An amazing journey!

Dearest family and friends,



I'm doing it again. Please support me as I take an amazing journey in the fight to end breast cancer! The Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure® is a 60-mile walk over the course of three days. In 2008, my bestest best girlfriend died from breast cancer. She was diagnosed when she had her preliminary mammogram at age 37. This is such a horrible disease. It affects so many people. Women and men are diagnosed each year. If you have a mother, sister, aunt, niece, daughter, father, son, brother, nephew, cousin or grandparent then you understand the importance of stomping out this disease. Won't you help? Won't you take a step with me towards the fight against breast cancer? If its for no other reason than this, everyone deserves a lifetime. Don't delay, donate today! there are several ways you can help me reach my goal.



1.Go to my home page at the Susan G Komen 3 Day for the Cure website and donate there.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2011/General?px=4730646&pg=personal&fr_id=1772

2.Mail in your donation using the Donation form available on my participate page

3.Join my ‘Mile High Club’, ask me how.

No matter how you donate or how much it will count towards the fight against breast cancer.

Thanks
Denise

Chaos

Oh wow! My mind is boggled at the time that passed since my last blog entry. I'm not sure what happend. No, that's not true. I am fully aware of what happened. Life happened and because my life has been so crazy over the past months, I've renamed it chaos. So, when you hear me talking about chaos, I'm talking about my life. Lets see, where should I start. Work, family, writing, family, work, writing. Okay, maybe not so much of the writing. I haven't gotten too much of the writing done. I really need to get back on the boat before my readers toss me into the deep end of the ocean. LOL. Naw, I don't think they'll do that. I have wonderful readers and author friends who are very supportive and totally understandable when chaos gets in the way. I did attend Author's After Dark in August in Philadelphia, PA. Totally awesome and I can't wait to go to New Orleans next year. Romance Slam Jam will be hosted by Little Rock, AK in 2011. Can't wait to go there as well. This year was in Baltimore, MD, my old stomping ground. Such memories. I love visiting places I haven't been to before. So Little Rock, here I come. I've been to New Orleans but it was back in the 80's. I know, such a long time. I can't wait. My hubby, Leon, even said he'd like to join me. Now that will be a treat. I've had some really great things happen lately as well as the stressful stuff. Alexis Ke's newest release, Invisible Love hit the e-book circuit this week and should be in print very quickly. Its in the 'What White Boyz Desire' anthology with Bridget Midway, Yvette Hines, Aliyah Burk and Kelley Nyrae. Also Alexis has another book release scheduled for November 1 with Red Sage. The Shadow Box. Both are IR erotic romances and totally hot. I'm hoping to stay on this trail and keep up the writing. Hopefully, I can keep chaos at bay and get it done.

A Hurricanes ah comin!

What a week, what a week! First we had an earth quake registering 5.8. A first of this magnatude in the state of Virginia since the 1800s. We have had smaller tremors but most people don't remember them. Who would? And now we have the storm of the century bearing down on us and the entire east coast is in a freazy. I'm guessing a 700 mile wide catagory 2-3 hurricane, who they've so nicely named Irene, could make you nervous. Shoot, I'm nervous. Irene is coming up from the south while another storm front is coming down from the north. Put all of that in a pot and what do you get when two storms collade with one carrying cool air and the other carrying warm. You got it, the perfect storm. The only problem, we are so not prepared for this. And I don't think we ever will be. Which takes me to my next thought. Conspiracy theory. Now don't get me wrong. Mother Nature has been very pissed at the world this year. From earth quakes to heat waves with 120 plus temperatures to brush fires bellowing smoke across multiple states to dust storms to floods. What's a person to do? Now there is the perfect storm heading your way. Batteries-yes. Non parishable food-yes. water-yes. Flash lights-yes. Cars filled with gas-yes. Did I miss anything. Oh yeah, my bottle of wine. Hey, somethings gotta keep me happy when the power goes out. Could Mother Nature be dealing with the secret leaders of the conspiracy theorist to make us spend money. The store shelves are empty. The pumps have dried up. Yes, I think Mother Nature made a deal with someone and we are paying the price. Hopefully she will repay us for kicking up the economy by leaving us alone.

