Last chance to get Alters, Book One of the “Lola, Party of 8” series FREE!
FREE “sale” ends July 3! Meet Lola and her seven zany alter egos: A patient at the Rosewood Hospital for Mental Wellness, Lola struggles to cope with Dissociative Identity Disorder—or as she calls the many egos, alters. Their names are Maria, Tim, Clare, Zoe, Frog, Rabbit, and Samantha—all ranging in age, gender, and with wildly different personalities. But with five women and two men battling to live their lives through Lola, it’s only a matter of time before someone wins… Therapy sessions threaten the survival of the group… With the help of Lola’s therapist, she’s able to better understand the many personalities living in her head. They are like life-long friends, and their presence is all Lola has ever known. Without them, she’d be in this big world all by herself, and that is even more paralyzing than the alternative her doctor has suggested—merge all seven personalities into one, dominant Lola. Fifty-one years is long enough… With release from the hospital coming up fast, Lola’s alters scramble to prevent being erased. But after fifty-one years of hosting their lives while struggling for her own—when will it be her turn to live? Lola has to consider life outside of the institution. Friends, a job, and maybe even romance—how will she function with so many people making choices for her? As her first act of independence, Lola must decide. Will she live the rest of her life as herself, or as Lola, party of eight? *** Alters (Lola, Party of Eight Series Book 1) by Erin Lee Link: https://amzn.com/B01CZ1JP8Y When you’re done with Alters, check out Host, book two in the series:
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Modern women can do it all.
It’s supposed to be a statement expressing female empowerment, but lately this sentiment feels more like a prison sentence. All around me, I see women struggling with this conviction, wallowing in self-doubt, frustration, and perfectionistic tendencies. The media, articles, and other women tell us we are strong and capable. We can handle it all—a family, a career, children, our health, our social lives—with stereotypical womanly smiles on our faces. Succeeding in all areas of our lives is not only possible; it’s necessary to achieve life satisfaction. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for woman power. I’m all for the idea I can pursue any career path I want, that I am respected and valued in society. I’m all for goal-setting, dream achieving, and self-fulfillment. I’m just not sure if the “we can do it all” mentality is actually helping me achieve any of those. The Expectation for PerfectionThe problem with the “we can do it all” concept is that it’s so closely related to perfectionist tendencies. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen society’s expectations for perfect mothering come to light in the news. From the criticism poured out online over the Disney gator attack to the Cincinnati gorilla incident, it seems like the entire world expects mothers to be perfect. Certainly all mothers strive to be the best they can be, as they should, but social judgements and expectations can leave many feeling the pressure. I’ve talked to enough moms to know motherhood is challenging—there's no such thing as perfection, no matter what society tells us. Still, so many are left feeling lackluster because of the high standards society tells us we must live up to. If you don’t have kids? The pressure’s still there, just in a different form. The 2016 woman doesn’t—or can’t—stop at motherhood, though. The expectations for perfection continue into the workplace. We must strive to climb the ladder, regardless of our selected career choice. We are expected to further our education, go after the promotion, or better our career pathway all while maintaining our family. It doesn’t matter if you’re genuinely satisfied with your position. Women who don’t go after these things are often perceived as unmotivated or not taking advantage of opportunity. Add to the motherhood and career expectations the standards for health and beauty, and you’ve got yourself a perfect concoction of stressors. The media tells us we must work to disintegrate our love handles, blast away the muffin top, and eat the perfect balance of fruits and vegetables. Ice cream on a summer night, or *gasp* takeout for dinner? Where’s your motivation? Thus, the “we can do it all” mentality ultimately leads to an incessant, almost impossible juggling act. Instead of "we can do it all," the sentiment seems to have shifted to "we must do it all perfectly." Those who haven't achieved this standard--which, in truth, is probably most of us--face criticism from society and from ourselves. What Female Empowerment Should MeanAs with so many things in life, being a self-fulfilled, happy woman in 2016 requires a knowledge of your true desires. You can do it all… but that doesn’t mean you have to. Further, if you do decide to do it all, it doesn’t mean you have to hold yourself to unrealistic, perfect standards. Women in 2016 are strong, multi-tasking go-getters. We can pursue our desires. We can go after big dreams. We can live multi-faceted lives. That’s a beautiful thing. However, we shouldn’t let the “we can do it all” ideal tear us down or force us to pursue lives we don’t want to claim. Female empowerment is not about forcing us into hectic lives with crazy restrictions and standards. In fact, it should be the exact opposite. Thus, the true statement we should be striving to achieve is: Modern women can live the lives they seek. Women CAN do it all... but it doesn't mean we have to. Lindsay Detwiler is the author of three contemporary romance novels includingVoice of Innocence, Without You, and Then Comes Love. She is also a high school English teacher in her hometown. She lives with Chad (her junior high sweetheart), their five cats, and their mastiff Henry. You can find out more about Lindsay atwww.lindsaydetwiler.com, www.facebook.com/lindsayanndetwiler, or on Twitter @LindsayDetwiler. What inspires you to write?
