Dear Donny

I know it's been a long time since I've written. Sorry about that, but you see during this time I've been doing a lot of things. One of them is growing up. And because of that, again, I must apologize. For you see, sometime during that process I denied you. I laughed at the thought of loving you .... made snide remarks about you too. I guess you could say I was embarrassed. But don't feel alone - you had good company. Remember Barry Manilow? Yeah, him too. Anyway, my friend Lis sent me this and, combined with your wonderful sense of humor on Dancing With the Stars, I am again reminded that you hold a piece of my heart - that little girl inside of me will always love you.


With Love,
Bailey


P.S. And they called it Puppy Love

Random Thoughts From People Our Age

I got these from my friend Angie!

- I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

- More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can't wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that's not only better, but also more directly involves me.

- Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

- Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.

- I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

- Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the "people you may know" feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?

- There is a great need for sarcasm font.

- I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really, really gets it.

- How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

- I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

- I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

- The only time I look forward to a red light is when I'm trying to finish a text.

- I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

- How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

- Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using 'as in' examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss's last name to an attorney and said "Yes that's G as in...(10 second lapse)..ummm...Goonies"

- What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?

- MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

- I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.

- Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

- I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

- Bad decisions make good stories

- If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

- Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem....

- You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything productive for the rest of the day.

- There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.

- I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.

- "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

- I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

- As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.

- Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

- It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.

- I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

- Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it.

- Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

- My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

- It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.

- I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

- I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

- I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

Mommie

November 15, 1928 - October 14, 2006

Daddy

May 31, 1922 - October 11, 2000

Meet Shayla Black

Shayla Black is the national bestselling author of 25+ sizzling contemporary, erotic, paranormal, and historical romances for multiple print and electronic publishers. She lives in Texas with her husband, munchkin, and one very spoiled cat. In her “free” time, she enjoys reality TV, reading and listening to an eclectic blend of music.
Shayla has won or placed in over a dozen writing contests, including Passionate Ink’s Passionate Plume, Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence, and the National Reader’s Choice Awards. Romantic Times has awarded her Top Picks, a KISS Hero Award and a nomination for Best Erotic Romance of 2007.




Doomsday Brethren Series, Book 2 — Caden & Sydney
Publisher: Pocket Books
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy Romance
ISBN-10: 1416578447
ISBN-13: 9781416578444
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Amazon
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Download ebook:
Kindle
Barnes and Noble


A Short Interview with Shayla

BS: Why romance?

SB: It’s always been romance for me. My grandmother used to tell me that I was born to be married because all I ever thought about was romance, and I was spinning stories from a very early age. I love dealing with the deepest emotions and writing about people who connect on a level that lasts forever.

BS: Who was your inspiration?

SB: Tough question… I don’t have any one person or thing. Over the years, there have been good books that inspired me and not-so-good books that made me believe it wasn’t impossible to get published. There are friends and family members who gave me a shove or two. Then there were fans to encourage me. Around all that, there’s always been music. A good song that connects with me on an emotional level is a great muse.

BS: My readers are always interested in what authors read - who is/are you autobuys?

BS: It’s not always an author for me, as much as a book or series. My keeper shelf is filled with 1 or 2 titles from a variety of authors. I may have read other works by them, but I didn’t love them all the way I loved the one I kept. Favorite books of all time include: LUCKY’S LADY by Tami Hoag, MINE TO TAKE by Dara Joy, MIDNIGHT AWAKENING by Lara Adrian, WILD CARD by Lora Leigh, VELVET GLOVE by Emma Holly, TRIPLE PLAY by Rhyannon Byrd, ECLIPSE by Stephanie Meyer and THE WINDFLOWER by Laura London.

BS: Where did you get the idea for this book?

SB: When I started piecing together the idea for book one in the Doomsday Brethren series, TEMPT ME WITH DARKNESS, I tried pairing it up with an idea I’d had years ago that I couldn’t finish. Both books were ideas that I just couldn’t nail down. But when I put them together and gave them the backbone of the series, suddenly I had a ton of ideas about how to complete both the first book and SEDUCE ME IN SHADOW. Another author friend helped me plot and listened to me deliberate over varying paths over numerous lunches, and so here we are today!

BS: What is your favorite scene in this book and why?

