In The Social Media Superstar Handbook, I’ll cover creating your author website with WordPress.com, what social networks authors need to use, how to build your own website traffic by hosting guest blogs and how to boost your readership through blog book tours.  I also break down and explain how to create your own short or long-term marketing plan.

Among the many resources included in The Social Media Superstar Handbook are nearly 200 authors willing to host guest bloggers, several hundred blog/interview questions to keep your guest blogs fresh, links to hundreds of book reviewers waiting to read your books, and even Blog Talk Radio programs you can be booked on!

In this book, you’ll find everything an author needs to launch their career into superstardom.

Look for The Social Media Superstar Handbook this week!

“Sure.  I’d love to.”  I said.

I’m grateful for that relationship because it seems to have been fated.  It has propelled me from point A to Point C.  It was important and the decision felt right at the time.  It’s still a good business relationship.

Not long after, I was approached to teach online classes in social media for writers.  “Of course!”  I said.  Oddly enough, as I began each class, some ridiculous catastrophe occurred that completely spoiled my reputation.

• A power surge took out my computer and tablet in one fell swoop.
• The constable informed me I had 3 business days to move out of the house I’d been renting because the landlord defaulted.
• My internet connection was interrupted.
• I became so sick that I could barely sit up.
• My Outlook mail went boots up.
• One thing after another…

Then another friend suggested his friend who needed website assistance call me.  Of course I said “Yes” as a favor to my friend.  Then my friend wanted a new website.  Now he’s talking about sending more friends my way and making me very rich.

I’ve realized something very important:

I don’t want to be rich.

I want to be happy.

My guides told me to “Do the thing that is waiting for you.”

I wondered what that meant.

Yesterday morning, I browsed Amazon.com and read the reader reviews of my books.

One out of every three reviews said “I can’t wait for the next book!” or “Waiting patiently for the next book” or “How long before the next Task Force 125 story?”

I was overwhelmed with gratitude for these people who had read my books and enjoyed them as I realized that this too was fated.

They’re waiting.  The characters are waiting.  I’ve been waiting to be able to JUST WRITE.

The thing that has stopped me has been not being able to say “No” when people think they’re doing me a favor and I think I’m doing them a favor.  I’ve been so wrapped up in pleasing the wrong people, or at least not offending them, that I haven’t done anything for myself.  I’ve set my priorities aside and made serving others my priority.  This may be an admirable thing, but I keep telling my other friends they are not a public service – and yet, I’ve been allowing myself to be one.  It’s time I take my own advice.

I need to be able to simply say without guilt “No, I’m sorry.  I don’t have time.”

It’s time to give myself the sort of consideration I’ve been giving my friends all along.  It’s time I do what brings me joy, the thing that is waiting for me,

WRITE.

Brian Allen is going to do some violence on her behalf in this story

I’m writing again!  Here’s a short excerpt that may or may not make the final cut:

Brian felt the itch of a stare and turned to see the most stunning woman he’d ever laid eyes on.  Her shoulder length, light brown hair shimmered with subtle highlights that gave her tanned skin a glow.  Her brown eyes sparkled as she watched him.  She was sitting in a booth but any fool could see she had the body of a knockout with lean, strong legs, a tiny waist, and a rack he’d love to nuzzle.  He’d seen plenty of women in his time, but this one took his breath away.

She met his gaze boldly.

He smiled and watched as her full lips curled into a grin, revealing perfectly white teeth.

When the bartender returned with his tequila, Brian leaned in.  “See that Latina in the booth over there?”

“She’s hard to miss.”

“Is she with anyone?”

“Haven’t seen anyone man enough yet.”

“Better get me one of whatever she’s drinking.”  He winked conspiratorially.  “I’m going in.”

The bartender chuckled.  “Yes, sir.”

Brian pocketed his coin as the bartender set a gin and tonic down by the tequila.

He paid the man and left a hefty tip.  Tipping well early in the evening was a valuable lesson his mother had taught him.  She’d always said women would be impressed with a man who didn’t have to wait long for good service, and she was never wrong.

Virginia Nelson said “I look forward to seeing what you create. I love Sarah.”

I replied “She’s been doing a lot of growing. I find it difficult to write her when I’m mid learning curve. I’ve been on such a steep life learning curve this past year. I need to learn how to take breathers – I binge on life.”

2. I binge on life

This should not be misconstrued as a bad or sad thing.  In fact, if you think bingeing on life is a bad thing, then perhaps you aren’t living life to the fullest.  Something to consider.

3. I don’t have a bestie

Again, not a bad thing.  Just a fact.  I have lots of great friends, but not everybody has a “bestie”. 

I’m a flibberdejibbet.  It takes a special kind of crazy to keep up with the rollercoaster that is my life.  Some people go to the top and quit, others ride the loop and stagger away, and still others just like watching at the bottom.  Nobody has been up for the whole ride yet.  It’s OK.  I still throw up my arms and laugh more than I white-knuckle the rail.

