Samhain Publishing

Crafty. A rather fun little word, it literally means to be skilled in deception. But I’ve also heard it used in casual conversation when referring to a totally different kind of skill. As a writer, the first thing I think of when I hear the word craft is the craft of writing, which of course is a creative endeavor, but in this case I’m talking about arts and crafts.

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Books. I love everything about them.

The way they smell. The way they look and feel in my hands. The pretty picture on the cover. And beyond the superficial stuff, they contain within their precious pages a treasure without price. Thanks to books, there’s no limit to the places I can go, the people I can meet, the hunky heroes I can seduce, the things I can learn, experience, discover.

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“Spring has sprung, the grass has ris’, I wonder where the birdie is?”

Ever since spring officially arrived over two weeks ago, that catchy little verse has been running through my head like a record stuck in a groove.

Which is totally fine by me.

All winter long I count the days until spring finally arrives and it never disappoints. It’s everything I remembered, longed for, dreamed about and more. The snow is gone, the days are longer, temperatures are rising and everywhere perennials are sticking their noses out of the ground to greet another season of growth.

Ah yes. Springtime. It’s my favorite time of the year. The birds are singing up a storm while they flit about busily engaged in their courting hijinks, the sun is shining bright, and brand new vegetation graces us with that very special shade of vibrant new green unique to this time of the year. I love it!

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I’m so excited. Release day is finally here!! YAY! I’m so thrilled to be able to announce the release of my latest book, Brazen or Bust!

This book was a long time in coming. Despite my efforts to finish it, things kept getting in the way. But Nica and Logan wouldn’t let it be. They really wanted their story told and I’m so happy I finally finished writing their journey so others could enjoy it too.

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Plain Jane Nica’s got a sexy new look and a brazen new attitude to match. Blindsided and dazzled, Logan doesn’t stand a chance…

Perpetual tomboy Nica Morelli has wasted years mooning over Logan Donovan. Always viewed as nothing more than an honorary little sister, it’s way past time to make him see her as a desirable woman. A sexy makeover is just the way to do it, and with the new brazen attitude she’s adopted there’s no stopping her. Now, sexed-up Nica is armed to the teeth and taking no prisoners.

Logan doesn’t know what hit him. One day Nica’s the plain, trustworthy girl he’s known since they were kids, the next she’s a sex kitten doing startling things to his libido. Turned on and tied up in knots, he doesn’t know what to do with the intense emotions she’s generating now. And taking the enticingly tasty bait she’s dangling in front of him isn’t an option. If only the forbidden wasn’t quite so tempting…

Warning: This book contains hot ’n steamy graphic sex brought about by the flagrant use of seduction, near-nakedness and lavish amounts of tempting, teasing and tequila.

Book Trailer for Brazen or Bust by Anara Bella

 Brazen or Bust Book Trailer

Don’t go away, there’s an excerpt after the jump. =)

Excerpt

That there was one mighty fine piece of prime real estate. Bar none, the sweetest ass he’d ever seen.

Logan watched in mesmerized fascination as the mouth-watering backside in question shimmied and undulated to the heavy beat of the dance music blaring through the bar’s sound system. He’d always been an ass man and that one right there was enough to make a grown man cry.

It was a pure bonus that she had red hair. He loved fiery redheads.

He didn’t recognize this one though. She had to be a newcomer because he never would have missed spotting her before this. No way. Not with that ass, or with how often he came to PJ’s Bar.

He took a swig of his beer. Without taking his eyes off the visual feast before him, he absently enjoyed the slightly bitter taste of the cold brew as it trickled past his tongue and cooled his throat.

He was trying to get a good look at Red’s face, but with the flickering lights and strobes he hadn’t had much success. But that first-class ass was enough to make him want to get to know her better anyway. A lot better.

The music finally switched to a slow tune. That was his cue. Time to make his move.

Putting down his beer, he stood and then made his way over to his quarry. Her current dance partner put his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace, settling in to enjoy holding her close for the dance. But that didn’t deter Logan.

He tapped the guy on the shoulder. “I’m cutting in.”

