I Am An Author

Today I am excited to be hosted on the blog of D. E. Haggerty.  It still feels very strange to say, “I am an author”.  

It still feels strange when those words roll of my tongue! I never set out to be an author. As a child I didn’t dream of writing books like those I loved checking out from the library every week. I was going to be a nurse until I realized that being a nurse meant dealing with needles and blood. To read more of my blog post, visit D. E. Haggerty’s blog and read the rest of my guest post.  Please take a moment to leave a comment and thank her for hosting me.

 

My Daughters Were Affected Too

Today is Day 7 of my Rave Reviews Book Club “Spotlight” Author blog tour.  What a week it has been!  I have had the most amazing blog hosts allowing me the opportunity to guest post about myself and Allergic to Life: My Battle for Survival, Courage, and Hope.

I am privileged to be hosted today by Suzy Turner from Fiction Dreams.

My Daughters Were Affected Too

It’s like I don’t have a life any more. My heart aches for my life back. I try to
Make appearances of things being under control but they aren’t. I can’t go
anywhere with the girls (referring to my daughters). I can’t take them shopping
any more. They say they understand, that it is okay, but it is not okay to me. I
want to do things with them again. My life has been taken away from me…My
heart is breaking. I feel like a part of me is missing and that I will never
get it back.

It was hard to cope with what my life had become. I could not fathom how my illness had affected my daughters. I was so wrapped up in my own pain, my own hurt, and trying to survive that I didn’t pay enough attention to how this was affecting my young daughters and their lives….To read more of my guest post, please click on the link above.  Please take a moment to leave a comment as well to thank Suzy for hosting me.

A Common Sense Approach to Overcoming a Medical Crisis

I met Shirley last fall just as Allergic to Life was published.  She contacted me because she also had experienced several horrible health issues.  We connected immediately and it was wonderful to find someone who understood what it was like to have multiple health issues and sensitivities to medications.  We have both since become board members of Rave Reviews Book Club and strengthened our friendship.  

During our conversations Shirley talked about a book she had just published preserving a piece of history among a small catholic community (she is an amazing historian).  She also told me that she one day also wanted to write a book about her own medical issues.

I am pleased today to share Shirley with all of you and an excerpt from her upcoming book.

Shirley Harris-Slaughter
Author and RRBC Member

 

Kathryn, thank you so much for inviting me on a tour of your website. You asked me to talk about my health issues and here is an excerpt from my soon-to-be-released book…

 

“A Common Sense Approach To Overcoming A Medical Crisis”

 

Soon-to-be released Book Excerpt

It all began to spiral out of control around 1991 when my mother passed away. That was the most traumatic time in my life. I watched her go through surgery five years before for cancer and then five years to the day, the cancer returns. The doctors didn’t have any answers that I could see. They just did what they always do—treat the patient with chemo and offer up no real solutions.

I watched her and took care of her from the beginning when she first got the diagnosis to the end when she lay dying in her bedroom down the hall from where I slept. The stress of her ordeal took its toll on me but I didn’t actually get seriously ill until it was all over.

We got the bill from the hospital and it added up to about $200,000. And for what? You couldn’t understand the charges on that long statement. It was just too complicated.

I said to myself, “There has got to be a better way and I’m going to find it.”

I did not know what was lying in wait right around the corner; waiting to grab hold and take me on a long horrible ride.

 

I had a difficult time trying to overcome health issues and I am happy to say I did it and my life is back to some semblance of normalcy. After the entire episode was over, I realized that I needed to do something with my life. I refused to believe that this was it—that it’s over.  And so I got involved in community-related projects, and wrote a book to preserve our community’s history.

I was having conversations all the time about women’s health and people were giving me so many compliments including how gorgeous my hair  is that I was prompted to write a book sharing my tips.

 

A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO OVERCOMING A MEDICAL CRISIS will be available soon!

 

Bio:
Shirley Harris-Slaughter is a community activist having been a school board trustee in the Oak Park School District and mentored four freshmen girls in the Winning Futures Program.  Shirley loves trains, vintage clothes, and old buildings with historic significance. So it was a natural that she would write about growing up in historic Royal Oak Twp. and keep alive a Catholic Community that was about to lose its history and identity. It seems that everything she loved closed down and she was not about to let any of it be forgotten. Shirley joined Rave Reviews Book Club because she recognized the need to support fellow authors in order to move forward in her own endeavors. She already had a thriving relationship with twitter followers including Nonnie Jules, President who was supportive and a mentor; and Kathryn Treat, Board Director. “We all had the same goals so it was a natural fit.” Shirley did a book review on “Allergic to Life” during the formation stages of the book club and was learning how to tweet.

 

Book title:  Our Lady of Victory,  the Saga of an African-American Catholic Community.