I love the ride and I’d rather not saddle myself with someone who slows me down.

4. I do have the perfect job

5. I work very hard

I’ve been working on a number of projects lately.  Which leads me to…

6. Sometimes I just want to read a book

So I bought one on Kindle today.

All week, Beam Global has been talking down to me as though I’m 18 and haven’t a brain in my pretty little head.  Well, I’ve had it!

“We’ve taken America’s #1 cocktail and made it even more refreshing by adding a bit of effervescence to it. It’s fresh, bubbly, and ready-to-serve – perfect for any ladies’ evening with friends.”

Personally, I haven’t had a drink with a bubble in it since the year 2000 and there isn’t anything about Sauza Tequila that is going to make me start.

“Sauza® Tequila Rescues Women With Its New “Make It” Campaign

The successful marketing program broke new ground in 2012 by speaking to women the way they want to be spoken to while delivering a visual delight – a Fireman, an adorable kitten and a great-tasting recipe for margaritas.”

The way I want to be spoken to?  Really?  This statement smacks of “Women can’t pay attention unless you show them a muscular man and a baby animal of some sort.  Then you’ll have their attention long enough to introduce your product. 

Hey, I like biceps and puppies as well as the next person, but I’m quite capable of speaking on an adult level for more than 60 seconds even without my ADD medication. 

This is not the way I want to be spoken to.  I outgrew the wine cooler when I was 18.  It seems to me that Beam Brands is marketing their products to 18-21 year old straight female and gay male drinkers of the U.S. who are buying their booze at mom and pop package stores that don’t check identification. 

A worthy market indeed.

What adds insult to injury here is both of the above quotes are attributed to a woman, Vanessa Jenkins, Senior Marketing Director of Tequilas at Beam Inc.  Perhaps she’s biased as she spent the early part of her marketing career pushing products like Saccarin and Aspartame for Merisant?

Honestly, I’m surprised that Beam Global and Ms. Jenkins believe the average female consumer is incapable of appreciating a finely crafted tequila without added bubbles and sugar.  But then again, nobody ever accused Sauza of being a finely crafted tequila.  I don’t believe I’m overstepping when I say not all women want to be spoken to like they’re idiots.  

Don’t even get me started on Hornito’s Lime Shot…another Beam Global product.

Perhaps Sauza should consider making a better tequila instead of covering up the flavors of the ones they do make?

I’ll leave you with this last quote:

 “Sauza is what the parents of other tequila brands use as a boogeyman to scare their children into being tasty.” ~ Cracked.com

#truestory

Because when I open the bottle, it’s like letting a genie out.  It is magic.  I can smell Mexico in there.  The citrus trees, the salt from the sea, the warm sand and even the sunshine.  All of those scents feed my soul and when I drink it, I am there again.

That is still my answer.

Back in 2011, on April Fool’s Day, I posted a blog that said I was moving to Mexico.  God knows I wanted to.  My marriage had come to a screeching halt just over 6 months before that and I was trying to find my way in the world.  Mexico was a dream, so I indulged for a day.  

I still have dreams of Mexico.  Lake Chapala calls to me now, but that will have to wait (for a couple months at least).  I’ve since found my footing in the world and accomplished some pretty remarkable things.  In fact, I just cut my biggest deal ever and the world is really starting to open up for me!

We aren’t making the details public yet, but this particular deal encompasses all of my interests and expertise: tequila, websites, social media, magazines, books, writing, and publishing.  I’ve been building my skills for years and focusing more and more on the work that makes me happy.  It has all led me here. 

This deal is the cherry on top.

I’ll be announcing the details this month, so stay tuned. 

I find the Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio one of those soul-sucking spots on earth where the cries of others have imprinted themselves so indelibly that they become a psychic black hole that sucks you in as you climb the stairs.

By contrast, Glastonbury Tor was one of those places that drew me in and infused my soul with something very special.  I remember, as I climbed the hill, the rest of the world seemed to disappear.  It was a very special experience as reached the top and looked out over the plains.  The wind picked up and tossed my hair, but it didn’t matter.  I saw the sky surrounding me as it never had, the scent of the ocean on the wind filled my lungs and something that can only be described as Chi coursed through my body.  My senses came alive and time stood still as I stood there, atop the Tor, watching the sun set and the stars and moon bring their glow to the sky.  Anything seemed possible.

I had to leave too soon for my liking.  I could have stayed all night.

But the memory, magical and invigorating, remains with me.

When I need to, I close my eyes and go back.

Of course I had an idea! 

The “Invite Friends” function, where you can click the “Invite” button for individual friends from your Admin Panel, is a hit or miss, shotgun style approach. It can also be very annoying for your friends if you keep inviting the same person every day.  Some friends get multiple invitations in a single week while others don’t hear from you about your Facebook Page at all.