Without looking up, the guy snarled at Logan to get lost, but he wasn’t put off. He tapped him again. “I guess you didn’t hear me. It’s my turn.”

The guy pulled back, and shot Logan a look meant to intimidate and chase him off. It might have worked too, except the moment the guy caught sight of Logan, his eyes widened, he dropped his arms and quickly backed away from the girl. “Okay, sure thing. No problem.”

Logan hid a smile. He was used to this kind of reaction. He was a big guy. Taller than most, not to mention the fact that he worked out. People were often intimated by his size, and he wasn’t averse to using it to his advantage.

Logan nodded. “Thanks.”

With the testosterone war over, Logan could finally direct his attention to the tasty female treat in front of him. “Name’s Logan. And you are?”

With frustration, he realized even though he was now facing the woman of his dreams, he still couldn’t get a good look at her. Not with her standing there with her hand clapped over her mouth as if she was in shock or something.

Fighting the urge to make sure he hadn’t left his fly open, he tried smiling to put her at ease. This was a damned strange reaction. He was a decent-looking guy but he’d never affected a woman like this.

He tried again. “I’m Logan. And you are…”

She blinked a couple of times before finally dropping her hand. “Logan.”

Her name is Logan?

And then he realized there was something very familiar about this woman. He looked closer. He knew her. Sort of. Didn’t he? He scanned her face again. He did know her. But something was different. So different he couldn’t quite place her.

All of a sudden the penny dropped.

Damn! It’s… “Nica. I didn’t recognize you. What happened to you?” Okay, that didn’t come out right. “I mean, you look different.”

That was an understatement.

He looked her up and down, still not quite believing his eyes. Could this really be his best friend’s kid sister? Hell, she was as good as his kid sister. He’d watched her grow up and he’d never seen any sign that this little siren lay hidden beneath the shapeless clothes she usually wore.

Nica blushed. For a moment she looked flustered, but then something in her expression changed. Almost seemed to firm up. She smiled and started to preen. “I do, don’t I.” She peeped up at him. “Do you like it?”

Hell yeah. He’d be mortified if he liked it any better. Damn, the fantasies he’d been running through his head before he knew it was her were more than a little X-rated.

Completely thrown by both the shock of finding out the woman he’d just been lusting after was Nica and… Well, there was no and. That was enough. More than enough.

Disappointment speared through him as it sank in this was Nica and he’d just been wondering how he could get into her pants. “Uh…you look great.”

She smiled coquettishly. “Thanks.”

“What brought on the dramatic change?”

She shrugged and he noticed how the movement did interesting things to her breasts.

“Oh, I just thought it was time to do something different.”

She was different all right. And he wasn’t at all sure it was for the better. He glared at several guys who were staring at her, not liking the speculative look in their eyes. “I can see that.”

She blushed and looked down, then seemed to come to some decision. He watched fascinated as she tossed her head back and straightened her shoulders “I’m still trying to get used to it myself.”

Was this the same girl he’d watched grow up from a plain child? Just yesterday she’d been the same old Nica. Reliable. Trustworthy. People like her didn’t change overnight. What had happened to cause this radical transformation? Because it was for damn sure something had.

“What’s this really all about, Nica? You’re not the type to do something so drastic.”

Her eyes flashed sizzling blue fire at him. “How would you know what type I am?”

That struck a nerve. “I’ve known you since we were kids. I think I know you pretty well.”

She looked him right in the eyes, and he saw a flash of temper there he’d never noticed before.

“You don’t know squat about me. Not the real me inside. You just think you know me.”

He took in her flushed cheeks and flashing eyes, her stance screaming her readiness to take him on. Maybe she was right. He certainly didn’t recognize the spitfire in front of him right now.

Taking in her sparkling eyes and heaving chest, he fought back a grin. Damned if he didn’t like her this way too.

The grin finally won out.

She scowled and planted her fists on her hips. “Don’t you laugh at me, Logan Donovan.”

Oh look. She’s even trying to look tough.

It was too much. He burst out laughing. “I can’t help it. You’re just so damn cute like this. I think I’m going to like the new you.” Maybe a little too much.

Just like that her anger dissipated. “Really?”