Pretty much anything; music, something I witnessed at the coffee shop, something that happened at work, dreams, pictures, words…there is an infinite source for writing inspiration in the world around us. Tell us about your writing process. I’m a pantser who plans the bare minimum (and even that is often changed as I write). I just sit at the computer and let my brain and my fingers take me where they may. It sounds weird but it works most of the time. I seem to be very productive when I write at my favorite coffee shop. I think the noise around me, the human ebb and flow just stimulates my imagination. Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters? I talk to my characters ALL the time as if they really exist, which of course they do even if only in my head 🙂 I especially enjoy “discussing” things with them when I am stuck. The characters are often the ones who create the next step in my stories. I guess writing is a very special kind of madness, LOL. Who are your favorite authors? I have so many, but on the top of the list I have to put Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Agatha Christie, J.K. Rowling, Kate Morton, Victoria Aveyard, and Mary E. Pearson. How did you decide how to publish your books? I have always wanted to be traditionally published so I decided to try it again (I had tried it many years ago). To my shock and delight I was picked up by a publisher shortly after I began submitting my novel. Self-publishing scares me a little, so going the traditional way is a bit like having a safety blanket. What do you think about the future of book publishing? I can only hope that book lovers keep growing and that the business never disappears. It will obviously change with the times, but I think people will always need that escape, that time and space travelling device that is literature in one form or another. What genres do you write? Romance, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction What formats are your books in? eBook, Print Buy at: US - http://amzn.to/1WcUQMa UK - http://amzn.to/24tQinU AU - http://bit.ly/1ra7IsG CA- http://amzn.to/25HWKu0 Social Links Blog: https://catarinadeobidos.wordpress.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/TichaB Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14883335.Natalina_Reis Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lisboeta62/ Tumblr: http://lisboeta1.tumblr.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authornatalinareis/ Excerpt from We Will Always Have the Closet “Hmph.” She felt herself bump into someone. Her first instinct was to run out, but her common sense dictated she stay put. If she left the closet, Jonas would catch her red-handed, and she was not going to give him the satisfaction. It was pitch dark in the oddly small closet and she couldn’t see who was behind her. But she could feel his hard body crushed against hers, his muscle tight against her softness. She tried to make room between them but to no avail. Unsettled, she wiggled in vain, trying to put some space between them. The empty hangers swung by her head and she reached up to stop the ensuing rattling. Who made such a tiny closet? Strong hands spun her around until she was facing the stranger. “Don’t say anything,” the male voice whispered in her ear. His warm breath on the side of her face sent an irrational shiver of pleasure through her. Her forever curious hands, caught between their bodies, moved of their own accord to explore the stranger’s sculptural hard muscles in unabashed awe. “Get a grip, you idiot,” she chided herself in a soft, but audible voice. “Are you nuts?” the man whispered. “Do you want to be caught?” They both stiffened at the approaching sound of high heels clicking on the wooden floors. It was not Jonas after all. “Maybe I don’t care if I get caught,” she spat in an annoyed whisper. “Well, you did hide in this freakishly small closet, didn’t you?” he said by her ear, sending shivers down her spine once again. “Can you move away a bit?” “Don’t you think I would if I could?” she replied, getting more irritated by the second; mostly with herself since her body seemed to be enjoying the close quarters a lot more than she felt was appropriate. She tried to wiggle her body away from his, succeeding instead at an even more intimate contact. By the feel of the hardness growing against her hip, he was also obviously enjoying their closeness. “Could you please control your loins?” she hissed between her teeth. “Loins? Really? Who says that nowadays?” He chuckled quietly, touching her ear with his lips. A soft moan escaped her lips as a frisson of pure pleasure ran through her. What kind of magic was this? “I am not the one who is rubbing herself against my so-called loins so just stop it and they will behave.” |
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