Giveaway & HEA Interview!

Happy September everyone! I hope those of you in the U.S. and Canada had a great Labor Day weekend. Today marks the first day of school in my area and fellow Harlequin Heartwarming author Catherine Lanigan and I are blogging together at the Heartwarming blog and giving away a gift bag designed for kicking back and relaxing with a book and a cup of tea (see pic ;).

The gift bag giveaway includes:

Autographed copies of Catherine Lanigan’s Love Shadows and Heart’s Desire

Autographed copy of Rula Sinara’s The Promise of Rain with matching bookmark

A canvas tote bag, approx 15x15in, (great for lunches, books, groceries & more) imprinted with the cover of The Promise of Rain

A 16 oz, BPA free, Stainless Steel Contigo Travel Tumbler

Teatulia Black Tea, Organic and Rainforest Alliance Certified

A custom ‘Sweet and Heartwarming’ bracelet from the Harlequin Heartwarming authors and…

A ‘Think Harlequin’ button pin

(Please note: The gift bag drawing is open only to entries from U.S. or Canadian residents. One winner will be chosen by random drawing. All other entries (international) will be placed in a drawing for an e-book copy each of Love Shadows, Heart’s Desire and The Promise of Rain.)

All you have to do to enter is hop on over to the Heartwarming blog and leave a comment. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's the link: http://www.heartwarmingauthors.blogspot.com/2014/09/all-shades-of-labor-day-by-catherine.html

Oh, and one more link...

My latest USA Today HEA interview is up! It's with Harlequin Superromance author Claire McEwen and she shares her personal experience growing up with an alcoholic parent. Please check it out HERE!

Have a great day!

Back-to-school and the official back-cover blurb for The Promise Of Rain

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend! Today is the first day of school here, and boy am I relieved. I love my kids (I simply don't like it when they make me want to pull my hair out ;), but I'm in desperate need of quiet, structured writing time. I have a lot of catching up to do in preparation for my debut Harlequin Heartwarming this January!

I have a milestone to share with you! The back-cover copy/blurb for my book, The Promise of Rain, is officially out! I was so excited when I read it for the first time. My Harlequin 'team' did an awesome job capturing the story. Here it is! 

THE PROMISE OF RAIN - (Harlequin Heartwarming - Coming January 2014) 

OUT OF AFRICA 

The Busara elephant research and rescue camp on Kenya's Serengeti is Anna Bekker's life's work. And it's the last place in the world she thought she'd run into her childhood friend Dr. Jackson Harper. He's been sent to review her request for funding. But with Jack around, Anna has more to lose than just her facility. As soon as he sets eyes on her four-year-old, Pippa, Anna knows he'll never leave Kenya…without his daughter. 

Furious doesn't even begin to describe how Jack feels. How could Anna keep this from him? Not to mention put his child in danger by raising her on the savannah. His first priority is getting Pippa back to the United States. Yet as angry as he is with Anna, their connection hasn't faded. But can this bond endure, despite the ocean—and the little girl—between them?

(Available for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble)

I can't wait to see the cover! :)

So on to my first day in months with no kids home...

I have a lot of writing and writing related things to do, but I also need to cook something special. It's a first-day-of-school tradition of mine. I think coming home to a favorite meal and dessert, after a long day at school, is a good way to celebrate and to take the sting out of homework. Plus, they always come home starving. It takes time to adjust to a new schedule.

Now to think of something to cook. Any ideas?

And they're off!!!

Today is the first day of school in our county. All my kids woke up long before they had to. You think they were excited much? LOL. It's funny how attitudes change from elementary school to middle school. My second grader's biggest concern was if he'd get to have reading time in 2nd grade (he loves to read). My sixth grader wanted to know if he'd be getting homework the first week of school, and my eighth grader lost no time in reminding me that it would be very uncool for me to go to the bus stop with them. Although I did go to the bus with my 2nd grader...camera in hand...I gave in and took pics of the other two up by the house.

I feel lost.

Seriously. I've been craving a quiet house and me time, but I think it'll take a few days for it to feel normal. Mixed emotions are all a part of sending kids off to school. It got me thinking about the pros and cons, so I'll leave you today with a best and worst list for the first day of school (a mom's perspective of course).

5 Best things about the first day of school and beyond:

1. A QUIET house!!!
2. Uninterrupted writing time.
3. A QUIET house!!! Oh, I said that already.
4. Grocery shopping without the kids in tow.
5. Being able to book appointments (doctor, dentist etc...) for myself without worrying about childcare.

