STATUS UPDATE: I’m in the home stretch!  Only TWO chapters left to write for my next novel, The Space Between, the sequel to When Love Isn’t Enough. Almost there!!!

Last December, James and I celebrated our seven-year anniversary by getting married. After deciding in late-October that it was finally time to tie the knot, we threw together a very small, last-minute ceremony here in Santa Cruz. While I don’t recommend trying to throw together a “wedding” in under two months, it ended up being a beautiful day.

I’d been dragging my feet throughout our three-year engagement about making it official. I am a child of divorce, and had seen marriage ruin many perfectly good relationships… If everything was going great with me and James, why mess with it? Also, being an “independent woman” has always been a central part of my identity, and I didn’t want to give that up to be a “wife.”  The feminist in me has issues with the duties traditionally assigned to the role of “wife.” I’m fine with loving and honoring, but that obey part of the vows? Yeah, whatever to that!

Thankfully, the man I’ve chosen to spend my life with is not only my best friend, but someone who respects and appreciates my independent streak, and can tolerate my lack of traditional domesticity. I wouldn’t want to walk this road with anyone else, and since I’ve been thinking of him as my husband for years anyway, I decided it was time to dispatch my commitment-phobia and jump the broom already.

Though planning a “wedding” in two months was a nightmare (seriously ladies, just ELOPE–I’ve never been so stressed out in my life!), we pulled off a pretty magical day. A huge thank you goes out to Kelly Hemphill and Dara Crawford, who went so above and beyond to make me feel like a “bride,” helped with so many of the wedding logistics, and provided shoulders for me to cry on when I was getting yelled at by family members ;). Thanks to all our friends and family who made the trip to Santa Cruz to be with us, and those who were with us in spirit. Sunny’s Catering for the amazing food, and the phenomenal Devi Pride at Devi Pride Photography for the GORGEOUS wedding photos. Seriously, if you ever need a photographer for your wedding/event/etc, hire this woman. She has my highest recommendation–worth every penny! Check out this beautiful wedding video she made for us, that showcases her amazing work.

Six months later, I’m glad we did it. Aside from the rings we now wear, not much has changed in our relationship–for which I’m thankful. And we don’t have folks asking us, “When are you getting married?” anymore, which is great. 😉 But probably the best part is that getting married made it possible for us to have our dream honeymoon, which shall commence shortly. Italy, here we come!

One thing I really loved about Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport was that they had hotels IN the airport. I spent my fourth night in a very comfortable room at the Mercure Hotel inside the terminal and caught an early morning flight the next day from Amsterdam to Milan, Italy.

Oh Italia, how I love you… The food, the scenery, the lovely sounds of the Italian language all around me.  I successfully made my way via train from Milan to Lake Como, where I would be spending the next two days. My mother insisted I visit Lake Como on my trip because “George Clooney has a house there!” I’m sorry to report that I did not randomly run into George Clooney as I explored the lakeside towns that make up Lake Como, but I can definitely see why he would want to own a home here!  Stunning lakeside vistas framed by green, villa-studded hillsides provided a serene setting for my Italian stopover.

After I arrived by train in Como, Italy, I travelled by boat to the small town of Menaggio, where I would be spending two days at the Menaggio Youth Hostel. This hostel is fantastic — comfortable, affordable accommodations with a family-like hospitality. The owners cooked dinner every night at 8pm, and for 12 euro you could partake in a scrumptious three-course home-cooked meal with the rest of your hostel mates. This was a fantastic perk, and coupled with the 1 euro gelato and liters of wine for 2.5 euro, it was an appreciated respite from some of the overpriced establishments in town that catered to tourists. I highly recommend this hostel for the budget traveller.

I had a lovely, laid back couple of days enjoying the peace and tranquility of these small lakeside towns. Menaggio was quite charming, and I also took the ferry across the lake to the town of Bellagio, where I enjoyed lunch, then an impromptu hike through the residential neighborhoods and the stunning Villa Melzi Gardens. Back at the hostel in time to enjoy dinner with the rest of the group.

After leaving Menaggio, I took a two-hour bus ride to Lugano, a town on the banks of Lake Lugano. Lugano was technically in Switzerland, but what is considered “Italian Switzerland,” so folks were still speaking Italian, and all the cultural norms of Italy were still intact. Spent two lovely days in this region, the first night in the tiny town of Morcote (pop. 752) at the family-run Albergo Della Posta. Yet another peaceful day on the lake, as I worked on my novel at the hotel’s private lido. The tranquility of lake life was contagious, and I was overcome by a sense of calm as I enjoyed my surroundings.