Remembering Leslie (LA Banks)

As I stand in front of my book shelf and stare at the multitude of books catching dust, I pause and run my fingers across a few of the many books I have by LA Banks. From her Rivers of the Soul 1991 were she signed it 'sisters of the soul' to her Vampire Huntress series to her cop books. Each book, just like Leslie has a special place in my heart.
I remember when we first met. It was my very first Romance Slam Jam conferance in Raliegh-Durham NC. I was traveling with Felicia Mason who'd hipped me onto the conferance and was wondering through the hotel meeting and greeting readers and fellow authors.
She walked up to me, introduced herself and asked me about myself. After my tiny bip blurb she grabbed me, hugged me and convinced me that selling one book or 10k was fantastic when we are doing something we love. She told me to keep on writing and to never stop. A multitude of knowledge went into those words.
Leslie is one of the most prolific authors I know, always paving the way for the person walking with her and always paying it forward.
Even though we talked more via email than phone, it was a treat if you could actually get her on the phone, each time was special. From just catching up to seeking info on poisons. I remember calling her in the distant past, fussing, when Damali grew fangs. She laughed and only said, sista, finish the book, to earlier in the year telling her I was gonna be in Philly for the Author's After Dark Con in August, hoping she'd come out. She will be with me in my heart and soul forever.
Leslie Esdaile Bank aka LA Banks aka Leslie Banks will be forever loved, forever remembered, forever missed.

Making Lemonade

I keep chanting to myself that old saying, when life gives you lemons make lemonade. I'm making a large five gallon jug right now. Don't get me wrong. My cup will always be half full but right about now, my cup is so tired I think me could cry. LOL. Now seriously, how often do we run, run, and run some more and when we stop we can't rest because the mind continues to run and filter in all of the things you should be doing instead of resting. Between family drauma and work, I'm threatening to get in my car, head west and don't look back. I'm gonna stop by the local police station and let them know, when I'm reported missing, I am not missing, I know exactly where I'm at. So how is that for planning. If I could multiply myself and hire an assistant that would help. I've got a family reunion coming up and guess who's playing hostess. That's right, ME! No biggie. Its probably the least of my worries. Maybe I won't feed them. Yeah right. On the other hand, if I don't get caught up at work I might have to change my address to my place of employment. I've got a tee shirt that says, 'Contents Under Pressure,' I wonder how long I can wear it before someone makes me take it off. Oh well, I digress. I'm gonna keep on plugging, popping tylenol and hugging my sleep pillow when I can. Hopefully the lemonade won't last too long.

Writings da' Bomb!

Don't you hate it when a good thing has to come to an end. I spent this weekend, Thursday through Sunday at the Chesapeake Romance Writer's Spring Retreat. What a fantastic experience. This isn't my first retreat with them but it certainly has been my most productive. While the attendance was down from the previous years it was still a huge success. Eleven of us, writers converged on Chanco on the James in Spring Grove, Virginia (in the forest) on Thursday afternoon. We lodged in the Watson Lodge, a huge eight bedroom house, three levels with eight bedrooms. Sleeps 20 people. A wonderful set up with no television, no phones and very and I do mean very limited cell and internet reception. Each writer came with different backgrounds, different concepts and different goals. We even had an aspiring ten year old join us this year who turned out to be very determined in getting the job done. She come with goal of writing 20 pages and completed the weekend with a total of 35. Wow. there were goals of perfecting the query letter and pitch with someone who was headed to the Romance Writer's National Conferance in two weeks and she had editor and agent appointments, someone else had the goal of finishing the edits to her latest work, another had the goal of writing something, anything. She'd just gotten back into the writing groove and was looking for some inspiration. I had the goal of getting started on a new story that came to me as I was selling my books at the West Orange street fair in New Jersey, this past Memorial day weekend. I wanted ot make a good dent in it. The dent went out the window. I totalled that baby. I finished the story! It's a novella and it topped out at 110 pages, but wow! Happy dance time. Everyone got what they came for this weekend. The writing atmosphere was so intense and every one met their goals. We topped off with 1,128 pages completed collectively by the 11 people who attended. How's that for butt in chair and hands on key board!

Yeah for June!

Whew! I am glad the month of May is over and done. What a stressful month. From bathroom explosions and plumming issues to hubby having a car accident and totaling his car. We all just thank God he was not injured. He misses his car, his baby. Material as it is, he'll get another one soon. I've been hitting the street fair and craft show circuit and loving every minute of it. A few weeks ago I was in Chesterfield Virginia at the Chesterfield Public Library Author and Craft show and then Langley Air Force Base for their spring bazaar. At both I sold some books and got some new friends and readers. What more can an author ask for. Memorial Day weekend I spent time in New Jersey at the West Orange street fair. Had a blast. Sales were good and met a man passing by who stopped to chat and talk about my books. I've dubbed him Italianlicious. Because he was just that. He has inspired a story out of my alter ego Alexis Ke. Got started on it today. Already ten pages down in a couple of hours. I love it when stories come to me like that. She's gonna have fun. I also found out today that 'The Shadow Box', another Alexis story will be released in November at Red Sage. Well, I guess, if I put all of the stress, good and bad in one hat, maybe May wasn't so bad after all.