Autism existed a long time before there was a name for it. It’s only recently started to be understood.
Autism is a condition that is a huge factor in my family and in a lot of others that I know. Anyone with a relative who has autism has a quirky story or two tell about their autistic friend/relative/or personal experience. The spectrum of Autism is wide ranging to being unable to speak to having more minor issues. Two people with autism can have widely difference issues to deal with. My younger son has autism and it has led him to be a quirky imaginative individual who I wouldn’t trade for a child not on the spectrum.
This blog post is supposed to be about childhood toys. It was actually through toys that I noticed the difference between child and others. My child could do complex puzzles at a ridiculously early age. He could also build Legos into intricate structures especially if he saw a video on it once. While my older son had been an early speaker my younger child conveyed his ideas non verbally through pictures or hand motions. He’s 13 now and an amazing teen who can tell you to the brushstroke where a company changed their logo. LOL!
There is so much we still don’t know about autism. Through study and research hopefully we can find a way to help those with autism lead productive lives. My younger son is considered high functioning autistic but his difficulties focusing and understanding social cues will follow him for his entire life. The best we can do is love and guide him and hope we can give him the skills to be able to cope with the realities of life.
This is where I should probably boost a new book but I don’t have anything new out. I do have a lot of ideas in the words so stay tuned. However if you’d like a free read to check out my writing style here is a link to my AmazonBN or Smashwords pages.
CONTEST:
$20.00 amazon GC for one person picked by next Saturday. What was your favorite childhood toy.
Comicon has come to Seattle. I’m spending most of today and Sunday there. I’m always inspired when I come into contact with so many creative people. Story ideas are bouncing around like rubber balls, each daring me to try and catch them while percolating thoughts try to tempt me from my current paths, However, I am determined to finish the books I’ve started. Of course that doesn’t stop me from sketching a quick idea down or two. A superhero book might come into being or a magical portal library has been spinning into creation. We’ll see. The important thing is I’m getting back my inspiration.
What inspires you? What gets your creative wheels spinning? Enter your favorite creativity sparker and one of you lucky winners will receive two free backlist ebooks of mine…your choice. Of course if you are a super reader you can always pick a future one, but I make no promises on publication date. Happy Friday!!!
Boxed set of Previously Released Cowboy Lovin series
Tyler’s Cowboy (book 1)
When Tyler runs to his injured brother’s side, he doesn’t know it’s his brother’s partner that will take all his attention.
Tyler has three problems. His brother, Baron, was injured, his job sucks and Baron’s straight partner, Cody, is the hottest piece of ass he’s seen in a long time.
When jealousy lifts its ugly head, Tyler learns that all problems have a solution if you can only corral yourself a hot cowboy.
Robert’s Rancher (book 2)
Sometimes you don’t know what you’re looking for until you find it. Robert Hawthorne is lonely. After years of looking for the right guy, he’s almost ready to give up until a car accident leads to meeting Glen King.
Glen is furious when the owner of the ranch he was working for sells without giving Glen a chance to buy him out. Promises had been broken, and Glen snatches at the opportunity for a job with his cousin at a new ranch.
When the two men meet sparks fly but a misunderstanding has Glen leaving just as things start to go well for their romance. Will Glen come to his senses or will he let the best thing that ever happened to him slip
If you have previously purchased these titles, please email Sheri at authoraccomplice@gmail.com with proof of purchase and preferred format choice and she will send you an updated copy.
My husband texted me this morning to inform me that it was International Women’s Day. To my shame I was unaware of it until his text. That got me to thinking about how much I take women’s rights for granted. I’ve never lived at a point in time where women in the United States can’t vote or get an education or aren’t given the same rights (at least on paper) as other citizens in our country. Women in some other countries are still struggling for equal rights.
Wikipedia has an excellent breakdown of the origins of this day (check it out here). The first National Women’s Day was celebrated in 1909 in New York promoted by the Socialist Party of America.
There are many ways that women are suppressed but we should take a moment today to think about how far we’ve come and celebrate the people who have helped us get here. While we have a long way to go for equal rights for everyone, each accomplishment should be acknowledged along the way.
The goal is to have the book out this month. *crossing fingers* Great cover though right?
Snippet: (unedited. I thought I would warn you.)
The chiming ring pulled him from his foggy haze
enough for him to lift his head.
“Ignore it.” Jaks cupped the back of Quentin’s
head and pulled him into another passionate embrace. “They’ll stop calling.”
“Mmhmm.” Quentin allowed Jaks to pull him into
another kiss but a little doubt winnowed into his head. It was awfully early
for a phone call.
