Am I Old? Don't ask a Three-year old.

 The subject of this post was suppose to be about resolutions but as I sat down at my laptop to write it, my six-year-old grand nephew (yes, grand) was watching Youtube videos about playing Roblox games and I was utterly confused by the game and why watch videos of other people playing.

That was when I asked myself that question we all put to ourselves when the kids are doing something we cannot comprehend what is enjoyable about the act—Am I old?

Probably me in the future.

I’m forty-six years old and though, I know it’s 2020 yet when I think of that year, it still seems like that it is a sci-fi future that doesn’t exist in reality. That’s Back to the Future II fault. The movie is set in 2015, five years ago.

The most amazing thing is I don’t feel old. I feel as if I still have the whole world before me and I have so many plans. Yet, I can see the physical changes. I have more than a few gray hairs or as I call them nature’s highlights. Sometimes, I decide to dye my hair then decide I can’t be bothered.

When I smile the lines around my mouth don’t disappear as fast as they once did. I’m pretty lucky since I don’t have many lines on my face. But I notice the lines around my neck, which isn’t a good thing when you’re a writer and have your head bent down to the computer. Also some fine print looks like nothing but squiggly lines dancing around the back of the pill bottle.

I am now at the age when I once said would be a good year to die. My teenage self swore that forty-six was old and life would have nothing else to look forward too. Ah, the hubris of youth. Now I feel that there is so much more for me. Mentally, I feel my best even with my anxiety and panic attacks. I have a clearness and understanding that I never had in youth and wished I did. Life would have been easier.
Fibromyalgia may be affecting me but I feel a hope that seems much more real and rooted then I ever possessed in my youth.

So, do we really get old? Or does the body change like seasons and we must seek out life and feed the fire within us? I believe we must. We don’t have to live the idea of age but the best life for us.

So, I am not old. I am better and with much life still to do. I’m sure you feel the same. So, we’re not old. We’re better. In what ways are you getting better?

Happy New Year with a CONTEST from RB4U!!

Welcome to Romance Books 4 Us everyone. I'm your tour guide for the day, Nicole Morgan and as some of you may have noticed I drop by with a new post on the first of every month and either ramble like a fool or amaze you with my intellect. LOL. Okay, yes that last one was a stretch, but...I've got you smiling now, don't I? Now that you're good and loosened up, go ahead and kick your shoes off, sit back, relax and enjoy!

It's a brand new year... 
Happy New Year ~ 2014    

To celebrate the new year and do something a little different this month. Below you will find my answers to some probing interview questions. Then at the bottom there's a contest. All you have to do is read my interview, comment and leave me your email address. It's THAT easy! And the winner will receive an official Romance Books 4 Us t-shirt! I ask you, does it get cooler than that? I think not! So hold on to your hats kiddos and awayyyyy we go!!

How did you celebrate publishing your first book?

I took my ex husband to the emergency room to have exploratory surgery. Bwahaha. True story. *winks* 

What’s your writing schedule like? Do you strive for a certain amount of words each day?

My schedule is often chaotic at best. My personal best is 15,000 words a day. Each day I try to strive for that. But, if I manage to hit 1,000 I feel pretty darn happy. 

How much of yourself is hidden in the characters in the book?

Those really wacky, goofy as all get out characters? Yeah...those are pretty much me to a capital T. 

Do you eat comfort food/listen to music when writing?

Music tends to distract me, but then again so do shiny things and unicorns. But, caramel on the other hand...now that is something that I can get on board with. #RecoveringCaramelAddict 

Covers. Ever get one you wish you could change?

Actually 2 of my earlier books - which I won't mention so I don't hurt the artist's feelings - just never really jived for me. The book sold well though, so what do I know? LOL 

Give one advice tip to an aspiring author.

Grow thick skin. And just when you think you can take it, grow THICKER skin. This industry can be a harsh one at times, so you have to be willing to take criticism. 

If you could give a younger version of yourself advice, what would it be?

What? huh? Oh.. I'm sorry, I'm trying to get past the vision of a younger version of myself. I bet she doesn't have those pesky line growing around her eyes like I do. Pfft.. whatever! I have wisdom, so neener neener *sticks out tongue at younger self*

What genre would you like to try writing that you haven’t yet tried?

Crime with no romance. I know, I know. You can all stop booing now. But seriously, I'm like an Investigation Discovery Addict!!! 

Have you ever used an incident from your real life into one of your books?

