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[image error]About “Between the Waves�� by Ellie Malouff

Sex, suspense, and romance in one enticing tale of former pro surfer Jake Garrant and a mysterious woman who calls herself Audrey Logan.

AUDREY

I moved to a small town on the island of Maui, ready to live out my days on my own and far away from the monster I left back in Chicago.

It was the perfect reset until I needed something more. Someone more.

When I met Jake, the hottest guy in board shorts this side of the island, I started living again. He’s teaching me how to surf, making my toes curl from pleasure, and is the one person I want to let into my world, with one condition��

He can never know my real name.

No one can.

Because if I’m found, I’ll have to give up the life I’m building with Jake.

JAKE

Where did this girl come from?

My life was on a straight trajectory—waking up at dawn, getting my brother off to school, heading to the shop, and watching surfers come and go—until a beautiful woman named Audrey Logan moved to town. She’s guarded and mysterious, but I’m drawn to her in a way I can’t resist.

I’m determined to break down her walls one surfing lesson at a time, in hopes that she’ll stay in Maui and let me love her, come what may.

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My Review:

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Quick, fun, and swoon-worthy

I want my own demi-god-like surfer after reading this book! Jake is so yummy!

You’ll feel like you just took a trip Hawaii after reading this one because Ellie Malouff does such a great job creating the scene.

Such a fun book with well-developed and likable characters! Add this to your TBR!

Learn more about Ellie Malouff

Buy “Between the Waves��

[image error]About “Never Forget (The Safeguarded Heart Book Three)�� by Melanie A. Smith

Just when Serafina Evans seems to have figured out how to make the relationships in her life work, the loose ends she knew might come back to haunt her threaten to unravel it all. But if she’s learned anything from her hardships, it’s how to let the people who care about her in, to trust them, and lean on them to ride out the storm. Until fate deals a hand that changes everything. Sera is smart and resourceful, but that won’t help her now. And she thought she was done safeguarding her heart, but is she? Is she doomed to return to protecting herself from harm or will she find a way to persevere without closing herself off forever?

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My Review:

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“Never forget how much I love you.�� ***squeals***

I loved the first two books in The Safeguarded Heart Series, and the third book lives up to them, if not surpassed.

Melanie A. Smith always provides a beautiful, emotional roller coaster for her readers that we never want to end. She has created characters that I want to revisit again and again. They feel very real, like they could be people I know in my own life. This has been a BEAUTIFUL love story with a super swoon-worthy book boyfriend.

I look forward to reading many more books from Ms. Smith in the future.

Learn more about Melanie A. Smith

Buy “Never Forget�� and the rest of “The Safeguarded Heart�� Series .

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On Saturday my family and I will be attending the Boots & Buckles Benefit which is a fundraiser for a local organization called Refuge Services.

Refuge Services is a non-profit organization that was established in Lubbock in September of 1999. Refuge Services aims to enhance the functioning of individuals, families, and groups. This is achieved by providing opportunities to develop skills for solving problems, overcoming obstacles, and reaching individual as well as group goals. Refuge Services provides Hippotherapy, Therapeutic riding, and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy.

I don’t currently use their services, but once I get a hold of some paperwork, I will be using their Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy Services. I’m a pretty big fan of horses, so I am excited to include this in my treatment plan for my PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression.

I’ve never attended an event like this before. I am excited about it, but also nervous (that anxiety rearing its head).

This upcoming event is the inspiration behind this week’s Write About It Wednesday topic: Fundraisers.

Write about a super-villain crashing a fundraiser gala that a superhero is attending as his/her alter-ego.
Write about a couple having a date night or falling in love at a benefit concert or dinner.
Write about a fundraising event that you have attended.
Write about a murder taking place at a fundraiser.
Write about about kids working at a school fundraising event.

[image error]Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW button near the top of the page before you leave so you never miss a post. Also,�� follow me on and , and

Until next time,

Write on, Writers!

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[image error]I saved him.

Little did I know that saving him would save me.

I’ve been running since I turned seventeen. Running from a past that continues to haunt my dreams.

Running can only get you so far, sooner or later what you’ve been running from will catch up.

Will I survive when it does?

Eleanor Hollenberg (Ellie) ran away from home at the age of seventeen. Now, she’s twenty and found herself living in a small cabin just outside a tiny town in Alaska. Her life is simple: don’t get too comfortable, stay in hiding, stay alert, keep running. That is until she makes an unlikely friend.

Ash Sylvester doesn’t care for much. Only his friends and finding the man who killed his parents. That is until Ellie literally drags him into her home��

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My Review:

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If you love young adult, paranormal romance you have to read “Saving Ellie.��

I adore Ash and Ellie and the book had me hooked from the beginning. I kept reading wanting to know what was going to happen next and wanting to learn everything I could about these two characters. Can’t wait to read the next book.