Had a fabulous Italian meal on the terrace of the hotel’s restaurant, enjoying bread, wine, a caprese salad, some pizza, gelato and limoncello over the course of three leisurely hours.  Europeans have the most fabulous approach to the act of dining.  Meals are to be savored, not scarfed down like Americans do. Waiters don’t hurry you out of restaurants to turn over the table, in fact, they will not even bring you the bill until you ask for it. I wish this practice was more common stateside. Infinitely more civilized.

The next day I migrated back to the heart of the Lugano, and spent the night on the stunning grounds of the Montarina Hotel and Hostel, another hostel that I HIGHLY recommend. I’d requested a female dorm, but they only had mixed dorms available when I arrived, so they upgraded me to a private room. 🙂 On the recommendation of the hostel staff, I had dinner at La Tinera, another family-owned grotto that was a favorite of the locals (I prefer local eateries over tourist traps any day of the week), and enjoyed yet another fantastic authentic italian meal.

It pained me to leave the lake region of Italian Switzerland, as I very much love this area, but it was time to start making my way across Switzerland toward Geneva…

Continue on the Third Leg ~ Switzerland

Europe, The Album

Happy 2012 people! I know I’m about two months late for new years salutations, but I’m pretty much two months late on everything these days, so better late than never, right? 😉

I don’t know about you, but 2011 was one of those ‘blink and you missed it’ kinda years for me. It passed in a blur, with the usual flurry of activity. TPC was incredibly productive in 2011 — we published two more books, A HARD MAN IS GOOD TO FIND by James W. Lewis and ONE BLOOD by Qwantu Amaru, and achieved the uber-impressive milestone of selling over 10,000 copies of our books! (click here for the official press release) It’s a source of great pride that our little company could grow into such a thriving, legit enterprise, and I tip my hat to my partners for providing the much needed fuel to launch us into the stratosphere (seeing as how I ran out of gas somewhere around September). 😉 What can I say, it takes a village!

I also scored a major promotion at my day job as 2011 drew to a close. At the beginning of January, I started a wonderful new job at UCSC, which launched me several steps up the professional ladder. So far it has been awesome–my new boss and co-workers are great, and for the first time in a while I find myself sufficiently challenged and excited to come to work. Granted I am now SUPER busy since I need to achieve mastery of a complicated new position in the middle of an academic year, but I’m happy to report that so far, its going really well. And being liberated from the toxic situation that was my “old” job has shifted my energy in wonderful ways. Onward and upward, and steeped in gratitude for this amazing opportunity.

My circle of sister friends also expanded in beautiful ways in 2011. Through an African-American Women’s Group here in Santa Cruz (yes, there are enough of us to form a group, lol), I made the acquaintance of some solid women, who have been a wonderful support system. (Superwomen, Unite!) I also have standing dates with some of my favorite girls, and look forward to them each and every week/month. Spending ample time with women has been the key to bringing my life back into balance, and I plan to continue this trend in 2012.

Health is also a priority in 2012. The stress of 2011 did a number on my health, and this is another area that desperately needs to be brought back into balance. I’ve been seeing an acupuncturist weekly since July and am SOLD on the powers of Chinese medicine. I have seen amazing results and feel so blessed to have access to so many wonderful alternative health care professionals here in Santa Cruz. We only get one life, and I want this one to last as long as possible!

Now that we’re in the 3rd month of the new year, I’m definitely seeing some themes emerge… Change is big, not only in my personal life, but in the world at large.  Rather than entertain doomsday predictions about the end of the world, I tend to view the coming waves of change with a hint of optimism. I choose to believe that whatever gets broken down probably needs to be taken apart so that something BETTER can be built in its place.  I encourage each and every one of you to approach the coming year in similar spirit.  🙂

Best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

One of the coolest experiences I’ve had as a published author so far was my very first book club meeting. Last month, I invited up to Sacramento to meet with the lovely ladies of Stella Book Club. What a great afternoon! This was the first time I’ve been able to sit in a room with strangers who’ve read my book and get to hear them discuss, opine, emote, and argue about my “baby.”

Over dinner and wine, the group went through the discussion questions in the back of the book. It was so wonderful to see how engaged folks were with my characters. They talked about them as if they were real people, just like I do! 😉 What was particularly fascinating was that one woman was very clearly on Team Tony, while another was firmly on Team Damion. The back and forth between these two ladies throughout the afternoon was pretty heated, which amused me to no end. To see people so engaged with my characters to the point that they’re getting emotional and raising their voices to defend their viewpoint? I can’t think of a better affirmation that as an author, I am doing my job.