When you use my approach, as outlined in the downloadable PDF below, by clicking on “Build Audience” and then on “Invite Friends” then the friends who have received an invitation or have already liked your page will be subdued and you won’t be able to click on them (this keeps you from being a pain in the ass). This also allows you to systematically target each friend you have to be sure they’ve received an invitation to like your page.  After a few weeks, the friends who received invitations but haven’t Liked your page yet will show up in color and you can try inviting them again.

I’ve never been a fan of the shotgun approach when it comes to hitting a mark.  “Spray & pray” is a waste of energy and ammunition.  I’m a one-shot, one-kill kind of gal and that goes for social media too.  If you want to save your time and energy, use my strategy.

Click here to download my FREE PDF tutorial! 

The maple trees of the north and the agave from the south have French kissed while dancing the Salsa.

When it comes to all things Canadian, I don’t mess around.  I sing the Canadian national Anthem – IN FRENCH.

Je suis Quebecois!

My ancestor Francois Louis Thibault arrived in Canada from Ile de Re, France, in 1667 as an indentured servant.  My family stayed in Quebec until 1913 when my grandfather was born in a Massachusetts mill town.  My grandfather later moved to Maine to start his own family while his parents and siblings returned to Canada.  I still have family there so Canada holds a very special place in my heart.

When I received this bottle of De La Tierre Maple Cinnamon Liqueur (what you have to call tequila after you’ve added real Canadian maple syrup to it), I busted out my colors.

That’s right, this is the 2002 Winter Olympics Canadian Hockey tee shirt signed by The Great One Himself, Mr. Wayne Gretzky.

Canada, hockey, maple…tequila?  Believe it or not, it works.

I expected more maple when I took my first taste.  The flavor on my tongue was pleasant with just a touch of maple but my first thought was orange.  I probably just automatically went with orange because of the citrus in the tequila but, as I sip this, I think it would be an amazing aperitif with a Crepe Suzette.  In fact, you could hold the brandy and make Crepes Suzette with this and it would be a stunning finish to a gourmet meal.

As the glass sits out a bit, I find a sweet maple scent becoming more clear.  I’m reminded of my childhood when my father, who was always a fan of a snack, would make crepes on cold Maine winter nights.  He’d make a big stack of them and then roll each individually with a filling of maple syrup and sugar.  They were heaven.  I’m transported to that old farmhouse kitchen where I’d watch him work so carefully on them.

My dad has since developed diabetes and I’m off sugar, so a grownup drink like this makes a lovely late night snack.  You could have it on the rocks, I tried it and could hear the smacking of hockey sticks.  This is one tequila that has been made uniquely Canadian.  Drink it straight up, by a fire, on a snowy evening or drop a shot in a good cup of coffee on a rainy afternoon.  This is soul food.

I think I may make some crepes some night soon, with an orange and maple cream filling and a splash of this De la Tierre Maple Cinnamon Liqueur on top.

I think even dad will like them.

I couldn’t mention The Great One’s signature without showing you, could I?

Some of you may recall the craziness that became the telenovella of my life on September 4^th when the house I was renting went on the auction block due to foreclosure.  (The fact that it was even in foreclosure was a complete surprise to me and my two housemates.)  After that, there were early morning visits from constables with eviction orders and the ridiculous dramatics of Annetta Short’s departure.

Gorgeous house, but so NOT worth the soul-sucking price!

After a verbal altercation about whether or not I could use the DVD player in the “Family Room” (she shut it off and yelled at me, I turned it on, she shut it off and yelled at me, I turned it on again), Ms. Short approached my person in an intensely aggressive manner to which I responded by standing up from my chair, taking a step forward and very sternly saying in a speaking volume “You stop and think about your next move.”

She did, and walked away quietly.

Then she disappeared.

Then things in the house started to disappear, so my other housemate and I changed the locks.

About a month later, after absolutely no attempted contact whatsoever, Annetta showed up with a moving company and a constable with a court order to allow her entry.  She couldn’t just call and say “I’m going to move my stuff out this week”, no, that’s not how she rolls.  It’s got to be dramatic.

So my gym visits fell by the wayside during those days and nights when I wondered if the crazy ex-housemate would sneak in and kill me as I slept.

Back to yesterday…Here I am again, starting over.

My first lift was the leg press.  Talk about swallowing my pride!  I had to remove 500lbs of plates someone had left on it just so I could press 100lbs.  I felt like a sissy.

Then the standing calf raise – I swear the machine looked at me and said “Hardly worth putting the pin in when you’re pressing so little weight, eh?”

*groan*

And so it went through the whole workout.  Lat pulldowns, pulley pushdowns, stiff legged deadlifts, bench press, upright row and standing barbell curls.