SB: There are several scenes that make me giggle, make me emotional, make me think about all the directions I could take this series. But I think my favorite scene in this book is the one in which they both finally commit to each other. It’s in a difficult time and in a very unusual location, but in that moment they are finally connected to each other for good, and there’s nothing like the rush of a good HEA for me.

Thanks for having me!

Want to read the first chapter? Click here.

Visit Shayla at her website ...

Who is Shayla Black?

Come back on Friday and find out ......

Today ....

Is National Alzheimer's Day

All of the facts that I'm about to give you comes from The Alzheimer's Association's website.

Did you know that there are about 3.5 million people with Alzheimer's in the United States. Can you imagine how many there are world-wide?

Did you know that the healthcare costs for people 65 years and older are tripled because of Alzheimer's and dementia related disorders?

Did you know that someone develops Alzheimer's approximately every 70 seconds?

Did you know that the seventh leading cause of death is Alzheimer's?

Did you know that more than $148 billion dollars each year are spent by Medicare, Medicaid and businesses as a direct, and indirect, result of Alzheimer's and other dementias?

Ten Signs of Alzheimer's

1. Memory Changes that disrupt daily life.

2. Challenges in planning or solving problems.

3. Difficulty in completing familiar tasks at home, at work, or at leisure.

4. Confusion with time or place.

5. Trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships.

6. New problems with words in speaking or writing.

7. Misplacing things and losing the ability to retrace steps.

8. Decreased or poor judgement.

9. Withdrawal from work or social activities.

10. Changes in mood or personality.

Risk Factors

(I am going to cut and paste this directly from the site)

Age

The greatest known risk factor for Alzheimer’s is increasing age. Most individuals with the disease are 65 or older. The likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s doubles about every five years after age 65. After age 85, the risk reaches nearly 50 percent.

Family history

Another risk factor is family history. Research has shown that those who have a parent, brother or sister, or child with Alzheimer’s are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. The risk increases if more than one family member has the illness. When diseases tend to run in families, either heredity (genetics) or environmental factors or both may play a role.

Genetics (heredity)

Scientists know genes are involved in Alzheimer’s. There are two categories of genes that can play a role in determining whether a person develops a disease. Alzheimer genes have been found in both categories:

1) Risk genes increase the likelihood of developing a disease, but do not guarantee it will happen. Scientists have so far identified one Alzheimer risk gene called apolipoprotein E-e4 (APOE-e4).
APOE-e4 is one of three common forms of the APOE gene; the others are APOE-e2 and APOE-e3. APOE provides the blueprint for one of the proteins that carries cholesterol in the bloodstream.
Everyone inherits a copy of some form of APOE from each parent. Those who inherit one copy of APOE-e4 have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Those who inherit two copies have an even higher risk, but not a certainty. Scientists do not yet know how APOE-e4 raises risk. In addition to raising risk, APOE-e4 may tend to make symptoms appear at a younger age than usual.
Experts believe there may be as many as a dozen other Alzheimer risk genes in addition to APOE-e4.


2) Deterministic genes directly cause a disease, guaranteeing that anyone who inherits them will develop the disorder. Scientists have found rare genes that directly cause Alzheimer’s in only a few hundred extended families worldwide.
When Alzheimer’s disease is caused by deterministic genes, it is called “familial Alzheimer’s disease,” and many family members in multiple generations are affected. True familial Alzheimer’s accounts for less than 5 percent of cases.
Genetic tests are available for both APOE-e4 and the rare genes that directly cause Alzheimer’s. However, health professionals do not currently recommend routine genetic testing for Alzheimer’s disease. Testing for APOE-e4 is sometimes included as a part of research studies.

I know first hand the toil that Alzheimer's takes not only on the patient, but on the family. After a while the person with Alzheimer's doesn't know any more - but the family does. It's the family that has to watch what I refer to as "the death of the soul". It's the family that, at the end, bears the brunt of the last stages of the disease.

Please, if you know someone who is taking care of an Alzheimer's (or dementia) patient, offer to spell them for an hour; take meals to them; clean their house - do laundry, etc. Anything is a blessing to those taking care of loved ones. For that matter, do this for anyone that is the caregiver of anybody.

I miss you mommie

Died of Alzheimer's October 14, 2006