappear. What would life look like without the problem? How would you feel? What would you be doing instead?

Fourth Step to Increase Optimism

I would recommend to be your own success coach. How would a coach talk with you about this? What suggestions would she recommend? In what ways would she encourage you? How would she cheer you on?

Be your own coach. Tune your inner voice into that of your success coach. If this is difficult, try and imagine what you would tell a friend in that same position. What suggestions would you offer? How would you encourage her?

Fifth Step to Increase Optimism

Take inventory at the end of the day by asking yourself ‘What went well today?’ You will search for those situations that went in your favor. Congratulate yourself as you would anyone you love and care about. Be proud of the accomplishments, the steps forward, the moments you felt surrounded by peace or empowerment. Celebrate those victories no matter their size. They all add up and eventually create success.

You can’t be disappointed in yourself when you’re building yourself up this way. It’s impossible. So, have fun with this part. Maybe make it a part of your routine by coupling it with brushing your teeth. Typically, you’d brush your teeth for 2 minutes. Make this the time you take that inventory.

Sixth Step to Increase Optimism

Take care of your mind and body because ultimately a healthy and sound mind and body will be better equipped to handle the sudden stresses in life. If you eat nutritiously 95% of the time, get daily exercise – and this can be as simple as a brisk walk – and spend a few meditative moments being grateful to be alive, then you’ll win. You’ll set yourself up to life a live that shines with positivity and attracts more optimism to you.

Be a seeker of good things, and good things will find you.

Transform Life into a Victory

Transform Life into a Victory

To transform life into a victory requires that you go where most people would never dare venture. Do you have the courage to do so?

When everything in the world tells you to turn around, should you? Is it wise to go back to where you feel safe and back to that place where you don’t have to expose yourself to discomfort?

To transform life, you must go there.

When the most challenging path turns out to be the one everyone else seems to be avoiding, go there anyway. Usually what makes the difference between ordinary and extraordinary tends to be a scary first step that few are willing to take.

To transform life you must ignore conventional pathways.

When other people whisper defeat in the wake of your courage, smile. For you are taking the road that will expand your mind and open your heart. Few will experience or be brave enough to know this freedom intimately. One can’t experience the gifts of freedom and surprises if not willing to let go of circumstance and deeply embedded philosophies that hold them back.

So when they laugh at your attempts, go there anyway.

Stand with your head high and your chest out, ready for what life has in store for you once you go past the safety zone and into that place where true curiosity meets up with opportunity. You can’t go through a mountain on wishful thinking. You must be willing to climb, to step on unsettled ground, to risk comfort and all you’ve ever known to get to the top and see all that life has waiting for you.

So, when others pull you back, go there anyway.

When you get to that point, past that mountain peak and at the base of a new path that appears closed, you must keep your wits and think outside the norm. When the voices of those you love beg you to turn around and abandon your pursuit to rejoin them back in the safety zone, you have to remind yourself you are in it 100 percent. You are set to transform life.

Make no mistake…

Your legs will tire, your lungs will burn, but rest assure, you’re entire being will break if you ignore that which is calling for you. When your body hurts and your brain tells you enough is enough, go there anyway.

When that scared part of your brain screams out for mercy to forfeit the win for the sake of reclaiming your spot in the comfort zone, ignore it. When your doubts assault your momentum in a standoff on the rough path, go there anyway. Be in control of your choices and transform life.

When you feel isolated, like the only person the planet to pursue a goal that others have deemed impossible, remind yourself that anything you do with your humble and gracious heart is possible.

Get rid of your ego…

When your ego demands you listen to it, and holds your intentions in its unforgiving grip of selfish and individualistic ways, gently push it away. Remind it who is in control. The ego only has power when you feed it. So when it begins to groan and moan that it’s hungry, starve it so it can’t disrupt what life has in store for you. It’ll try harder to knock you off your path, go there anyway.

When you’re tired, weak and lonely, and when you’re body cries out for you to stop the marching, the running, and the climbing, transform life  by going there anyway.

Be in control of your choices.

When your faith in the process of your journey quits on you mid stride, when it begins to pour and you are cold and feeling ill-prepared, when your feet throb and your eyes blur, go there anyway.

When your original plan to set out on this trek toward purpose begins to downshift to something that resembles more of a threat than a guide, pursue it even more.

When your inner voice takes on the same beat as your naysayers, you need to charge forward to transform life. When your heart begs you to reconsider the very reason you started out on your journey, go there anyway.

When thousands of reminders rain down on you and remind you of everything that could go wrong, choose to wipe them away with all the things that could go right.

Continue the journey…

When the sun stop shining, the air grows colder, the path gets tougher, the echoes beat louder, and the air feels heavier, choose to see everything else that aids your progression instead.

When obstacles flex their mighty hand at you, when gravity weighs you down, and people who once supported you turn away, that’s when you need to kick yourself into overdrive and stay focused. Your head will pound, your heart will hurt, your legs will throb, but your purpose waits on you to join it. It counts on you to stay strong in your passion, will, determination, and faith.

When light turns dark, and summer turns to winter, and brambles twist in front of you, go there anyway. Be in control of your choices.

If…

If you fall, stand and make your mark anyway. If you fail, move forward anyway. If you’re scared, face it anyway.

To evolve, you must continue the journey.

You can’t give up because it’s tough. It’s typically the toughest right before you claim sweet victory. Get comfortable with discomfort. It’s your greatest ally in life. You want to feel alive? Then make the difficult choice to leap into the unknown and go for it.

This is your life. You are the sum of your choices. So make grand choices. Don’t settle for the comfort of allowing others to choose for you. They don’t know what beats in your heart. They don’t know the desires that pool in your mind. They don’t know what you are capable of doing when you meet up with your purpose.

Never back down from your purpose. Go after it with full heart, full passion, and full authority. That is your right.  It’s yours and its waiting for you to stop being so afraid to trust in it. Life needs you to get out of your own way and allow it to take you where you belong.

The only way to meet purpose and transform life is to let go of what is familiar and set out on that trek along that challenging road where you will need to say no to other’s ideals of what is right for you.

When they tell you no, go there anyway. Be in control of your choices. And make them grand.