Why Don't People Say Good Morning Anymore?

When I get up in the mornings, I'm not asking for too much. I just want to feel the floor under my feet, waddle down to the coffeemaker and eventually enjoy the nectar of the gods--coffee.

I love my uneventful mornings as I wander zombie-like from room to room. If I'm lucky, I can manage a decent morning trot with my canine diva. BUT, what I'm noticing is how folks will look you dead in the eye and not mumble the simple greeting, "Good Morning".

Why am I noticing this now?

Has it always been this way or am I noticing because there are more dog walkers -- but not their poop picker-uppers in my neighborhood. Was I once one of those non-Good Morning Greeters? Perhaps. I'm getting older and my appreciations have changed. I still prefer attaching myself like velcro to the bed in the mornings, I appreciate mornings -- sunshiny or rainy, but what makes my heart glad is a simple "Good morning" piped back to me in return.

César (The Demon Lover's Chronicles Book 1)

A Demon’s Obsession Knows No Bounds 

Rachel and Angelina Thrust are loving sisters, driven from their homeland following the murder of their parents. Although they believe that they are safe, the enemies of their past follow them and strike when the two least expect it. 

Their parents were the leaders of a religious sect who denounced the practice of using dark power. Because of their principled beliefs, they were betrayed and murdered by members within their own clan. Rachel unleashes a firestorm upon the mob, which allows the sisters to escape with their followers. The group settle in Virginia, and a peaceful decade passes. 

Until César. 

Cesar is a handsome but insidious weapon summoned by the enemies of the Thrust family, the Trinity clan. The Trinity clan order Cesar to seduce Rachel and then convince her to either begin to use her dark powers or to kill her. Instead, Cesar focuses his morbid and carnal desires upon Angelina. He seduces, rapes and nearly kills the younger sister, and forces Rachel to use her dark powers to save the life of her beloved younger her sister. Angelina is rescued from death, but she is altered. In exchange for her mortal life, she became a hybrid of a vampire and priestess, the blood of undead pulsing through her veins. . 

Driven to unimaginable depths of sorrow and agony brought about from this unholy change in Angelina, Rachel sends her sister to her mentor and spiritual guide. Rachel hopes that Auntie’s commanding powers are enough to restore her sister's humanity. Demonic and dark urges raging within him, César pursues Angelina to the bayou. His lust evolves into an unrelenting obsession and Angelina’s people become the casualties of his desire. 

Angelina fights to not only to regain her humanity, but also to save the lives and souls of those she loves. It is a battle that will span the course of decades.

Get this Book 1 on Amazon.com for FREE!

Narcissist - The Supervillain Bully

Hey, why don't you have a cup of coffee, or maybe some water and Mio, but spend a few minutes with me to have a serious chat.

I don't care who you are, where you are in life, or how you try to live; I just know that eventually, you will run into a narcissist. I prefer to think of them as ITs. James Bond fights the ITs. They are supervillains who want to rule the world. Their egos are so massive that they sometimes threaten to send out missiles to destroy every man, woman, and child if they don't get their way. Like James Bond, we have to face our supervillains too. Unlike James Bond, we have to deal with them differently.

We may have run into IT while a student in school, or an employee on the job. We may have looked differently or acted differently or said something that may have inadvertently brushed against an ego so enormous yet incredibly fragile that IT immediately felt compelled to crush our dreams or spirits. Understand this, we aren’t human to them. We are insignificant to them. We are like some type of appendage that has to be removed.

As a writer, it is easy to create villains. I can give my characters fangs, or have them cloaked in shadows and make them sexually irresistible, but in the real world there’s nothing alluring about narcissists. Scratch beneath that glamorous surface and you find ugliness and a bloated ego.