Weights that had never been used before because they were so small were squealing with glee.  I could hear them shouting to the big weights “Little weights need love too!”

I was convinced others were tallying my weights.  Of course they weren’t, but it was the same self-conscious feeling I used to have when I was overweight and would walk into a gym.  On the one hand, I feel paranoid as hell but on the other hand, I’m saying “At least I’m here!”

Today my muscles are tender.  I don’t want to say “sore” because it sounds so negative.  They’re tender enough for me to know that I did some work and my muscles are growing because of it.  Just to prove the tenderness wouldn’t slow me down, I biked the kids to school today.  I didn’t have to stand on my pedals to get my bike & kiddie trailer up the big hill today.

Yeah, even with tender muscles from yesterday’s lifting, that was a big win.

It was worth swallowing my pride.

All in the ADHD family: Diagnosis in kids can spotlight parents’ own condition

We Do More For Our Kids Than We Do For Ourselves

First, I have to say how proud I am of my brother.  He and his husband jumped through every hoop in California to be able to become foster parents and adopt their foster son.  This wasn’t the sort of adoption every couple dreams about.  (In fact, I’ve learned from all my friends who have adopted that no adoption is that fairytale adoption.)  *My new nephew suffered from serious ADHD.  He’s a brilliant kid but he has this condition with which he and his Dad and Pop have to work.  My brother became an advocate for his son, and a damned good one too.  He did his research and continues to on a daily basis.  He knows the condition, the medications, dosages, dietary compensations, behavioral compensations, educational issues…he’s become an expert out of necessity.

One night, about a year ago, he and I were discussing his research into ADD/ADHD and he shared his theory that our father probably had undiagnosed ADHD.

Dyslexia + ADHD = Baby Boomers Left Behind

Our father had never quite learned to read and dropped out of school in 9th grade.  I had always suspected that he had dyslexia.  You see, as a kid, I would read with him and he would always scramble the letter sounds.  I didn’t understand why back then, but when I learned more about dyslexia it all made sense.  Our father loved Popular Science Magazine.  So when I learned to read, he put me to work reading articles for him.  (As a kid, I thought it was pretty annoying, but my reading and vocabulary skills grew like you wouldn’t believe!)

So imagine it’s the 1950′s and you have a kid in your class who won’t sit still and won’t learn to read…what do you do?  You make his school environment even more difficult with extra discipline and then pass him on to the next teacher.

Even as an adult, our father pops from one project to another.  A carpenter all his life, he is always building or creating something.  One time I asked him to make a small kitchen rack for my coffee cup collection and the next thing I knew, he had created a kitchen island.  Thanks to my brother, I discovered that this is exactly how ADHD works.  He had an idea, then another and became hyper-focused.  Knowing what we did about Dyslexia and ADHD helped us finally understand Dad.

Coping Mechanisms

My brother expanded on some of the other symptoms of ADD/ADHD in adults and explained that he had developed several of them.  His own research had helped him to understand himself a little better.  I began to see that I had many of these symptoms too – most of them, in fact.  Then my brother started expanding on how many adults are not diagnosed and learn many coping mechanisms as kids in order to get through life.  At this point in our conversation, things really started clicking into place.

I remember bringing a book to school everyday in 6th grade.  I always grasped concepts and finished my schoolwork quickly (kids with ADD/ADHD are NOT dumb) and, in an unruly class of 30 kids, I’d get bored while the teacher was explaining things to the kids who needed more instruction.  Being the bookish, shy type, I’d sneak a book to school and keep it in my lap where the teacher wouldn’t see it.  She never would have noticed if it weren’t for my ability to hyper-focus.  She had to shout me out of it one day when I was a bit too engrossed.  I could tell it was slightly annoying for her when she could call me out of my book and I’d still be able to answer the question on the board correctly without much thought.  I did this throughout my educational experience.

College classmates hated me because I’d never take notes, participate in study groups, or start reports early and yet, I always made the Dean’s List.  To be honest, unless it was part of the grade, I didn’t even show up to class.  If I had to show up to class, I’d bring something else to do while in it.  I’d make lists of things to do, play solitaire on my PDA or read books while still retaining all of the information in the lecture.  Doing these things was actually the only way I’d retain the lecture.  Oddly enough, it was a professor teaching a class on Special Education that pointed out to the class he knew what I was doing and then explained why.  (Yes, I’d planned to teach at one point.)

Everything my brother told me about ADD/ADHD really made sense.  Even what appeared to be my OCD!  After our conversation, I began some research of my own.

The Little Blue Focus Pill

After reading as much as I could, I tried self-medicating.  I took an over-the-counter diet pill called Fastin.  I found it helped me to focus and a nice side effect was a faster metabolism.  After a few months of this, I decided to discuss my theory in depth with my doctor.  Here’s how it went:

“I can multitask like crazy.”  I said with a grin.