Genre: Biography; Narrative History

Available on AMAZON

Twitter Handle: @sharrislaughter

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/sharrislaughter3

Email:   sharrislaughter@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennie Sherwin – In the Spotlight

If you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you are aware of my friend Jennie Sherwin.  Jennie and I first met in Dallas while going through treatment at the Environmental Health Center.  I recently did an interview with Jennie and talked about her book.  When I became a member of Rave Reviews Book Club I invited Jennie to join because I knew she would be a perfect fit.  One of the perks of being a member and an author is the opportunity to be chosen as a Spotlight Author.  I am so excited to say that Jennie’s name was drawn to be Rave Reviews Book Club’s first “Spotlight Author”.  Below is Jennie’s Author Spotlight post.

I want to thank the Members of the Board of the Rave Reviews Book Club for this incredible opportunity to be featured as the club’s first Spotlight Author. You’ve all done a great deal of work to make this club a reality. To Nonnie Jules, Founder and President, thank you for founding the club and giving authors a place to hang their hats among friends. I am also grateful to my longtime friend Kathy Treat, Membership Director, for inviting me to join. Marketing and promotion are challenges for the first-time author. Being selected as the Spotlight Author, who receives marketing and promotion to the social media outlets as well as to print media, is truly a gift from heaven. Last, but not least at all, I send a special thank you to all the bloggers who agreed to host me on their site. I am truly grateful.

I have always loved to read, so it was natural for me to pursue a career where I could share my love of reading with others, which I did as a teacher of English. I liked writing, too, but it took years to hone my craft. I was fortunate to have wonderful mentors. One, in particular, at Random House, the trade publishing company in New York City, literally taught me how to think about writing, always holding the reader in mind and using that focus to sharpen the clarity of my text. My experience at Random House opened the door to a career in pubic health consulting. Working in a busy editorial office on publications for many clients, each with specific needs, gave me the perfect opportunity to gain experience writing or editing books, papers, and articles targeting different audiences at varying reading levels. As a service to all of the writers and editors who might be reading this blog, I’d like to pass along the names of the manuals that I’ve used throughout my career with links to their Amazon pages. They include the Chicago Manual of Style, Words into Type, New Hart’s Rules, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, and Scientific Style and Format.

 

Now to my book: In Intentional Healing…I tell the story of my transformation from a Western-educated woman who worked as a writer and editor in the field of public health to a woman who awakened  to a more Eastern-oriented way of thinking that included a de-emphasis on the individual and ego and an emphasis on collective consciousness and the soul. After bizarre symptoms upended my life, I sought help from Western medicine. No one I consulted could explain what was happening to me. No one, that is, until I met diagnostic detective, Dr. Leo Galland, who tied my symptoms to environmental illness and referred me to a pioneer in environmental medicine, Dr. William J. Rea, in Dallas, Texas, founder of the Environmental Health Center-Dallas. While at the EHC-D, I was introduced to the view held by doctors of environmental medicine that many chronic illnesses are triggered by environmental toxins. During treatment, I unmasked (or became aware of a sensitivity I had not recognized before) for sensitivity to electromagnetic fields. Dr. Rea referred me to Deborah Singleton, founder and director of A Healing Place, and her energy healing team. Energy balancing helped me respond to the treatment program at Dr. Rea’s clinic. With Deborah’s guidance I began the process of expanding my consciousness and understanding the real roots of illness. My journey, which included initiation into Reiki channeling and healing from Navajo hataali, took me from dark nights of the soul to a new way of thinking about illness.

Jennie Sherwin, author and editor

http://jsherwinblog.wordpress.com/

Allergic to Life receives a 5-Star Review

I am excited to share with you a 5-Star review that Allergic to Life just received from Nonnie Jules at Rave Reviews Book Club. I am excited to be a part of this book club. As a group we read the selected book and review it and then post our reviews individually as well. Nonnie Jules posts her own reviews on her own page of the site, Nonnie’s Reviews.  These reviews are separate from the Book Club’s Reviews, Current Book Selection, or Author Spotlights.

I am honored that Nonnie Jules chose my book as one of her books to review on her page.  Please head over and read her review of Allergic to Life.  For those of you are avid readers or authors, joining the club is free and the main membership requirement is to read and review four books during the year.

Rave Reviews Book Club

One of the myriad of things I have been doing this past month is becoming a governing board member of a new Book Club, Rave Reviews Book Club founded by Nonnie Jules.  The club is open to authors and readers alike.  There is no fee to join.  To keep your membership, you must review four books during the course of 2014.

This is a great way for authors to get more spotlight on their works through features and reviews as well as sales, as members purchase the book(s) for review. When someone becomes a member of the club, their book(s) automatically goes into the selection pot.  Then, our Governing Board makes suggestions from that pot and then a vote is taken by the “GB”.  It is also a great place to find new and exciting books to read as well as participate in drawings and giveaways that will be featured throughout the year.