No, but dang did you just give me an idea. Let me just say that flying to Denver at 8 years old, without your parents and no landing gear definitely makes for a trip you will never forget. If only I had a deeper appreciation for firemen at that age. 

Fun Stuff:

1. What is your favorite holiday and why? No fair, I like lots of them. But, I'd have to say Christmas. It's a magical time. 

2. What are two things people might be surprised to know about you? Well, if you haven't guessed this from above, when I was 8 years old I was in a crash landing on a 727. And.... the other one... I'm kinda weird. Oh wait... you probably already knew that. LOL 

3. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? A ballerina

4. Favorite food. Prime Rib. No, Lobster! Wait.. can I pick both? 

5. Favorite drink. Caramel Cappuccino. Yuuummm!

6. Hot summer days or chilly winter nights? Chilly winter nights (with my honey) 

7. What is the top thing on your bucket list? To have my family healthy and happy

8. If you could have a super power, what would it be? The ability to make others pain go away. To make peace a reality. For mankind to truly love and respect one another. It's a lot, but maybe...someday? 

CONTEST

Don't forget to leave your name and email address below for your chance to WIN!!

Nicole Morgan is an author of erotic romance novels, which more often than not have a suspenseful back story. Erotic romance mixed with good old-fashioned whodunit. While she's written everything from contemporary to paranormal her leading men will more than likely be wearing a uniform of some kind. From military to police officers, she has a love for writing about those who protect and serve. From her very first novel (which turned into a four book series) about Navy SEALs to her more recent releases you will be sure to find a few twists and turns you were not expecting.

She also has a recurring monthly column in Book & Trailer Showcase's eMagazine, and is a proud member of the Romance Books 4 Us Gold Authors. 

Find out more about Nicole and her books by visiting her website, blog, Google + Page, Twitter, Facebook and her Yahoo Group, Nicole’s Think Tank.

Until next month my lovies ~ Nicole 

Just Five More Minutes

Come on, you know you’ve said that phrase dozens of times in your life.

“Mom, let me sleep…just five more minutes.”

“Husband, just let me sleep….just five more minutes.”

“We’ll just watch TV for five more minutes.”

“I’m almost done reading this chapter, just five more minutes.”

Muttering to yourself, “Just five more minutes to write this scene, I can do it!”

And a day not quite as good as the first one, “Okay, just five more minutes and you can quit and do something productive since writing isn’t working today.”

See? I bet you’ve said most if not all of the above things at one point in your life. When its sleep, you can’t pull me out of bed. I have to get out myself or I’ll bite your head off. It didn’t used to be like that. But after four years of working graveyard shifts at Denny’s while going to college and teaching at the same time, my sleep is vital and precious to me.

My poor husband has to deal with my “just five more minutes” all the time. Though I set the alarm so I can have those five minutes and force my body out of bed at the correct time anyway. Yes, I plan ahead.

With TV, when I was a kid with a bed time, it was five more minutes. Now with TV online, I really don’t care as much anymore. I can watch whenever.

Now with books, that’s a different matter. It used to be “just five more minutes” and if you touch my book/kindle I’ll beat you. Now, I can’t stop in a book halfway. I NEED to finish it. Hence the 4 am bedtimes sometimes. *shakes head* I read everywhere, much to my hubby’s chagrin. I’m getting better and I know I need a 12-step program. But really, I just need five more minutes.

Now with writing….I see those five minutes going at least two ways.

Sometimes you’re just there. You have the ideas, your fingers are working, the pain in your wrists can be ignored, the ideas in your head are screaming, the characters are telling you exactly what they want and it goes along with your plan.

Those are the days in which you have to be at an appointment or have dinner on the table….just five more minutes.

I despise stopping in the middle of my mojo and work as hard as I can to not let that happen. Thankfully I have a caring husband who understands this and as of right now, I’m not a mom. But next year and the year after that when I’m planning on starting a family?

Yeah, those five more minutes are going to change.

Now, there’s that other five minutes of hell. *cough* I mean, just five more minutes of forcing yourself to write. Even though it’s crap probably, I force myself to write during those five more minutes when my Muse is off doing tequila shots off of my hero while the heroine is dancing on a tabletop telling me that I’m a horrible author.

Yes, this is what it’s like living inside my head.

It’s a scary, scary place.

But I force myself to write just those five more minutes. Sometimes it gets me going in the right direction and my characters sigh and come back to me while my Muse gets sober with some coffee. Other times, they go clubbing far away from me and after those five more minutes, I do something else that needs to be done.

Because believe me, there’s always something to be done.