The doctor glanced sideways at me.  “Do you mean multitasking or are you just all over the place?”

I shuffled my feet under the chair and looked down at the floor.  “OK maybe multitasking isn’t the right word.  Um…yeah, I’m all over the place.  I can’t finish anything and I never make a deadline.”

“What do you do for work?”

“I’m a multi-published novelist.”

Her eyes opened wide as saucers.  “You might benefit from a strengthened ability to focus then?”

I could smell the snark in her question and nodded solemnly.  “I think it might help.”

She laughed.

You can read the full blog about my foray into ADD medications here.

In a nutshell, Concerta worked well on an empty stomach with about a pot of coffee chasing it so when I returned to the doc for a follow up, she prescribed a low dose of Adderall twice daily.  It works great – especially when I take a double dose.  I’ll be discussing that with her at our next follow-up in a few weeks.

Everything Happens For a Reason

In the end, a conversation my brother and I had about the demands of parenting shed light on so many things about ourselves and our family that we hadn’t previously understood.  We grew to understand why Dad does the things he does and why we grew up doing the things we do.  I also grew to understand my own children and their behavior much better.  Thanks to my amazing nephew’s difficult condition, our entire family has reached a new understanding of the dynamics at play in all our lives and that has been a huge blessing.

*Note from my brother on his son’s exposure to methamphetamine in utero *

“ADHD is genetic, but can be exacerbated by environmental conditions, such as a stressful pregnancy.  Meth during pregnancy is a logical follow-on after looking at the effects on the brain from meth addiction.  A meth pregnancy has not been clinically linked to enhanced ADHD, but I don’t think anyone would rule it out. As yet, there is no ethical way to prove it. One or both of G’s birth parents have ADHD, which could have lead to their self-medication using meth.”

So I made it available for download here on my website.  It is available for free here: http://lisapietsch.com/task-force-125-books/tf1251/ or you can just click on the image above.

Writing little shorts like this help me get back into the right frame of mind for writing Task Force 125 stories.

Sometimes I get so engrossed in my own life and work that it is a difficult switch for me to make between that and the life of my characters.  Oddly enough, it is a difficult switch because my life and Sarah’s life seem to run parallel so it’s like jumping into and out of a magic mirror.  Sometimes I just don’t know which side I’m on.

I’d like to do more of these short between-mission mini-stories but I’m not sure how readers would receive them.  If you download Sarah’s Summer and read it (or have already read it), please leave a comment below to let me know what you think about that idea.

As always…

Thanks for reading!

- Lisa

PS: I still have a total of 7 novellas planned for Sarah and the entire American Swift team but I’m currently working on a story just for Brian as he’s been getting a bit restless with living the easy life aboard the team’s yacht in Morocco.

I also have side stories planned for Tracey, Jason, Chris, Rig, and Will, but will get back to Sarah and the entire team after I release Brian’s story.

What/who would you like to see more of?

I read once that whenever you feel completely out of place somewhere, you should look for the reason why you’re there.  Everything happens for a reason and sometimes we’re put into strange or uncomfortable situations because there’s someone there we’re meant to connect with.  I try to do that wherever I go.  It usually ends up with me making awkward conversation with a few people before connecting with someone else who is feeling just as awkward.

It seems to be birthday party season here in San Antonio so lately I’ve been the lucky parent who has to escort the kids to these mighty-mite masochisms.  I find myself arriving at these events and searching my purse for a magical flask of tequila.

I have no flask. 

I SHOULD have a flask.

Last weekend, it was the indoor bouncy house hell.  Bigger kids push the smaller kids around and say it was all in the name of fun and the best advice you can give your child is “sit it out” or “soldier on”.  Either way sucks because you can never catch the bully bastards in the act.  So I had one child crying on my shoulder for most of the event and I felt completely powerless against the whole bouncy house party system.

This weekend was the public park party.  Only a few of the kids from school were there with parents and the rest of the adults and kids there were family.  So I surveyed the situation as my kids ran off to play with the others.  A bunch of military guys at one table, mom & aunts bustling around and needing no help around boxes of pizza and refreshments, and one lone mom sitting at a table, typing into her phone.

BINGO!

She’s my kind of people.

Either we’ll find something in common or we’ll both type into our phones and be quite happy with ourselves.

We had two sons in common.  Awesome.  Nobody understands what it’s like to have two boys unless they do.  You can’t make this shit up.  Then I noticed her nails.  She had these great striped and polka-dotted nails that looked absolutely impossible.  I had to ask where she got them done.

That’s when I realized why I was there.

Jen is an independent representative with Jamberry Nails.  She loves the product but she’s not a high pressure salesperson.  (I can respect that.  Neither am I.)  She told me that the home party season was good last fall but everything fizzled with the holidays.

Being in marketing, I could tell her with every confidence that everybody’s business seemed to dwindle around the holidays and into mid February.