I know that it’s hard to face the villain in school or in the office when IT has power over you, when IT flaunts her power over you and try to nibble at your self-esteem.  Remember, essentially IT doesn’t see you as real or significant. When you inadvertently challenged her (you could've asked a question or disagreed with a decision), you challenged her authority -- her ego. After that, IT has one thing in mind and that is to crush you. IT can destroy quietly, while smiling in your face, and you never see the carnage coming. IT may have the ear of those in higher positions, but you don't. So it doesn't matter if you’re an A student or an outstanding employee. By the time IT has finished trashing your character with her near superhuman ability to persuade others, you will be transformed into a liar, cheater or someone incapable of integrity and determination.

WE all know an IT. We may have once liked an IT or believed in IT...until we stumbled into his crosshairs.

What should you do? This is just my blog and my advice is not scientific, but I think it is a good one. Get out of that situation. Immediately. We're not James Bond with gadgets or "M" to help us foil the bad gal. We're just someone who is trying to do a good job, who may have children or mortgages. Or we may be students in school who just want the bullying to stop. 

Pay attention to me, please. Do not engage an IT in open warfare. Get out of the situation. Yes, IT is just that good at a craft she probably honed shortly after exiting the womb. IT knows and plays people and don't forget that you may have been fooled by her too.  So I suggest you secretly plan your exit strategy. Take evening classes, volunteer for the experience, network, and convince your parents that another school environment would help you improve your grades -- yes, I am saying toss in that fluffy towel and get the hell out of Dodge.  Move on. Believe me, IT will find another victim.

Really, Cher?

Dr. Gorgeous’ office called to tell me about a stray dog that needed a home. The receptionist said the staff was reluctant to send her to the local dog shelter because of the low odds of her surviving. Dr. Gorgeous had suggested me. I agreed to take the stray unseen.

As I drove to the vet’s office, I tested out cutesy girl names. And then I met her.

The stray was a mutt that resembled a small German Shepherd. She looked more wolfish than domesticated canine. Her coat was brindle, almost the same color as my skin, with irregular dark markings that looked like zigzag lines of tar. She had wolf ears that she rotated like antennas. The staff gushed about her cheerful personality. Clearly that persona had departed as soon as I had entered. We studied each other cautiously like opposing gunslingers facing off in a dusty western town.

Get this book on Amazon.com. Just click HERE to read about a calculating canine diva. Enjoy reading!

To Sleep or Not to Sleep

I've always been one of those people who either enjoyed sleep or suffered from nightmares. Too many times my dreams turn into nightmares where I find myself fighting for my soul in a hellish abyss. Am I alone? Not according to my Facebook and Twitter Direct Messages.

As I mature -- code for getting crap older -- sleep is more desirable, but the need doesn't make any difference. Desirable yes, but there are times when I'm afraid to sleep.

I dream about monsters, and not the sexy ones (okay sometimes not the sexy ones but that's another blogging it tale). When I dream about the evil monsters, I have the good sense to keep my eyes closed. Somehow I just know that they are leaning over my face. I just know that if I open my eyes and actually see what they look like, the terror would turn my hair white and clean out my brain. I’m safer if I keep my eyes closed. Weird.

Still if the day-to-day stress attaches itself to me and I get worked up, then I know that sleep, good or bad, will be elusive. I can be trapped in this no-sleep cycle for days. Or nights. I will turn into a zombie -- minus the flesh-eating, of course, until I get a good night's sleep. So I need to sleep. It is unavoidable.

Here's the other thing: as I mature (there's that statement again) my ability to tell the difference between my waking and dream worlds have started to blur. I'm losing my reality filter.

I can't fully explain the scariness of the moment when I realized that I'm trapped in a dream. Even if the dream is pleasant, in that moment of deep REM, it will shift into something horrific, like a school bus sized cobra slithering on top of the ocean straight at me. What kind of sense does that make? Doesn't have to...it's a nightmare. 

Is the bleeding from reality into fantasy normal? Or is this a breakdown in my gray matter?

If I died in my sleep would I know it? This is the ultimate question for me. Would my nightmares cause my death and if so, how would I know that I'm dead?