The ring began again. Quentin ripped himself
away from Jaks. “I-I’ve just got to see who it is.”
Jaks groaned but didn’t try to stop him. He
flailed his hand out and swept his phone from the side table. “Grevin?”
“I thought he was nocturnal.”
“He is. All necromancers are.” In all the time
he’d known him Grevin had never called him during the day. As he contemplated
returning the phone call a text appeared.
Help 666.
“Oh crap.
Jaks leaned over Quentin’s shoulder to read the
text. “Shouldn’t that be 911.”
“No. We have a series of codes. 666 means
something went wrong with a demon summoning.” A chill sank into Quentin’s
stomach. He pulled up Grevin’s name and pushed the call button.
It rang.
Then rang some more.
Quentin bit his lip as the phone continued to
ring on his end with no one picking up on the other.
“We know he was close enough to the phone to
call you.” Jaks rubbed Quentin’s shoulders as if sensing his mounting tension.
“Unless he called from his watch.”
“He still could’ve picked up with it.”
“True.”
The call disconnected. Quentin threw the phone
on the bed. “I’m going over there.”
“I’ll come with.” Jaks slid out of bed before
Quentin could say anything.
Not that he would argue. If something weird had
happened at Grevin’s place he would prefer to have a kickass vampire at his
side especially if there were any demons.
The icy floor froze Quentin’s bare feet. He
shivered as he dressed in his best demon battling outfit of worn jeans and a
cozy long sleeved shirt. Chattering teeth wouldn’t impress a demon any more
than his battered sneakers.
If his current life trend continued he might
have to look into getting a badass outfit and personal soundtrack to make his
hero entrance complete. If nothing else it would make Jaks laugh.
They dressed in silence. Quentin grabbed some of
his spell balls hoping he wouldn’t need them.
“Are those the improved ones?” Jaks asked nodding
to the balls.
“The stronger cage ones and a new one I’ve
developed.”
“What does it do?”
Quentin smiled, flattered that Jaks showed true
interest in his work. “It sets things on fire once activated.”
“That could be dangerous,” Jaks frowned. “You
don’t want to start a wildfire.”
He shook his head. “No it a magical flame. It
will only burn things I tell it to since it will be linked to my magic.”
“Why did you create those?”
“I’m trying to look into binding various
elements. These are good for taking down zombies I don’t think they’ll do much
against demons. I’m only bringing them to see if they will work in the field.”
Quentin shoved a bunch of balls into a backpack and a bottle of water he pulled
from the small fridge they kept in the bedroom. He also grabbed a few packs of
blood. He didn’t know how long they would be out and he couldn’t let Jaks take
his blood if he needed all of his energy.
“Good idea to bring provisions. Hopefully we
won’t need them. I prefer tapping straight from the source.”
“I prefer you doing that too.”
They shared a quick kiss before pulling apart
again. Jaks was his personal magnet. If Jaks was near Quentin always gravitated
to him. There were probably entire dissertations over the effect vampires had
on their bonded but Jaks still struggled to understand how he fell in love with
a vampire master to conduct any further research. Some days he still felt like
the naive guy who walked into a vampire coven while reading his notes. It
really was a miracle no one had killed him yet. He hoped to continue the trend.
Winter is starting to fade away bringing spring flowers into bloom. I love this time of year. What is your favorite?
Right now I am working on Quentin 2. I will post a little blurb of it tomorrow.
This month I will be publishing the re-release of the Cowboy Lovin’ stories in one volume this Month. Here is the cover!
Here is an excerpt from Tyler’s Cowboy.
Tyler Remington looked at the head chef
and took another deep calming breath—the three-hundredth deep breath of the
afternoon. So far, his favorite meditation technique had kept him from throwing
his ladle at the man’s head, but his nerves were beginning to unravel and his
right palm would soon have a permanent imprint from his tight grip on the metal
handle.
When he’d been hired on as sous chef to
the famous restaurant entrepreneur Hans Berner, Tyler had been thrilled. After
graduating top of his class, the tough job market had caught him by surprise.
With his school loans weighing him down, any employment had seemed like a dream
come true. Only a few days on the job, he had discovered there was a reason
Chef Berner couldn’t keep any workers.
The man was a complete and total ass.
“You did not add enough garlic to your
soup.” Chef Berner tossed his tasting spoon into the sink, ignoring the messy
splatter he left behind. “You have ruined my recipe.”
Tyler didn’t bother to argue that the
soup was perfect, even though he’d followed Chef Berner’s recipe to the letter
and hadn’t given in to the urge to add fresh rosemary.