Of course they had some questions for me, and there was a significant amount of venting about various plot twists, lol. Which was great! I didn’t write a “happy ending” type of book, so I never expected it to generate warm and fuzzies! You should be mad in certain parts – I certainly was! 😉 But the fact that they were emotionally-involved enough to get mad was awesome. Once again, it just validated that my storytelling abilities are on point.

The ladies also had some suggestions for what they’d like to see in the sequel, which I did take under advisement. To be honest, my characters have kinda taken on a life of their own, and my mind races with all the adventures I have in store for them. The stories of Samantha, Tony, Damion and the gang are far from over, and responses like this to my work provide me with the fuel I need to get back in there and write the next chapter(s).

So thank you, Ladies of Stella, for the wonderful afternoon, the spirited debate, and for taking the time to read and review my book. I look forward to coming back to hear what ya’ll think about SOUL MATES. 🙂

For the past few months, TPC has had a contest underway… To encourage folks to post reviews of WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH, we announced that when we hit 30 reviews, we were going to hold a drawing and give one lucky reviewer a $150 amazon gift card. Well, we passed the 30-review mark – check the video below to see who the lucky winner is!

Thank you to EVERYONE who read and reviewed my debut novel!

Very proud to announce that my debut novel, WHEN LOVE ISN’T ENOUGH, has received it’s first official accolade! I placed as a finalist in Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Awards in the category of Multicultural fiction. 🙂

It’s so cliche for nominees to who didn’t win to proclaim that “it’s an honor just to be nominated!” – but I really mean it!  There are a lot of great books out there, and to be selected as one of four finalists in my category is a major accomplishment in my book!  I’m also very tickled that two of the four nominees in this category were TPC Books!  Seems like we’re inching closer to our goal of publishing world domination, don’t it, lol.

One of the challenges of having a full-time day job AND a side hustle is a lack of time for true leisure. Every time I flit off to some book event, I have to take days out of my vacation bank, which leaves very little leftover for a REAL vacation. As a result, I have to get creative when I travel for my author life, to make sure work and play stays in balance.

I haven’t done the best job of this since I started my own business, because there was just too much to do… But as the obligations have thinned out, I’ve managed to carve out some “me” time amidst all the craziness. Our last “business trip” was the perfect example of combining the best of both worlds. As you know, James and I had to travel to LA for a book signing at the NAACP Author Pavilion. We started our journey Saturday morning with a leisurely drive down US 101, stopping halfway (just south of Santa Barbara) for a picnic at the beach, where I got to spend some quality time with the ocean. It was a GORGEOUS day, and I felt so blessed to be able to spend a few hours at the beach and soak up some sun.

I carry around a tarot deck with me when I travel, and whenever I find a quiet moment, I like to pull a card, to see what areas might need my attention. I was rather amused at the card I selected during this particular meditation.

PLAY
It’s time to set aside work for awhile. Playfulness, gaiety, and laughter will lift your energy so that you’ll return to work with a renewed perspective and heightened energy.

Well alrighty then. Duly noted. 😉

We were up bright and early Sunday morning, then headed over to the LA Convention Center for the NAACP Author Pavilion. It was a great day, meeting readers, writers, and celebrities. Shoot, I even got to pretend I was a celebrity for a few hours. 😉

Monday was our “off” day, and since they’re so rare, we wanted to make sure we did something good. I hadn’t been able to shake the theme of PLAY that emerged during my beachside meditation, so James and I decided to spend Monday riding roller coasters at Six Flags Magic Mountain, lol. GREAT CALL! I haven’t been to Magic Mountain in about twenty years, but I gotta say, we had a BLAST nurturing our inner 14 year olds! A full day of PLAY– just screaming, laughing and actin’ a fool. We rode almost every coaster in the park (some of them twice), and two of the water rides. Tatsu is hands-down my favorite ride EVER, and well worth the price of admission. A definite must-ride if you ever go to Six Flags…

Tuesday we road-tripped it back up to Santa Cruz, relaxed, refreshed, and still glowing from our numerous adventures… That tarot reading ended up being rather prophetic – the break did allow me to return to work with heightened energy and clarity of purpose. That was an important lesson for me to learn because I’m one of those hyper responsible folk who always convinces myself that I’m “too busy” to take a break. Well color me changed – I am now a firm believer (and endorser) of strategically-placed play. 🙂