Learn more about Whitney R.B. and her books

Buy “Savine Ellie��

It is Women’s History Month and I am a survivor of sexual assault. I don’t feel like my silence is benefiting anyone anymore.

I recently wrote about my experience for a friend’s #MeToo book, so I will not rehash the details here.

I am not writing this to point fingers, to assign blame, get attention or take advantage of the movement.

I am writing this for me.

I am writing this for my daughter.

I am writing this for the men and women around the world who are silenced in their fear, their shame and their guilt.

It happened almost 4 years ago. I was about to turn 30. I thought I had made it into the clear. I thought I was safe. My mom had used the R word to deter me from behaviors as a teen. Don’t drink, you’ll get raped. Don’t sneak out at night, you’ll get��

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Throughout the month of March millions of students across America have been enjoying Spring Break.

It’s been a long time since I was in school and enjoyed Spring Break, but I still remember my most favorite Spring Break Adventures.

When I was in eighth and ninth grade my theater teacher took a bunch of us to New York to sightsee and watch Broadway musicals. It was THE BEST TIME EVER! The first musical I ever saw live was The Phantom of the Opera and it was an otherworldly-heavenly-magical experience. I always enjoyed the musicals that I grew up watching on VHS: Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, Grease, CATS, but nothing prepared me for how extraordinary it was to see musicals performed live like that.

And coming from small town Texas, being in New York City was an amazing adventure. Seeing the culture and power of the hustle and bustle of NYC.

Vacations can be transformative experiences and that is what we are going to write about this week.

Write About Spring Break:

Write about a Spring Break Romance. Is it a spring break fling or long time thing? Friends to lovers or strangers to lovers? Does what happen on Spring Break stay on spring break?
Write about a family national lampoon’s style spring break vacation.
Write about a teacher on spring break.
Write about your own favorite spring break.
Write about a life changing spring break experience. Is this change for the better or worse?

[image error]Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW button near the top of the page before you leave so you never miss a post. Also,�� follow me on and , and

Until next time,

Write on, Writers!

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[image error]For close to a year, I have been gathering stories from women around the world. These stories are their real experiences with sexual harassment, sexual assault, and all types of abuse.

I was moved to put this collection together after I began writing about my own assaults and I realized that I found it very therapeutic to put the story of these assaults down on paper. When #MeToo went viral it dawned on me that other women might find writing their stories therapeutic as well, and if the stories were put together in a book, other women might gain something from reading the stories of other women too.

I felt very alone after my assaults and knowing that other women out there had experiences similar to mine helped me feel not alone. #MeToo isn’t just a movement online. It is a community of survivors lifting each other up.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

MeToo: A Collection of True Story Crimes Against Women is a collection of True Story [image error]Experiences written in women’s own words. These poems and stories chronicle crimes and the effects that the experiences had on each woman.

This collection details

-Sexual harassment

-Rape/Assault

-Sexual, Emotional, and Physical Abuse

-Stalking

Michelle C. Hillstrom chose to compile this collection of stories to share her own #metoo stories as well as to give a voice to women every where who had stories to share. For the women who had been brave and strong enough to speak up at the time and for the women who have suffered for years in silence. For the victims, the survivors, and the people who feel alone in their pain. This book is to show you that you’re not alone.

Proceeds from the sales of this collection will be donated to help sexual assault survivors.

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#MeToo: A Collection of True Story Crimes Against Women NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

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Happy Write About It Wednesday, Writers!

So, it is actually 11-ish Tuesday night as I am writing this. I’ve been putting off writing this week’s WAIW post because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about this week, or what topic I wanted to give to y’all to write about. So, here I sat just a few minutes ago staring at my computer screen, which was open to Facebook, because that’s the best way for any self-respecting writer to spend their procrastination and brainstorming time. I had just posted a beg for my friends to drop me topic ideas, when the topic came to me as I was shooting dagger eyes at a certain name on my screen.

Text messages.

You are either pro-text or con-text. I am pro-text. I love texting. Mostly because as someone who is an introvert and has a lot of social anxiety and I SWEAR a case of phone induced PTSD, I hate talking on the phone, but I LOVE communicating with people. I love getting to know people. Texting is so convenient for these purposes. You can text multiple people all day long, but still get everything done that you need to. At least I can, because I am extremely good at multi-tasking.