“It’ll take some getting used to, but yeah.”

The smile she graced him with was like sunshine breaking through storm clouds. It lit up her entire face and accentuated the beauty he’d never noticed before. Had it always been there and he’d just not seen it?

“Thanks.”

Still busy trying to take in the radical change, he jumped when she put her hands on his shoulders. “What are you doing?”

Looking confused, she said, “I thought you wanted to dance with me.”

Damn. He’d forgotten that was why he’d come over here. If he tried to back out now it would hurt her feelings. “Oh right. Of course.”

Smooth, Logan. Real smooth. He all but rolled his eyes at himself.

Feeling more than a little awkward and probably looking worse, he hesitated while trying to decide what to do. He knew he should put his hands on her waist, but the fact that he wanted to so much sort of made him feel like a perv.

She was practically his little sister for crying out loud. Okay, so she wasn’t, but he’d always viewed her that way. Until now.

Damn it. He couldn’t believe this was Nica. And that she looked so fucking hot.

He shook the thought out of his head, told himself to snap out of it, reached over and put his hands on her waist. There, that wasn’t so hard. At least not yet. He strove to keep as much distance between their bodies as he could manage without looking too obvious.

Nica had ideas of her own though, because the next thing he knew she’d draped her arms over his shoulders and clasped her hands behind his neck. In the process she’d pressed her sweet breasts up against his chest until their bodies were so flush against each other a microbe couldn’t have squeezed in if its survival depended on it.

His groin started to tingle.

Damn.

~~*~~

If you’re in the mood for a slightly racier excerpt click on the link and hop on over to my website.

Buy Link
ISBN: 978-1-60928-114-4

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Brazen or Bust was so much fun to write. I hope you enjoy their story as much as I did. Thanks for reading! =)

Anara
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
www.AnaraBella.com
For a fun and sexy FREE READ check out Stupid Cupid

Yesterday, as I sat down to write this blog post, it suddenly hit me that this would be the first bit of writing I’d done in literally weeks. It’s not for lack of something to work on. I have twenty-five pages written on my current WIP, the ideas are bubbling in my head, and the characters are scrabbling for my attention, wanting me to hurry up and finish writing their story.

So you might wonder what the problem is. Have I been slacking off? Have I been on vacation? Have I been procrastinating? Nope. Not even close. I’ve been working hard everyday. In fact, I’ve been working a lot later into the evening than I usually do, often right up until bedtime. So what have I been so busy doing?

We’ve already established that I’m not writing although I’ve had several rounds of edits to get through for my next book, Brazen or Bust, courtesy of my awesome editor Heidi. But besides edits, what I’ve been so busy doing is the myriad of other pesky tasks that take up a lot of an author’s non-writing time.

Veering off the writing course all started a couple of months ago when I got a new computer. Now, getting a new computer is great but—and there’s a big but, and I’m not talking about the one I’m sitting on, although that’s pretty big too—it takes me forever to get the thing set up exactly the way I want it.

You might think I’m being picky (which I am LOL) but the truth is that I spend so much time sitting in front of this computer that I’m not happy until it’s set up just so. Which means hours of fiddling with settings and installing programs that I use all the time and checking out replacements for programs that no longer work on the version of Windows I’ve upgraded to.

This time, for instance, I had to get a new version of Photoshop, which meant that after I’d installed it I had to relearn how to use it. Hand in hand with that, I quickly discovered that Windows 7 no longer has Windows Movie Maker included. Instead they’ve substituted a much inferior version—Windows Live Movie Maker—which doesn’t suit my needs for making my book trailers at all. So, I had to research video editing software and find another program that would hopefully do the same thing. After which I had to buy it, install it and figure out how to use it. All of this ate up a lot of my time.

After I’d done all that, I had a bunch of behind-the-scenes maintenance-type upgrades to do on my website. And once that was done, I started on the cosmetic updating that was needed on the visible part of my website. I’m actually still working on those. LOL

In between all of that, the fabulous cover for Brazen or Bust was finalized and I began the frenzy of activity that included resizing it so I could put it up everywhere along with the blurb and excerpt, making banners for the same reason and putting the book trailer together. Btw, I’m happy to say that I’m actually quite pleased with how the book trailer turned out, despite the new software and learning-curve this time around. Here it is, in case anyone’s interested in checking it out.