She seemed relieved and I was happy I could give her some reassuring news.

Then, I thought, what can I do here?  I took a pic of her fab nails and shared it with several thousand of my closest friends.

She and I became Facebook friends and now I’m going to introduce her to the Wonderfully Wise Women group and suggest she hook up with my amiga, April Monterrosa, for the Wonderfully Wise Women Spring Business Expo.

Jen explained that she had plenty of inventory for such a thing and the $20 fee seemed reasonable.  Hopefully it’s a good match for her and will give her a chance to at least network with a few more independent businesswomen.

And that is how I ended up having a great time at a kids’ birthday party without having to share embarrassing pregnancy stories or talk about the weather!  It turned out to be a good afternoon after all!

If you’ve never waffled your face by falling asleep on your keyboard, you may not be working hard enough.

It’s so easy to look at a successful person and make assumptions.  Too often, most people do just that.  I knew a woman once who found out I was a multi-published author paying my rent with my royalties.  She told me she’d always wanted to be a writer so I told her to write something.  I even gave her several opportunities to be published in my magazine.  What did she do?  She changed her Facebook status to “Writer & Public Speaker” and then spent her time texting gossip and shouting at people in bars.

I guess there’s some writing and speaking involved in that, but she pretty much missed the point.

She was squatting in a run-down trailer with no water or electricity last I heard.

The “Fake it till you make it” concept only applies so long as you’re putting in the sweat and hustle necessary to actually make it.  If it were as easy as changing your Facebook status and walking around all puffed up then everybody would be doing it.

But everybody isn’t doing it.

It takes more than bullshit.

Action is the foundational key to all success.

~Pablo Picasso

All the successful people I know are that way because they’ve put in the time, sweat, and tears to get there.  None of them had it handed to them.  They found something they loved and they applied themselves to reaching a goal with it.  It had to be something they loved because you can’t do something 18 hours a day if you just don’t love it.  Most of them had to start their labor of love as a side hustle too!  They’d work eight hours a day at their J-O-B and then go home and work another 8-10 hours on their labor of love.  That’s how they got successful.

• They worked through the night when they’d rather sleep.
• They worked in the car, in the bus, on the airplane, or on the boat while they traveled.
• They worked on their phone, tablet or laptop in the bathroom in the morning because they don’t believe a morning bowel movement is a time to rest!
• They worked while they were in line at the grocery store.

They took action consistently and they did all the work, not just the stuff that the average bystander sees.

In the end, it all comes down to one question:

Are you a Faker or a Maker?

Here it is: I’m writing a cookbook.

I know.  I know.  You’re saying “You’re writing a whaaa?  Give me some tequila drinking super spies from Task Force 125, not a batch of muffins, you loser!”

At least that’s how Tracey would put it, but I think you’re probably thinking something along those lines too.

Here’s the thing: A girl’s gotta eat, I’ve got tequila in the house, and damnit, I’ve been telling you it’s a food group for years!  So, in addition to writing the tequila swilling super spies who actually rubbed up against Tom Clancy on Amazon’s bestseller list (thank you all for that BTW), I’m writing a tequila cookbook.  Yeah, this is the stuff Sarah Stevens would cook if Sarah Stevens cooked.

I tested my first recipe last night: Slow Cooked SOAH (Source of All Happiness) Tequila Apple Crisp.

(For those paying attention, SOAH is a real tequila and appeared in my last novel, Stealing Liberties.)

Here’s the recipe:

Slow Cooked SOAH (Source of All Happiness) Tequila Apple Crisp

Whip out your Crock Pot and add:

1.5 Quarts of sliced, diced, chunky apples (I used 6 huge Gala apples)

1 Cup Splenda (or sugar if you use that stuff)

1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

1/4 Cup SOAH Extra Anejo

Mix it all up so the apples are coated evenly and turn the pot on High.  Set a timer for 1 hour.

SOAH’s extra Anejo is aged 45 months in White Oak barrels previously used for Bourbon.  According to the tasting notes (and I can confirm) “This is an amber, great full bodied, crystalline and brilliant tequila. You will find a great spirit with soft notes of almonds, vanilla, nuts, dehydrated plums, dark chocolate, cinnamon and clove. Harmonic in the nose, well balanced; predominate in the palate with hints of dry fruits, spices with a great persistence, leaving a final soft round and deep palate.”  I knew the Extra Anejo would be a great tequila to accentuate all that made apple crisp delicious.

In a mixing bowl, combine:

1/2 Cup Softened Butter (not that margarine crap)

2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

2 Ounces Sliced Almonds

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Cup Splenda

1 Cup Oats (I used Quick Oats)

1 Cup Flour

Cut it all together with a fork until all ingredients are mixed thoroughly and you have a crumbly mixture.  Spread this evenly over the apples in the crock pot and then cover the pot.