It really needed rosemary.
“Yes, Chef.” It wasn’t worth an
argument. What the head chef said was how it was. A well-run kitchen was sort
of like the military. You did what you were told, and if Chef Berner was in
charge, you didn’t ask questions. He hated questions.
After three months, Tyler hated his job.
He hated coming to the fancy hotel every day, and he was ready to slit his
wrists if it would get him out of making the same damn soup twice a day.
Most of all, he hated Berner.
Luckily, it was break time. Under the
sympathetic gaze of his coworkers, who equally despised the chef, he escaped
out the back door for the measly fifteen minutes he had between prep times. He
grimaced at the lovely reek of rotting food from the dumpster, but even the
stench was an improvement over remaining in the kitchen with Berner. He had to
get out of there before he turned Berner into soup. He spent a few minutes in
the fantasy where his coworkers covered up his crime in happy celebration.
Tyler blinked back frustrated tears.
Graduating cooking school should have culminated in reaching his dream, not
creating a nightmare.
He jumped about a foot when his pocket
vibrated.
He pulled his cell phone out of his
pocket and frowned at the unfamiliar number on his caller ID. Great, it was
probably a salesperson. Of course, at this point, he’d talk to anyone who
wasn’t the head chef.
“Hello.”
“Is this Tyler Remington?” a deep
baritone asked. The rich, softly accented voice sent sultry shivers down
Tyler’s spine.
“Yes, I’m Tyler.”
“My name is Cody Stark. I’m your
brother’s partner at the ranch.”
Icy terror made the hand holding the
cell phone shake. “What happened to my brother?” That could be the only
explanation for a total stranger to call him.
He’d never met Baron’s partner, but
he’d heard nothing but good things about the man from his older brother. Baron
always came out to see Tyler. Baron met Cody after Tyler started culinary
school, but Tyler hadn’t been at the ranch since. A fact he now regretted.
“There’s no reason to be too concerned,
but Baron’s horse got spooked and threw him today. He broke his collarbone, a
couple of ribs, and the doctor says there’s some brain swelling. Now, he’s a
tough cowboy and he’s gonna be fine. The only reason I’m callin’ is because
you’re on his emergency contact list and I know your brother would want you to
be informed. So far, he hasn’t regained consciousness, but the doctors are
optimistic. They will need you to sign some paperwork. We can have it faxed
over to you if you can’t make it here.”
Tyler cut off the man’s chatter. “I’ll
be right there.”
Now all he had to do was tell Jack he
was leaving town. His boyfriend never liked it when he wasn’t the center of
attention.
Telling Jack turned out not to be as
big of a problem as he’d thought. His boyfriend had news of his own.
“What do you mean you’re getting
married?” Tyler stared at his lover. He couldn’t think of any other words.
Jack looked away, his handsome face
flushing. “I-I can’t be with you, Ty. I can’t be gay.”
When he showed up at his boyfriend’s
apartment, he’d expected him to be upset and maybe sulk, not give him a damn
wedding invitation. It was funny how he was no longer the owner of Jack’s heart
when Jack decided he wanted kids. Tyler threw the invitation back at him.
“What the fuck was I then, an
experiment? Fuck you! Is that why you didn’t want to go out in public? I
thought you weren’t out at your job. I didn’t know I was your dirty little
secret. I was coming to tell you I had to go out of town because my brother
Baron had an accident, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.” Tyler clenched his hands
into fists to stop from wrapping them around Jack’s traitorous neck.
“Don’t be like that.” Jack put a hand
on Tyler’s shoulder. “I love you, Ty, and I’m sorry about your brother. I know
what he means to you.”
It hurt worse that Jack actually
sounded sincere. Ty angrily shrugged off his ex-lover’s grip. “Love! You don’t
know anything about love. You don’t tell someone you love them, then turn
around and marry someone else.” He waved an irritated hand between them. “This
was scratching an itch while you waited to get married. I don’t ever want to
see you again.”
He was tempted to ask who the girl was,
but he wasn’t that much of a glutton for punishment. He didn’t care. Furious,
more with himself than with his clueless ex-boyfriend, Tyler stomped out of the
apartment. Good thing they hadn’t moved in together. No wonder Jack had avoided
that conversation when Tyler tried to bring it up. Jack had no intention of
taking their relationship to another level.
Hell, they didn’t even have a
relationship. This was turning out to be a banner day. Brokenhearted, Tyler
headed home to pack and go see the only man who still loved him.