 Brazen or Bust Book Trailer

Anyway, as I was thinking about all of this I had to laugh. For a writer, I sure am doing a lot of unwriterly-type activities. And I’m certain most authors who read this are nodding in full agreement because they’re doing the same thing. Out of necessity we’ve all had to become a Jack of all trades since being published.

If someone had told me eight years ago I’d be doing all these different things, I don’t think I would have believed them. Back then my dream was to be published, thinking that meant I’d spend most of my days writing and plotting. Little did I know that what it really meant was that I’d have to learn to be proficient at a surprising number of things that require a wide variety of different skill sets I didn’t previously possess. And you know what, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Because much to my surprise I’ve found I actually enjoy doing most of these other tasks. There’s a lot of satisfaction in getting my website to look the way I want it, making banners is fun and I love making book trailers. No doubt because they’re all basically artistic endeavors that engage my creative side just as much as writing does. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I enjoy doing them so much that they can totally take up my time and draw my attention away from writing.

Hmm, maybe that’s what the real problem is, the real reason I haven’t been writing. I’ve been having too much fun playing around with this other stuff. What do you think? =)

~~*~~

Anara Bella
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
www.AnaraBella.com
For a fun and sexy free read check out Stupid Cupid

Recently someone asked me, ‘what inspires you the most to write’? I’m kind of embarrassed to admit the question took me by surprise. It shouldn’t have. It’s a common enough question people ask writers, but somehow, until that moment, I’d never really stopped and thought about it.

The dictionary defines inspiration as, ‘stimulation for the human mind to creative thought or to the making of art’. The word muse is defined as, ‘the source of an artist’s inspiration’.

So, what exactly is it that stimulates me to write? What really fires my muse?

As I mulled the question over, I realized that different things inspire me at different times. It can be something random like a scene from a movie, a picture of a gorgeous hunk, or an unusual circumstance I’ve heard about. Or sometimes it’s directly related to the book I’m working on like a character’s personality quirk, or a sexy situation one of my characters lands in, or even an interesting line of dialogue that pops into my head.

All of these things can get me thinking and get my creative juices going. But the fundamental thing that inspires me is my love of the written word coupled with the desire to tell a story that others can enjoy.

I really believe we all have a creative side that we express in our own unique way. And any creative endeavor requires the artist to be inspired in order to produce. It doesn’t matter what it is we love to do, whether it’s writing or painting, knitting or icing a cake for dinner, we all have something special to contribute.

So, what inspires you? =)

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Anara Bella
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
www.AnaraBella.com
For a fun and sexy free read check out Stupid Cupid

I learned a valuable lesson a few weeks back.

Hubby and I went to PetSmart to buy cat food for our two year old tabby, JuJube. An innocuous enough end to our day. Or so I thought.

That afternoon we’d gone to a matinee viewing of The Ugly Truth. Great movie, by the way. Loved it. Of course, Gerry Butler stars in it so that was a real plus, but I digress (which I’m wont to do when it comes to GB LOL).

Anyway, I wanted to pick up a DVD at Future Shop and since it was conveniently located right next door to PetSmart, hubby went off to buy the needed cat food while I finished picking out the DVD I wanted. Well, it took a bit longer than I thought to make my purchase but when I finally made it back to the car hubby wasn’t there. I thought that was odd but didn’t think too much about it aside from wondering what the hold up was on his end. After a couple of minutes of waiting by the car, I decided to hunt him down in the store and see if he needed help with something.

And where do I find him? Buying cat food? Scoping out cat toys? Standing in line at the check out? Oh no. He was hovering around the numerous cages filled with kittens that were up for adoption by our local animal rescue.

Silly me wasn’t particularly worried. We already had a cat and were quite happy with just the one. I should have known better. Looking was the first mistake. An even bigger mistake was actually picking up one of the adorable fuzz balls. She was cute and cuddly. So sweet. So trusting. She let us hold her any way we wanted. She didn’t struggle or fuss, just looked at us with limpid green eyes that seemed to plead with us to take her home.