I am excited to be in on the ground floor of what I think will be a great Book Club and look forward to reading and reviewing the books of others.  I have talked many times how books took me away and continue to take me away when things are not going well with me or my health.  It is my intention to continue to highlight a book or author once a month here on my blog.

The Rave Reviews Book Club Governing Board has chosen Daydream’s Daughter, Nightmare’s Friend by author Nonnie Jules as our first book to read and review.

If you want to be a part of this new Book Club please, check out the FAQ’s and Member Information.

Daydream’s Daughter/Nightmare’s Friend

I met the author of this new book a few months ago when I read her first book, The Good Mommies’ Guide to Raising (Almost) Perfect Daughters.  I liked what she had to say and she has been a wonderful supporter of me and my writing and supported Allergic to Life by hosting it on her blog.  DAYDREAM’S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE’S FRIEND is now available and I am giving you a brief introduction to a book that is now on my to be read list.

DAYDREAM’S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE’S FRIEND Book Intro!

Blurb:

“She was one horrible mess.  Always looking over her shoulder, avoiding becoming too friendly with the neighbors, never letting her kids out of her sight for fear of human monsters lurking around corners, waiting to cause them harm.  That anxiety stemmed from her own childhood memories.  Always fearing  that someone would recognize her face, she kept to herself and didn’t go out much.  And when she did, no matter the season, she wore some kind of hat or covering on her head, enough to shield her face.  HE had done this to her even though he was dead now.

Walter never understood why she was such a loner, avoiding  people as much as she could, and just being extremely anti-social outside of the house.  Houston was originally her home, not his, yet she didn’t even want her own family and friends to know that she had returned.  The only person she found herself able to really open up with was him.  And although she tried to make him feel otherwise, he knew that there was still a huge wall up that even he would never be able to see over or climb.

Marisa had a secret and if it was ever discovered, it could cost her her life and her freedom.”

Review:

“I couldn’t put this book down! Every chapter that I read kept me on the edge of my seat, excited about what was to come in the next chapter.  I want more…so hope there’s a sequel! Lifetime Television…watch out for DAYDREAM’S DAUGHTER, NIGHTMARE’S FRIEND.  You’re going to want to turn this script into a movie!”- P.J. Soemer, Book Lover

Trailer:

http://youtu.be/qbUK3XQ5-dA

BUY LINKS:

Nonnie’s Book Store

Coming to Amazon as an e-book, Saturday, November 9, 2013.

Nonnie Jules, Author

“…and her words breathe life onto paper”
If you’re interested in keeping up with this author, please check out the links below!  Thanks for joining us on this collective 25 blog BOOK INTRO!!!
CONTACT: General Blog Parenting Blog Nonnie’s Book Store – Signed Copies & more Twitter:  @nonniejules
BOOKS: “The Good Mommies’ Guide to Raising (Almost) Perfect Daughters,” 100 Tips On Raising Daughters Everyone Can’t Help But Love! www.amazon.com/dp/B00CP62O56 www.createspace.com/4355124

TRAILERS:

“THE GOOD MOMMIES’ GUIDE …”

“Daydream’s Daughter, Nightmare’s Friend”

I AM SICK!

Darn it.  All this gallivanting around from blog to blog must have made me sick.  (No not really).  But I am sick.  My sinuses are so swollen I can’t breathe out of them. I can’t even irrigate because the water just runs back out.  I am making a trip to my ENT tomorrow at the early hour of 7:30 a.m.  I would love to have him squirt something up there to shrink the tissues so I can breathe.  The dilemma with that is that I react to it.  So do I suffer until they calm down or have the squirt of medicine and then take my histamine and Vitamin C until the reaction calms down.  What a horrible decision to have to make.

But I know I won’t put the stuff in my nose but I need a culture done and have him listen to my lungs just to make sure they are still clear.  As soon as my appt. is over I am coming home, putting on my yoga pants and a t-shirt and taking it easy.  I will still be around during the blog tour but maybe not as present as I would like to be.  I have to get better, my book launch party is less than two weeks away and I am making the goodies and still need to get some items purchased for it.

I hope you all have taken the opportunity to go to nonniewrites and  participate in Day 6 of Allergic to Life’s book blog tour.  If not, stop by and leave a message to let her know that you were there.

Indie Author on the Move

Vacation doesn’t start until tomorrow.  Today I learned that author Nonnie Jules, The Good Mommies Guide to Raising (almost) Perfect Daughters has nominated me for the IAOTM award (Indie Author on the Move).  I found Nonnie’s book to be a wonderful guide of ways to help our daughters grow up to be almost perfect.

Nonnie’s Blog, Nonnie Writes,  features a weekly nomination for this award.  I am honored that she has chosen me.  Please check out her blog and her book.