Instead of the normal few paragraphs on my characters, their
various allures, and why you should read my book, I’m instead going to take
this time to tell you to take a deep breath, and relax. Yes, really. Breathe
in, hold it, and then let it out slowly. There…don’t you feel a bit better?
This time of year is blessed with holiday preparation, fun
gatherings with friends, rediscovering old memories, and also enjoying oodles
of good food and drink. Hopefully, we also include a few minutes of relaxation
to fully enjoy this time of the year and the people or creatures we love. But I
admit right here and now that it’s been a good while since I zonked out in
sprawled abandon like the little cat who is currently snoring loudly on my lap.
It’s been much, much longer since I settled down with a good book without a pen
in hand to record pages of excerpts that I plan to quote in a review, or a
highlighter to mark passages to use in my own writing projects. We all hear about how we need to take some time for
ourselves each day, but how many of us workaholics actually do it? There is too
much to do, comment on, tweet, write, email, or blog. And that’s just on the
internet! Pile on the regular day job, family responsibilities, and home
upkeep, and you’re lucky to maintain sanity.
The downside of this is usually either a meltdown of epic
proportions which could have some lasting consequences on whomever is with you
at the time, or sickness which can range from a simple cold to a super-virus
that puts you out of commission for a week or more. At best, even if you get
everything done and remain healthy, all this busy-ness is sure to make you
grumpy. When there is N amount of time and N+100 things to do, something has to
give. Make sure it’s not your health or your sanity. Take a little time each
day for yourself. Make time for things that are important to you, even if
you’re the only one that thinks they are important.
Yesterday, I put some more glow in the dark stars up on my
bedroom ceiling. They weren’t expensive…and yes, likely the kind of decoration
Martha Stewart would frown on. It didn’t take long to put them up…maybe ten
minutes for total prep, application, and putting the adhesive and step-stool
away afterwards. But I felt pure joy while I was putting up those little stars,
thinking about darkness falling, and going to bed and seeing them glowing up
above me. Later that night, when I beheld them glowing above me, I felt that
same simple joy again.
Take some time to relax this holiday season. Your family might
not care so much that you didn’t make all seven of their favorite cookies, that
you didn’t hand-make all the Christmas gifts, or that you got the cards out
late. They will care that someone they love is sane enough to spend time with
them, and love them in return.
Web of Memory
by Tara Fox Hall
Available From:
Sarelle’s return to her loved ones brings a brief measure of solace,
even as she mourns all that changed in her absence. Rene’s presence and Sar’s
pact with Shaker add as much tension as comfort, as the delicate balance of
Sar’s life threatens to collapse under the weight of all she endured as
Michael’s prisoner. Determined to reclaim her life, Sar fights back,
inadvertently sparking Danial’s memory as an unseen ancient enemy prepares to
strike a fatal blow.
Excerpt:
God, this was all I needed. This is
not my problem, none of it. “She’s your wife. Try harder with her. She is
trying; she’s just trying to find out who she can be. I wasn’t the greatest
mother, even though I tried.”
“Maybe,”
he said, his eyes of that rich cherrywood color fastened on me. “Or maybe I
just should have tried harder with someone else.”
I thought about leaving. I didn’t
want to discuss this with him. But this conversation was long, long overdue.
It’s time we have it out, once and for all. “Tears, even if it had worked
between us, which it probably wouldn’t, that doesn’t mean it would be as great
as you think it would’ve been. Look at Theo and me. We tried so long to make it
work. It didn’t, because we’d made a mistake.”
“You didn’t make a mistake,” Terian
interjected. “Theo and you had the purest form of love there is. That shared
dream doesn’t lie. You can’t dream with just anyone, the chances are something
like one in a million—”
I don’t care, I don’t want to hear
it. “Maybe he and I did have something once,” I interrupted. “But what I have
now with Lash and Dev is better. And you’re way off subject here, Tears.”
Terian’s eyes flashed red. “So
you’re saying I should cut her loose?”
“No. I’m not your marriage
counselor. But I can tell you to stop comparing her to me. I’m just a woman who
makes mistakes like everyone else.”
“You’re the reason I fell for her,”
he said abruptly. “Because she looked like you and she wanted me, where you
didn’t no matter what I did for you.”
For all Terian had done for me over
the years, I made myself stay there and not tell him he was full of shit,
though I thought I was going to drown in his BS and self-pity. “That wasn’t all
there was to it. You stayed faithful to her since you met her, even years after
you broke up. There was more than just her looking like me. What is wrong with
you that you can’t see that?”
“She was funny and sarcastic, like
you, but she didn’t have your hope. I wanted to give her hope, because I wanted
her to be happy. Because with her, I first felt like I had a chance to be
happy.”
Okay,
that’s it, I’m leaving. “Then go home to her and tell her you want to try again, that you love her. Tell her you want to
make her happy. Start treating her as if she was me, if that’s a more of a
clear goal for you. If you do that, consider yourself forgiven.”
“Okay,”
Terian said, nodding. “I’ll try, Sar. And I am sorry.”
You had
fucking better be. “Don’t do it again, Tears. I ever find you in my dreams
again and someone is going to come looking for you as soon as I wake up. Maybe
several someones.”
Surrender to Me (PM novella + excerpt from Immortal Confessions)
#1 Promise Me
#2 Broken Promise
#3 Taken in the Night
#4 Taken for His Own
#5 Immortal Confessions
#6 Her Secret
Promise Me Anthology #1
#7 Point of No Return
#8 Lost Paradise
#9 Dark Solace
#10 Eye of the Storm
#11 Tempest of Vengeance
#12 Sundown Serena
#13 Hope's Return
#14 Fate's Prison
#15 Web of Memory
Tara Fox Hall's writing credits include nonfiction, erotica, horror,
suspense, action-adventure, children's stories, and contemporary and historical
paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal fantasy Lash series and
the paranormal romantic drama Promise Me series. Tara divides her free time
unequally between writing novels and short stories, chainsawing firewood, caring
for stray animals, sewing cat and dog beds for donation to animal shelters, and
target practice. All of her published children's stories to date are free reads
on www.childrens-stories.net.
Vampire Cat Bed
Thanks for having me on your blog! :) Happy Holidays!
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