It wasn’t long before we were well and truly hooked. Yep, you guessed it, we went in for cat food and came out with a kitten instead.

We named the little munchkin JellyBean (yeah, we’re on a candy theme LOL) and thought everything was going to be great. We had visions of her and JuJube playing together and keeping each other company when we weren’t home.

Yeah, right.

What we got was more growling and hissing than I’ve ever heard come out of two animals in my entire life. We had done all the stuff you’re supposed to do when introducing a new kitten to another cat, but JuJube wasn’t having any of it. After a week, JuJube had actually managed to give herself laryngitis (which I have to admit was pretty funny), and we were thinking we’d made a terrible mistake.

Thankfully, after a couple of weeks of wholehearted antagonism towards the kitten and relentless sulking with us, JuJube gradually started to come around. And now, six weeks later, they’re finally getting along. Playfully chasing each other around the house and even sleeping together once in a while. Just like I’d hoped.

Despite two of my favorite ceramic knickknacks being broken by a certain little rascal, I can still say JellyBean has been a real joy to have around and we couldn’t imagine our home without her. It’s been quite a little trek getting to this point, but we made it. So, we’re officially a two kitty family now and everyone’s getting along famously. But I sure won’t be in any hurry to go through that again. LOL

Moral of the story, never let hubby go to PetSmart unless he’s wearing a blindfold. =)

~~*~~

Anara
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
www.AnaraBella.com
For a fun and sexy free read check out Stupid Cupid

I’m absolutely thrilled to announce the release of my latest book, Batteries Not Required!

Wanted: One wild fling, orgasmic satisfaction guaranteed.

In Dana Appleby’s experience, really bad, boring sex and long-term relationships seem to go hand-in-hand. Enough is enough. She’s now on a mission and her main objective is finding excitement in the bedroom. And she knows just who she wants to give it to her: Reese Cooper.

Short-term relationships are Reese’s specialty—and so is sex. Dana’s proposal to have a little fling is right up his alley, but things go awry when he starts to realize short-term isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And suddenly the idea of Dana moving onto someone else doesn’t appeal one bit.

So, what’s a guy to do? The only thing he can do. Set out to show Dana that long-term doesn’t necessarily mean boring. Not with relationships—and definitely not with sex.

Warning: This book contains graphic sex, a scorching-hot office quickie and the teensiest bit of newbie handcuff play. Please note: Batteries not included with this book. But don’t worry, you won’t need any. =)

Excerpt

This was it. She’d made up her mind. Nothing could stop her now.

It all started on the count of three.

Dana looked towards her target and took a deep, fortifying breath before starting the nerve-racking countdown.

One.

Butterflies fluttered ruthlessly in her throat, threatening to choke her. She swallowed hard.

Two.

Her palms started to sweat. She swiped them on her hips.

Two and a half.

Breathing would be good about now. Hey, were those stars?

Two and three quarters.

Get a grip girl. Hike up your backbone and go for it.

Three!

By some complete miracle Dana’s legs started to move in the direction she wanted to go. Well, that wasn’t quite true. If they went in the direction the chicken side of her wanted to go she’d be headed in the opposite direction, straight out the door. But no, she was definitely headed towards Reese.

Who knew she possessed this much nerve? Not her. Not anyone. She wasn’t a wimp, but in all truth, she was anything but a risk-taker. Nor was she the attention-grabbing type.

If anything, with her plain brown hair and boring brown eyes, she tended to blend into the background. She was the one everyone said had her feet planted firmly on the ground. A straight-forward, no-nonsense kind of girl, that was her. In point of fact, she was the last person anyone would ever expect to do anything the least bit daring or “out there”. Especially with regards to men. And not with a man she’d only seen around the office and never met. She was the very antithesis of a femme fatale.

But tonight was different. Tonight marked the coming of the New Year and the new her. Tonight she was going after what she wanted. And what she wanted most was Reese Cooper.

No more lying in bed all alone, fantasizing about what she would like to do to his super sexy body. Fantasizing about what she wished he would do to hers. Fantasizing about what they could do to each other. No sirree. She’d made her New Year’s resolution and that resolution meant she was going to start this year with a bang.