5 Worst things about the first day of school and beyond:

1. Waking up early to pack lunches (I have allergy kids, so I have to pack).
2. Homework battles.
3. Dealing with a child's test anxiety.
4. Bedtime battles.
5. Getting sucker punched by the fact that your babies are another year older, not just in age but socially and physically too. My oldest passed my height by an inch just last week!!! It freaked me out, LOL! His feet and arms are longer than mine too. Geesh!

I do want to add my prayers for everyone in areas where schools are closed because of damage from hurricane Irene. I'm so sorry for the loss of lives. We were in the outer bands but didn't experience much more than a rainy day. The photos of east coast damage are horrible.

Do you have kids or childhood memories about the best and worst of back-to-school?

Time shock

My kids started school this week. Finally.

I love my kids, but there's something to be said about the therapeutic benefits of a quiet house. I'm seriously considering having custom t-shirts made that say 'Okay, but Mom...', 'What should I do now?', and 'That's not fair!'. Nope. Life's not fair. I spent my first day alone with a relentless migraine, but apparently my first grader's day was worse.

He got off the bus shaking his head in what appeared to be utter disbelief.
"That had to be longer than an hour," he said.
"The bus ride?" I asked, a little confused since his ride is no more than fifteen minutes.
"No! The school day."
"Oh, sweetie. You've been gone for almost seven hours."

The poor thing only had to survive a half day for kindergarten last year. I proceeded to ask about his day, and he kept saying that it was terrible. I asked if he'd gotten in trouble. Nope. He loved his teacher. Nothing bad had happened.

"So, other than the day being long, which is normal from first grade on -"
"Whoa, Mom. There's no way being at school that long is normal for anyone!"

Oh, man. He looked so dead serious that I had to laugh. If only he had a sense of how long twelve years to college will be...or how long it takes to publish a book.

My migraine is gone. My house is quiet. And I miss the little buggers.

Back-to-school: The storm before the calm

Impact! Ten zillion things that MUST get done, before the first day of school, ricochet off the inside of your skull at the speed of 120 mph break-neck winds. Blood pressure rises. Hives errupt. Breathing gets...hey, wait...stop holding your breath. None of it will get done if you pass out. Who will finish that manuscript if you keel over?

How are we supposed to stay unfrazzled during the back-to-school frenzy? My heart goes out to writers who have Aug/Sept deadlines (I'm eating chocolate on their behalf as I type this).

Seriously. I rely on lists for stress reduction. Plain, old, hand-written lists. I think there's something therapeutic in the glide of the pen-on-paper as I transfer the umpteen to-do's from my thoughts to solid surface. Writing things down eliminates the fear of forgetting. But the key to keeping your sanity while preserving writing time during the storm is in how you check off the list. Depending on the size of the project, try picking one to three 'musts' to accomplish in a day. Little by little the list you will whittle. That should leave you with several hours a day to write. Doing too much at once may leave you burned out by evening. Not much writing can get done if you're lying flat-faced on your bed with school supplies circling over your head like tweeting birds.

So let's get that list started. Mine includes:

• Print and shop for school supplies. Do this before the only backpacks left for your teenage son to choose from are various shades of pink with Barbie on the front.
• Dig out hand-me-down clothes and the winter clothes stashes. Have every child try things on for size and make a list (by child's name) of needed items, from socks to sweaters. Take advantage of sales.
• Collect all outgrown clothes that are still in good shape and set aside for donation. As for all those blue jeans with worn out knees, consider donating them to Habitat for Humanity for use as home insulation. Interested? Find out more, including collection sites, at http://www.cottonfrombluetogreen.org/.
• Hover over kids like a drill sergeant as they clean their rooms and their desks. Move over Lego, here come the books! No distractions allowed once the studying begins.
• Schedule eye exams, doctor appointments, and haircuts (I cut their hair at home, so one less car trip). Remember that doctors often need time to fill out school paperwork, and some opticals can take several weeks to get glasses in, so plan ahead.
• Set aside an hour or two a day for kids to brush up on brain work. It's amazing how much they can forget in a few months. My kids read all summer, but I'm talking about basics like multiplication review. It doesn't take much to get their brains fired up.
• Oh and, all those school papers that I never sorted through at the beginning of summer? Yeh, now would be a good time.
• Make sure my at home project stashes are well supplied (ie. tape, sissors, pencils, colored paper etc...) so that I can avoid last minute homework assignment shopping trips.

AND...be sure you post that list where everyone can see the big red lines through all your accomplishments. You worked hard, flaunt it! Be appreciated (maybe). Besides, that book you're working on could take months and months before it's ever recognized, so you might as well get some credit for pulling the family through the back-to-school storm. Hang in there. Pretty soon the house will be silent, except for the tapping of your computer keys.

What's your strategy? Anything critical I'm missing from my list?