Have some dinner while you wait for the timer to hit the hour mark.  When it does, turn the pot to Warm and enjoy a glass of SOAH Extra Anejo while you let it cook for one more hour.

Serve it warm out of the pot and I highly recommend a scoop of Vanilla Bean or French Vanilla ice cream on top.  Drizzle some of the liquid from the bottom of the pot over the ice cream and you’ve got a dessert fit for Mayahuel herself.

Salud!

PS: I wouldn’t presume to tell you how to live your life, but it makes for a kickass cold breakfast the next day too.

Thank you so much Lisa for inviting me and Edith Alden—heroine of One Moment’s Pleasure—to visit with you and your viewers today. Edith has graciously consented to this interview but asks that readers please not spread the word to her grandfather, Carlton Rosencrantz Alden IV. He doesn’t know Edith’s decided to search for her missing sister so that together they can circumvent his outrageous will. Imagine leaving your wealth to a pack of dogs if your human heirs don’t reproduce within two years. Scandalous, and very out of character for Grandfather Alden. Let’s have Edith explain.

Tell us a little about yourself:

I am Edith Marietta Alden of the Boston Aldens, one of Massachusetts’ oldest families. I am a 24 year old spinster and perfectly happy with my single state.

Why is that:

You’d have to know my grandfather to understand. My sisters and I came to live with him after our parents were killed in a carriage accident. I was twelve and missed my parents terribly. Grandfather did not approve of emotional displays or anything else that interested young girls. He considered females to be of little value except for procreation and was bitterly disappointed that he had no grandsons he could train to take over his business and his fortune.

He doesn’t sound like a very pleasant man:

Pleasant is not a word anyone would apply to grandfather. He’s autocratic, dictatorial and parsimonious. He often loses his temper and is not above using violence on those who dare not oppose him. He refused to listen when my middle sister Kiera declined an offer of marriage from one of Grandfather’s associates. Grandfather did not care that the man was known to have beaten three previous wives to death. Our guardian’s stubbornness forced my sister to run away rather than enter a marriage that was a death sentence.

Yet you think you can find your sister and with her help overturn the will that essentially leaves you and your sisters destitute:

I am completely confident that I can achieve all of that. I found papers about Kiera in Grandfather’s desk when I went searching for money to pay the physician attending him. Kiera was last seen in Madame Cerise Duval’s San Francisco bordello. With Grandfather in a coma, I must go to San Francisco, locate Kiera and bring her back to Boston with all possible speed. If Grandfather passes on before that will is overturned, we will be destitute. None of us—myself, Kiera, or Mae—would be so callous as to conceive a child simply to gain a fortune.

Your situation is difficult and regrettable. Most people with means would hire a Pinkerton man to locate a missing relative. Since your grandfather obviously won’t provide you with funds to do that, please tell us one thing about yourself that makes you confident of your success:

I’ve never let fear or worry stop me. Grandfather can be fearsome, and I’ve received his brand of discipline more times than my backside likes. However, even though I knew the consequences could be painful, I have never let that stop me before. I don’t believe that San Francisco or Madam Duval can threaten anything worse than Grandfather has already given me.

Why not marry and let your husband take care of this problem? He might also buffer you from your grandfather’s cruelties:

I assume that all men are like Grandfather—some more, some less. Regardless, I’ve no desire to live under a man’s thumb once I can escape Grandfather’s draconian rule. I’ll solve my own problems, thank you.

You are about to embark on a long and possibly dangerous journey. Are you looking forward to any part of your trip:

I’m thrilled to be traveling on the transcontinental railway, which has just been extended into the San Francisco area this year. I can’t wait to see the United States’ ‘fruited plains and purpled mountains.’ I’m thrilled that this adventure will take me a city reputed to be the ‘golden gateway’ to the west.

We’ve had a lovely time speaking with you, Edith, and hope your journey brings you everything you wish and more.

We have just enough time for Rue to tell a little bit about One Moment’s Pleasure and where to find the book.

Thank you Lisa. I’ve prepared a short blurb for our audience along with some links and a small biographical statement.

One Moment’s Pleasure will become a lifetime’s passion when spinster, Edith Alden, embarks on a search for her missing sister.  Pretending to be a rich bored woman looking for an interlude with an anonymous male Edith enters the San Francisco bordello where her sister was last seen. She escapes the bordello almost too easily, but she can’t escape the passion ignited by a stranger’s kiss.

Born and raised in the brothels of the California gold rush, Dutch Trahern worked for years to erase a childhood spent committing petty crimes and worse in order to survive. That past comes back to haunt him in the form of a woman he rescues from prostitution. Now his hard won respectability is threatened by an irresistible desire for a woman he shouldn’t want.

