Smell Those Effing Roses, Baby #inspiration

As usual on a gloomy, rainy morning, I sat in gridlocked traffic with my friendly slugs. Somehow, our conversation morphed into one of my regular riders mentioning how his former poker buddies were impressed with how well he's settled into his new life: new house, great job, nice things.

Ahh, to be young, unmarried, and kidless. (Nope, can't really imagine that being a good life. Despite all my crazy, hectic, hair-pulling schedules and issues, I wouldn't trade my family in for anything.)

Since I'm usually one to offer bullsh*t advice to almost strangers, I said to him, "You should be impressed and happy with yourself, too. Stop and smell the roses every once in awhile."

"Nah," he said, "Maybe when I own more, bigger, better."

Ha. (For those who know me well, you know what's coming: a cheesy piece of real life experience.) "I mean it. It's okay to want more, growth, but one day when shit falls apart you won't have any good memories to pull you through because you never stopped and said, 'Damn, I've done good.'"

Stop trying to correct my grammar. It was conversation.

Of course, when I offer advice to unsuspecting victims—I mean slugs—I look inward. Make sure I'm following my own wisdom.

I realized I wasn't. I hardly ever do.

My poor friend Susie listens to me lament almost daily about how I suck as an author, how my books are no good, how I'm no good, how I'm an imposter. She usually reminds me by saying something like, "Krystal, you've been published three times, have a ton of amazing reviews, have adoring fans, just snagged an agent for your newest book, and you're being considered by editors of the Big Houses. Seriously?"

Then I feel stupid, like I was fishing for compliments. Although, I wasn't. I want more, bigger, better. (Imagine me saying that in a dreamy voice with stars in my eyes, k?)

Maybe I need to stop and smell the roses. Maybe I need to live in these amazing moments and commit them to memory. One day shit will hit the fan. Something bad always happens. But without any good memories, how will I pull through?

Do you ever forget to pause and reflect? To say, "Damn, I've done good"?

Get out there and smell those roses.

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Today is #huganauthor Day @camphalfblood

Today is Author Appreciation Day (aka #huganauthor day) hosted by Susie Levine.

Most casual readers don't understand how important ratings and reviews are to an author's career, especially in this day and age where there are so many authors and books and new ways to purchase stories. When you get to the end of a book on your Kindle (or other reading device), make sure you hit the stars you think that story deserves, and SHARE IT.

This helps us immensely!

Now, today I'm going to hug Rick Riordan. Why? Or why didn't I chose an Indie author, you ask? Well, because I finished reading a book yesterday that totally pissed me off. Yes, I was still mad even after I ate cupcakes, went for a jog with Kid #1, ate ice cream, and watched Vampire Diaries.

If none of that could make me feel better, you'd probably figure I was doomed. But I picked up a book I had around the house and hadn't yet read (I have a bunch of these. I'm so far behind.), and one line--the very first line--put a big smile on my face.

"Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day."

I knew this book wouldn't be full of smut. I knew this book was packed full of adventure. I knew this book was appropriate for its intended audience. I knew because I've read so many of his books before. So, today, on #huganauthor day, I went out and rated his book on Amazon and wrote a snippet of a review. Sure, you can argue that he probably doesn't need it, but I needed him. I needed his words.

And that's what reading is all about.

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Author Appreciation Day #huganauthor

Susie Levine is hosting a great blog hop to celebrate authors! Why? Well, she realizes how important reviews are to authors. How without the ratings, without the few sentences from a happy reader, that it makes it harder for a new reader to come along and snatch up the book. Really! How many times have you seen a book on Amazon and not purchased it because it didn't have enough reviews?

Below, you'll find a link back to her original post and the sign-up code.

Make sure you write a review for a book you've read, loved, and never mentioned to your friends or family or Goodreads. Post it on your blog. On Amazon. On Shelfari. Wherever you like to rant and rave.

Authors are sometimes insecure and need of a pick-me-up. So hug them!

HUG AN AUTHOR - Susie Levine

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SOAP for President #vlogoff

Hey, Everyone!

Today is the first ever VLOGOFF. Just a few authors looking to have a little friendly competition. Hey, we're creative, right? Who says all we can do is talk about books? (Though, feel free to talk about my books all you like; I don't mind.)

Anyway, this week's crazy topic was SOAP. If you love my video, make sure you vote for it by commenting. Visit the other authors' blogs, watch their videos, and comment on those if you like them better (Bonnie Paulson, Kristina Circelli, Debra Kristi, Johanna Pitcairn, Verity Linden).

The person with the most votes by Monday wins! And the winner chooses next week's topic. No fame or glory here. Only good old-fashioned fun.

Enjoy the video! And a special thank you to Susie Levine (www.susreviews.blogspot.com) and Kimberly Glenn for providing their ridiculously cheap acting skills to my quest for world laughter. Love you guys!

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The Re-Introduce Myself Blogfest

Thanks to Susie Levine for spotting Wilde's Fire on Stephen Tremp's blog (thanks to you, too, Stephen!), I'm now participating in this amazing blogfest.

I'm supposed to tell you a bit about myself. I don't like talking about myself, really, but here goes:

I'm 28 (4 times over), am married, have three amazing children, and own a whole herd of pets. My real name is not Krystal Wade. I may as well tell you all that it's Krystal Dehaba. Wooo. Big secret. Honestly, my biggest regret in my writing career has been to take on a pen name. Mostly because I feel like I lost me when I took it on. Now that we have THAT out of the way . . .

I am a political account jack-of-all-trades by day and mother, wife, and writer by night. Meaning no insult to my day job, I prefer the mother/wife/writer. I'd love that to be full time, but alas, it has yet to pay . . . well. I live in the culturally and historically rich state of Virginia and have been here since 1997. Before, I lived in a place that shall-not-be-named. Long-time readers of my blog can probably figure that out.

Speaking of the blog, I quite honestly don't know what mine is about anymore. I started it to share pieces of me with the world. I wrote a lot of short stories about my childhood, a lot of current stories from my every day life, and a bunch of flash fiction. Then I did a shameful amount of self-promotion. Then I did a lot of nothing. Then I shared the promotional love. Now, I mostly just post about my kids or things I've done with my family over the weekend.

I miss my flash fiction. People seemed to like it. Maybe I'll do some more of that in 2013. Or maybe I'll try to write more books.

By the way, I've written three (SELF-PROMO!!). But this year I'm really struggling to write. I've always enjoyed allowing my creative side to roam into blue fields of tan butterflies (???), but there is a story I need to write that's making me question what kind of writer I really want to be. Do I want to continue with fiction? Or do I write the very real, very painful story of my teenager years as a piece of fiction for the world to see? What do I want the world to learn from Krystal Wade--err, Dehaba?!

What does the world want from me?

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Live Interview with Susie

So, as many of you know, Wilde's Meadow releases November 5th!

Last week, I sat down with Susie Levine (from Reviews by Sus), and we had a fun chat about what you should expect from the last book in my Darkness Falls trilogy.

Hopefully you'll enjoy this interview as much as we did!



Happy endings are hard to find, and even though Katriona is in the middle of a war with someone who’s already stolen more than she can replace, she aches for a positive future with her Draíochtans.

Armed with hope, confidence in her abilities, and a strange new gift from her mother, Kate ventures into the Darkness to defeat a fallen god.

Losses add up, and new obstacles rise to stand in the way. Is the one determined to bring Encardia light strong enough to keep fighting, or will all the sacrifices to stop those who seek domination be for nothing?

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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