Or more precisely, with a kiss. The kiss to end all kisses. Or maybe just the kiss that would bring an end to her fantasies about Reese. Because if things didn’t go the way she wanted, at least she’d finally know. And maybe, just maybe, she could move on and find a man who would give her what she wanted—a taste of what great sex was all about.

She really had nothing to lose. At the very least she’d find out what it was like to kiss Reese Cooper and that alone was a thrilling prospect. Heck, it already had her tingling down to her toes.

Besides, what else was New Year’s for? It was a time for change. For adventure. For new beginnings. All the things she was determined to kick off right now.

After pushing her way through the crush of people, she reached her quarry and stopped just behind him. All six-foot-three-scrumptious inches of him. The place was so packed it was a wonder she was able to get this close to him, but at least the crowd and noise had helped in her quest. She was certain Reese hadn’t noticed her approach.

She looked around and quickly sized up her options. Now that she was in position, it was going to take a bit of maneuvering to accomplish what she’d come here to do. Because a man like Reese was too good looking and sought after to come to a party by himself.

His present arm candy was even now primping herself in expectation of getting his New Year’s kiss, and the countdown was about to begin. But Dana knew something the blow-up blonde didn’t—she was doomed to disappointment. Because, date or no date, in about ten seconds Reese was going to be kissing her, Dana Appleby. Not blissfully unaware, destined-to-fail, Cosmo girl.

All Dana had to do was get the timing right.

At that moment the music stopped and the host of the party called for everyone’s attention, announcing the countdown was about to commence.

This is it. The moment of truth. The moment she’d been waiting for. She shored up her nerve and got into position.

“Ten…nine…eight…”

Steady. I can do this.

“Seven…six…five…”

Now.

Pretending she’d tripped, Dana very neatly fell into Reese’s very strong, very yummy arms.

I did it.

“Four…three…”

She looked into his surprised grey eyes and almost melted. She’d never seen them up close like this before and their impact was staggering. She could happily drown in those eyes. “I’m so sorry. I’m such a klutz.”

“Two…one…”

He steadied her with his hands but didn’t remove them from around her. She took that as a good sign. Now if she could just get rid of the damn blush making her complexion a bright, fire-engine red. It was hard to look sexy when you looked as if your head was going to catch fire at any second.

“You okay?” He seemed genuinely concerned. How sweet.

A chorus of “Happy New Year” being shouted from every corner of the room effectively interrupted her answer.

As the surrounding crowd whooped it up and kissed the one they loved, or whoever was convenient, Reese looked around, obviously trying to sort out his current dilemma. His gaze flitted between blow-up Barbie—who was frantically trying to shove Dana out of the way—to his armful of Dana.

Dana, however, didn’t have any such dilemma on her hands. She knew exactly what she was going to do. She ignored the bimbo, disregarded Reese’s shock when she grabbed his lapels, and tossed off what she hoped was an impishly sexy grin. Red face and all. Then she proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of him.

At least she hoped that’s what she was doing.

For an instant, he went perfectly still, no doubt taken aback and not quite sure what to do with her, and a feeling of panic fluttered in her stomach. Oh no, what if he pushed her away? Before that thought could fully take root, he relaxed and took the kiss over with an eagerness Dana would never have dared hope for.

Oh God, it was a million times better than she’d ever imagined. This was the stuff fantasies were made of. This was what a kiss was supposed to be. This was what it was like to be swept off your feet, and then some.

This was what she’d been looking for.

Now all she had to do was hang onto it.

~~*~~

Batteries Not Required Book Trailer

Buy Link
ISBN: 978-1-60504-622-8

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I just loved writing Batteries Not Required. Dana and Reese were an absolute blast to spend time with. I hope you find their story as entertaining as I did. Thanks for reading! =)

Anara
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
www.AnaraBella.com
For a fun and sexy FREE READ check out Stupid Cupid

When was the last time you spent an entire day reading a really good book? I mean, just ignored the sink full of unwashed dishes and piles of dirty laundry, curled up in your favorite chair with some chocolate close at hand, and read until your eyes crossed.