About Rue Allyn: Author of historical, contemporary, and erotic romances, Rue Allyn fell in love with happily ever after the day she heard her first story. She is deliriously married to her sweetheart of many years and loves to hear from readers about their favorite books and real life adventures.  Learn more about Rue at http://RueAllyn.com

FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rue-Allyn/220219031338619

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/RueAllyn

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5031290.Rue_Allyn

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/Rue-Allyn

Blog:  http://rueallynauthorblog.com/

Life has been good in my tiny apartment!  I love it!

There are no roommates, no police at the gate, no strange men walking around the house naked with their arms gnawed off because they hooked up with the hooker 3rd roommate… Just peace and quiet.  I’m first floor and poolside, so that means my apartment’s windows (I have two, woo-hoo!) look out over the pool and palm trees in the center area of the apartment complex.  It’s a good life.  No home maintenance, low rent I can afford, and my kids think my apartment is great (which makes for much more pleasant visits).

The apartment complex has a lot of cats.  Some, I suspect, are feral and others are pets that people leave outdoors.  They are all unique and beautiful creatures in their own way.  My sons have been anxious for me to get a pet, but I’m just not ready to make that sort of commitment yet.  I may be doing a bit of traveling soon and it wouldn’t be fair to a pet to be left behind all the time.  So, I suggested my youngest, Markie, start leaving a little kibble out for the cats so they’d know we’re friendly here and maybe they’d get comfortable and let the boys play with them a little.

They got comfortable alright!

One evening when Markie hadn’t been by to leave kibble out, I was working at my desk and heard a “meow” at the door.  When I opened it, there was a cat looking at me as if to say “Where’s dinner?”

Me being the sucker that I am, said “Oh, hello!  Just a moment.”  I grabbed the $2 bag of kibble, scooped some out onto the walk and, with a nod, he began his dinner.

Yesterday was a lovely day once the wind died down in the afternoon so I opened my living room window and enjoyed the fresh air while I worked at my desk.  (My desk seats me with my back to the window.)  I put some chicken tostadas in the oven and worked while they baked.  After a short period of tappity-tap on my computer, I rolled my chair back to check on dinner and realized there were two cats IN my apartment!  One finished his recon and leapt to the windowsill for a quick goodbye before disappearing outside, but the other hung around.  She was a pretty little medium-haired beauty the color of desert sand with a faint tiger pattern only on her tail and forelegs.  Her eyes were a light, sky blue.  She stayed for a while, happy for a little scratch & pat.  When it was time for dinner, I asked her to leave and she kindly obliged.

Welcome to the Kitty-Cat Lounge at Avion Place.

Want to talk tequila?

Click here to check out the Tequila Journalist, M.A. “Mike” Morales!

Special thanks to Armando Villalpando (@TequilaChemist) for the spectacular Tequila Nuestro Orgullo that inspired this blog and also for the distinct honor of receiving their first pink bottle.
Muchas gracias!

I have a theory: Women who drink cheap tequila are misled while women who drink fine tequilas are misunderstood.

I see it as a power thing.  Women who drink cheap tequila are giving away their power.  They’re drinking to get drunk or somebody is helping them drink to get drunk and eventually be taken advantage of in some subtle or not so subtle way.  These are the stereotyped tequila girls who get stupid drunk, go home with some dirtbag, and regret the whole thing in the morning.  I say those women are giving away their power.

A woman who drinks fine tequila is taking charge.  Women who know who they are know they deserve no less than top quality – and understand that quality isn’t necessarily dictated by a price tag.  They’re often referred to as a ballbusters, broads, and/or bitches.

Why?

Because they’re the women who throw convention out the window.  They choose their own path and blaze their own trails.  They don’t fit into society’s pretty little princess box because they have a wild, fearless, untamed side and make their own rules.  They don’t drink to get drunk or forget their lives.  They have great lives and enjoy every moment.  When they drink, it’s because they’re savoring the spirit of the moment with a fine spirit and the one they choose is tequila.

The woman who enjoys a quality tequila is the kind of woman who has a quality life – or she’s building one – and she chooses to celebrate every moment.

Look into the eyes of a woman who drinks fine tequila and you’ll see a rare spark of spirit.  She is the maiden, mother and crone, the holy trinity of all that is woman and she knows it.  She is likely a force to be reckoned with.  Watch her and buckle up, bitches, because you can be sure that whatever happens next, she’s running the show.

Here’s to the great broads who don’t settle for less than they deserve!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love yourself and treat yourself to the good stuff today.

You deserve it.

MARGARITA BALLS:

Ingredients
1 box vanilla wafers
8 ounces almonds
4 ounces white chocolate
1/4 cup marmalade
1/4 cup SOAH- Source Of All Happiness Tequila
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons agave syrup

Directions:
Process wafers and almonds until they are very finely ground. Melt chocolate. Mix together remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Add dry mixture and chocolate. Mix well, into stiff dough. Roll into balls, then roll balls in sugar. Store in refrigerator.