But texting has a down side (besides the obvious texting and driving scenarios). The down side? Being left on read………��. I paused there to allow all of us to process the negative emotions that just washed over us. I don’t know about you, but I HATE being left on read. I hate being ignored. I find it extremely rude and disrespectful. To me, it is no different than ignoring someone who is standing in front of you and trying to talk to you. I would rather receive a text message telling me that the person is too busy to talk�� at the moment, but will text me when they are done, or for someone to just text me aren’t busy, or straight up someone tell me that they have no desire to text me than just ignore me.

Also, text messages run the risk of completely being misunderstood, because there is no voice inflection or body language helping to get the message across, just the words. If you are like me, you have a tendency to be sarcastic or to joke around a lot. Unfortunately that doesn’t always translate well via text.

Okay, no more ranting on that subject, but that is what has led to today’s polarizing Write About It Wednesday topic: Text Messages.

Write about witches and wizards using text messages.
Write about your feelings on text messaging and text messaging etiquette.
Write about text messages that were misunderstood.
Write about a couple fighting over text.
Write about a private investigator following leads obtained through text messages.
Write about a character’s reaction to being “left on read.��

[image error]Are you pro or con texts? How do you feel about being left on read? Is it poor text etiquette? Tell me your thoughts in the comments.

Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW button near the top of the page before you leave so you never miss a post. Also,�� follow me on and , and

Until next time,

Write on, Writers!

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Happy Write About It Wednesday, Writers! I hope you have had a great and productive week so far.

I’ve been hibernating and reading the past few days. We had the first snow of the season on Saturday. It was a record breaking 10 ½ inches. The most we have ever had in one day. We rarely get snow let alone that much so it was kind of a big deal. Apparently, it even made it onto the News in New York. But by today most of it has melted away because it is back up into the 50s again. If you don’t like the weather in Lubbock just wait an hour or two and it will change.

[image error]During my hibernation from the snow I read Heir of Fire (Book Three of The Throne of Glass Series) By Sarah J Maas. I saw some reviews by people that said that thought it was the most boring and pointless book of the series. I don’t know WHAT they were talking about because so far it was my favorite book in the series. It had me in TEARS crying at one point. And I LOVE the wyverns and the deep connection between Manon and Abraxos. But, no surprise there really because I love creatures and animals and I always grow an emotional attachment to them. Probably because I have such a huge emotional attachment to my own animals and feel like I am connected to them on a soul level.

I live a little ways outside the city limits with a handful of other houses on our street. My neighbors were all outside enjoying the snow on Saturday. One group was driving up and down the road pulling people behind “wakeboarding�� in the snow. Of course, a lot of people around town built snowmen and had snowball fights. Everyone was posting pictures of their snowmen and snow angels. Apparently, my brother and sister-in-law even saw one house that built and igloo. Most of the town was shut down and enjoying the snow day.

Which of course brings us to our Write About It Wednesday Topic �� Snow Day.

Write about your favorite snow day memory.
Write about a magical snow storm.
Write about someone (or something) witnessing snow for the first time.
Write about someone forced to survive outside during a snowstorm.
Write about how you would choose to spend a snow day.
Write about a snow day meet-cute.

[image error]Do you like snow days? I sure do, at least I do IF I get to stay inside and enjoy them by a cozy fire. Are you a fan of Sarah J Mass? What’s your favorite Mass book? Let me know in the comments.

Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW button near the top of the page before you leave so you never miss a post. Also,�� follow me on and , and

Until next time,

Write on, Writers!

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Happy Write About It Wednesday, Writers! December is here, and the [image error]holidays are upon us! Happy Hanukkah to those of you who are celebrating!

This time of the year has me thinking about Santa Claus obviously and gift giving. While presents are not the most important part of the holidays they are certainly a fun part. I love searching for just the right gifts for my family and friends. I think there is a little bit of the Santa Claus spirit within me because I always get excited watching my family open up the presents that I got them. To me it’s definitely one of the best parts of Christmas.

I knocked out all my holiday shopping online the other day. Now I just have to wait for the packages to arrive and get them wrapped. Of course, I don’t have my tree up yet, so I have no where to put the gifts at the moment. I should probably get that tree up sometime soon.

Now, let’s get to writing with these Santa Claus’s Workshop Writing Prompts!

Write about an elf’s first day in the workshop.

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Write about a day in the life of Mrs. Claus.
Write about Santa deciding who goes on the Naughty or Nice List.
Write about a malfunction in the workshop.
Write about someone accidentally stumbling upon Santa’s Workshop.
Write about an evil version of Santa and his evil workshop.

[image error]What are you asking Santa for this year? Tell me in the comments! Happy Writing, and Happy Holidays!

Don’t forget to hit the SUBSCRIBE/FOLLOW button near the top of the page before you leave so you never miss a post. Also,�� follow me on and , and

Until next time,

Write on, Writers!

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