Up until a couple of days ago I couldn’t have told you when I’d done it last because it had literally been years. But last Sunday morning I woke up feeling exhausted and achy all over, obviously coming down with some bug. No way I felt like doing anything so I decided to treat myself and play hooky from everything that was clamoring for my attention. I turned off my internal editor, ignored the writer within, and disappeared into another author’s world, completely immersing myself in the story before me.

Ahhh. This was the life. How had I gone so long without enjoying this most delicious of pastimes?

To be honest, it had been so long since I’d allowed myself the luxury of reading all day I’d forgotten just how wonderful it is. My whole life I’ve been an avid reader but for years now my reading time consisted of grabbing a few minutes here and there, maybe an hour at the end of the day if I was really lucky. Which was better than nothing but not even close to the delight of spending long, lazy hours lost in another world.

And one thing’s for sure, I certainly didn’t plan to cut down on my reading, because I’ve always loved to read. Life without a book close by was pretty much unimaginable. Thinking back, I realize it happened some time after I started writing. At first it was because writing was something new. It was fascinating and fun and there was a lot to learn. And then after my first book was published, there always seemed to be something I needed to be doing.

I don’t see that changing any time soon. Even now, work’s strident call beckons—the characters from my next book are clamoring for my attention, my website needs to be updated with the cover of my upcoming book, I have banners to make, and so on and so on. But those few days of escape were better than a vacation. I feel refreshed and ready to tackle everything head-on again. Because even though I was sick, reading all day was nothing but pure bliss.

In fact, it was such a treat that I’m already striving to see when I can eek out another day to do it again. Because every now and then I need and deserve a break. I think we all do.

So go ahead and indulge. I know I’m going to. =)

~~*~~

Anara
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
www.AnaraBella.com

I don’t know if I’m coming or going.

I find myself using that expression a lot. Probably because I seem to constantly have days, or even weeks of days, where that’s exactly how I feel. The frustration builds to the point where I don’t know whether to pull my hair out or just end it all by running off the nearest cliff. Since neither scenario particularly appeals (I both value my life, and am kind of partial to my hair just the way it is, thankyouverymuch) I struggle to find ways to cope with the sheer busyness of my life.

I’m sure we all feel this way far more than we’d like. Family, friends, work, responsibilities, all conspire to eat up our time so that we don’t have any to spare. I know that this busyness I’m experiencing became even more apparent after I was first published and now that I’ve happily sold my third book I can see that it’s not going to change anytime soon.

Years ago, I remember published authors telling us aspiring unpubbed’s to enjoy the freedom we had at that moment. To spend our days learning the craft and writing as much as possible. They warned that things would change after we sold. There would be a lot more pressure and many more constraints on our time. I noted what they said but didn’t really think about it too much. Nor did I appreciate just how right they were.

Boy, do I know differently now. Ever since I sold my first book, it’s been a whirlwind of activity. Most of it fun, all of it interesting. I’ve had to learn new skills that encompass everything from building a website, to working with an editor, to dipping my toe in the promotion pool, to writing blogs. And somewhere in all of that I still need to find the time to write. It makes me tired just thinking about it. LOL

Despite it all, I’m truly grateful for the reason I find myself so busy. Having my books published and out there to be enjoyed by others is one of the greatest feelings ever and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

So, when I feel overwhelmed, like I don’t have the time to do everything, I take a deep breath and remember a quote from Bo Bennett—“Avoiding the phrase ‘I don’t have time…’, will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life.”

You know, as strange as it may seem, that really is the case. Somehow, the simple act of verbalizing that I have all the time I need to accomplish everything I want makes all the difference. I suspect it calms me down enough to tackle things in a logical way. It sure beats wasting my time and energy anxiously flitting from one thing to another in a frenzied whirlwind of unproductive craziness.

And since life isn’t going to get any less busy any time soon, I just keep repeating my new mantra—I have all the time I need. And you know what? I really do. =)

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Anara
Romance that’s sexy with a touch of sass
Batteries Not Required – July 2009
www.AnaraBella.com