If only I had an extra five more minutes…

What about you? When do you say ‘just five more minutes’? What would you do with an extra five more minutes?

And while you’re there, I’m going to shamelessly promote myself and tell you about my brand new release, BLURRED EXPECTATIONS, and it’s trailer. Because really, I only have five minutes to get your attention.

Blurred Expectations - Redwood Pack Book 4.5 - Coming 2013

Hannah Jamenson has babies on the brain. It seems that her sisters-in-law are expanding their family in the blink of an eye, but Hannah feels left behind. Every time that little test reads negative a little part of her dies and she feels like her Healing powers are failing her. Her mates, Josh and Reed, are doing everything they can to help her deal with their trials and losses, but they too feel like there is nothing they can do.

Just when the lines of what they mean to each other go out of focus, an enemy from Josh's past is back to prove the things that go bump in the night are real and everything they had held dear is now in jeopardy. In order to fight back and find their way, they'll need to put everything on the line before they lose it all.

Author’s Note: This is a novella set between books 4 and 5 to give you a taste of Reed, Josh, and Hannah. It is best that you have already immersed yourselves in the Redwood Pack world, however even new readers will enjoy a glimpse of the Redwood’s favorite triad.

Find it On:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | ARe | Kobo

Romance is Only Respectable this Month?

I'm going to admit that I haven't done many things that are "typical". I didn't pretend not to be smart just to impress a boy. I didn't sneak makeup in my book bag and put it on at school. And I never pilfered romance novels from my mother's nightstand.

The first one no doubt had to do with being a middle child and always trying to prove myself to my older siblings. There was no way I was ever going to look dumb in front of them. And the second two things on the list were definitely influenced by Mom herself. My mom's really pretty and I don't remember her wearing makeup. So the whole thing was a non-issue in my house.There was no one saying I could or I couldn't, so why rebel? The whole makeup thing seemed like a huge hassle in my opinion. And then there are the books. My mom was a reader. She took 4 and 5 books out of our little library every week and carried them home. She was pleased as punch when we picked one up and thumbed through it. I can't say for sure when my love of reading began, but by the time I hit middle school I was reading adult books ... including romances.

Of course I'm old enough to admit they weren't half as hot as they are now. But then again, it was scandalous when I was a teenager watching a movie at the theater and the F-bomb was dropped. Everything's changed, especially acceptable heat levels of our entertainment.

Anyway, reading was reading in our house. I didn't know it was considered taboo to read romance novels. I blissfully carried my Danielle Steel books around high school, happily reading in English class or at recess. (Yes, I was one of those geeks.) But the next week I'd be just as likely to be reading an Isaac Asimov novel during my down time. I wasn't really picky ... I just wanted an engaging story.

Now let's fast forward to middle age. Now I'm writing. And I'm writing romance. *GASP* Oh, the intellectual horror! NOW I find out that romance is looked down upon? NOW I find out that only old maids with no love prospects or a sex life read romance? NOW I discover that my GPA in school is supposed to determine what genre I read? Where the hell have I been?

Well, let me tell you ... in my life time, only one jerky writing professor told me that romance was garbage. (And since I took his class after I'd been teaching for nearly 20 years, I have the right to call this guy an asshat! He wasted our money with that class. Not bothering to teach novel writing fundamentals in a "Fiction Writing" class. So I don't really give him any credibility anyway. Ah, but I digress ...) The point is, I never heard what a bad rep romance had until I started writing it. By then ... I was too old to give two hoots what anyone thought of my genre choice.

And I guess you wonder why I mention this on my February post. Well, the fact is, many of my fellow cohorts have been interviewed or asked to write pieces about love and romance for Valentine's Day. This is the day to celebrate what we write. But I ask ... shouldn't the romance genre be appreciated every day of the year? Shouldn't romance writers, like writers of other genres, be viewed as talented artists and not formulaic cutouts of tired story lines? Shouldn't we be celebrated every day of the year? Well, of course we should. We bleed words on to the page like every horror, mystery, science fiction or young adult author out there. We push through writer's block to make deadlines just like other professional writers.

Please don't just look to our skills and insights on this day because it's meant for lovers. Seek us out in November when you're sick of turkey and need some ways to spice up your cooking (LOTS of romance chapters on that subject.) Call upon us in January when you need a passage or two to warm a cold winter night. Seek us out in July and we'll help you discover the real fireworks.

Trust me when I say romance is a year-round genre. Who doesn't want to be in love 24/7/365?