The Holiday Inn is out!

 

The Holiday Inn delivers
happily-ever-afters all year round.

I'm so excited that Amazon has re-released The Holiday Inn under its Montlake Romance division!

Available in paperback and Kindle formats, the anthology features my fantasy novella, "Can You Believe" which tells the tale of a newlywed couple faced with a glimpse into an unhappy future:

Fallon Terry’s having a hard time supporting the song writing aspirations of her real-estate selling husband, Naymond. He’s spent the last three months taping a reality singing show in L.A., a world away from Detroit and Fallon. Their post-Christmas anniversary offers a chance to re-connect – until fame and fate intervene.

With devastating problems on one hand and incredible potential on the other, together they must wade through the trappings of success to discover what matters most in their marriage.

What will make them believe that they have everything they need for the love and the life that they want?

5 STARS
"Stefanie Worth has penned another exceptional paranormal short story, Can You Believe.  Fallon and Naymond Terry are approaching their one year anniversary but things aren't really working.  Fallon has been working overtime everyday to support her husband.  While Naymond has taken time off from selling houses to pursue his dreams of being an R&B star by competing on the television show, Chart Toppers.  They have been separated by thousands of miles for most of their marriage, communication is limited and the tabloid has printed some racy photos of Naymond with another woman.  Just before the final taping the show takes a break, hopefully this weekend the Terry's can renew their love and save their marriage.

However, the story is not that simple.  Worth injects another woman, 'glimpse' into the future, along with money, sex and power.  The characters are believable and tug at your heart.  The magic from the 'glimpse' may be enough the change the course of this fluttering relationship while offering a dramatic ending to a brilliantly romantic holiday story."
– Deltareviewer for Real Page Turners (reviewing "Can You Believe")


For more reviews and an excerpt from Chapter One (as well as info on my other books), visit www.stefanieworth.com.

September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month

After my second son was born and diagnosed with Sickle Cell Anemia, I joined an online group of special needs moms for support. I remember us passing around emails in those much earlier days of the internet, one of which was about how we were chosen to be mothers to these children for God's own reasons. While I clung to that belief at the time because so much uncertainty awaited us, I understand that poem much better now, 12 years later.

I'm lucky to be chosen as the caretaker of a terrific kid with an awful disease. I see and nurture the strength in him that I know he'll need when I'm no longer able to escort him into a doctor's office and speak on his behalf. The disease has developed character and advocacy in me I didn't know I had, but I still want it cured.

We had an awful spell around Memorial Day when he was hospitalized for the first time in almost two years. We're fortunate that he does not experience daily pain episodes like some children do, that he's only had one transfusion -- preceding removal of his tonsils and adenoids at two -- and that he's been stroke-free. But, boy, a few months ago. . .well, it still makes my breath catch in my chest and brings tears to my eyes.

Sickle Cell isn't as media-sexy as childhood cancer or pediatric AIDS, but it hurts. And to see your child unable to walk or move because it hurts so bad, to watch as another dose of morphine doesn't make it better. Oh, my dear God. I cannot tell you what that is like as a mother. I even had to pause in writing this to try and shake off the memory.

But I tell the story because there is kinship among those of us who share this difficult walk with our children. And kinship among those who've watched their children grow up with this disease and now worry about whether or not they'll find mates who understand and provide them with the support they need, and whether or not the disease will be passed to grandchildren and beyond.

As a global village, we all have parts we can play in eradicating this disease that afflicts one in nine African Americans as well as people of Greek, Italian and Middle Eastern descent (and others, too). My role is to write about our experiences and donate to the cause. Researchers are so close to a universal cure and I want to believe with all my heart that when my son is grown and finds a good woman to be his wife that passing on this disease to their children will not be the issue it is today. Let's hope, pray and act today.

To learn more about Sickle Cell, visit the Sickle Cell Disease Center of America.
My essay about The Baby God Gave Me

Please join us for the Sickle Cell Health Awareness Fair on Saturday, Sept. 19th, from 5:30 - 9 p.m.at the Boll Family YMCA (downtown Detroit). There'll be hustle lessons, food, fun and education. Tix are $20. Call 313-864-4406 for info. I'll be there signing books and spreading hope for a cure on behalf of my son.

Stefanie
http://www.stefanieworth.com/

Barack Obama in Detroit

Just wanted to share a few photos from our trek downtown to hear Barack Obama speak on Labor Day. It was my second time, my kids' first. (Unfortunately, my oldest is off at college and missed out on all the live excitement.)

It was so hot that day, but the temperature cooled in comparison to the fiery spirit of the incredibly diverse crowd that gathered to witness history in the making.

If you've been in one of these crowds, you know just what I mean.

Still, despite the fervor, my six-year-old managed to find a shady spot at my feet, curled herself into a ball and fell asleep on top of my shoes. One day, when she's old enough to be ashamed of the memory, we'll remind her of how she slept through the whole thing. Meanwhile, we'll share our pictures with her.

Stefanie

http://www.stefanieworth.com/

The Big Yawn

It’s cold outside. And snowy. It’s Sunday. My daughter’s going through her umpteenth recent growth spurt. My son has another day off school. My eldest hasn’t texted me in two days. My truck needs a good wash. My MAC lipstick better be in stock soon. I need about six hours on the treadmill.

So how do all these disparate details connect?

These are the things I noticed when I came off deadline and finally got some sleep last week. It felt a little like waking up in the morning and pulling back the curtains. Till then, yes, you know it’s morning, and yes, you know the street is probably quiet, which cars are usually parked there, what season it is, etc.

But once the obstruction is removed and you can actually see outside, well, then you notice that the people across the street got a new car, the trash collector left your recycle bin unemptied and, based on the car in the driveway, the girl next door seems to have a new boyfriend. That’s how I feel today: like welcome back to the world!

I remember reading once that Will Smith said his first marriage fell apart while he was making Six Degrees of Separation. He talked about being so into his role that the movie consumed him. He also said he learned from that experience about acting, family, priorities.

Well, I don’t have the option (or desire) to completely ignore my family while I’m working on a book, but I can pretty much tune out every thing else. That would include my body’s need for nighttime rest. I’ll admit that the most sleep I’ve had in the last two years was this past Christmas when I had the flu for four days.

Ask yourself (I do): Does Toni Morrison sleep? Does Stephen King sleep? What about L.A. Banks or Tanarive Due? How long? How often? Do they sleep better now with some measure of success behind them than they did in their early years of hammering out manuscripts and soliciting sales?

I know I shouldn’t, but I do consider seven or eight hours of lying down doing nothing to be a luxury. Never mind a friend who told me that you’re supposed to protect sleep the way you guard your health. Or the studies (and I always read them out of guilt) that link lack of sleep to difficulty losing weight, propensity for diabetes and just plain falling asleep all day. I feel like sleep is the sacrifice – not pounding the keyboard until 2 or 3 a.m.

Producing pages = realizing my dream.

Thus it was with my latest project. I was asked to turn around 25,000 – 30,000 words in about five-six weeks. That’s quick for me when I factor in a full-time job, kids/family, holiday hassles. But I wasn’t about to say no. I had a proposal for another project that I was wrapping up and was determined to get that out of my hair first. Polishing and perfecting that other piece ate up about 10 days. Then I dived in.

Me being me, I divided the challenge into bite-sized goals. One thousand words a day and I’d make deadline with time for self-edits and revisions before mailing the work off.

Okay, so it kind of went according to plan.

When I was a couple thousand words off target just before Christmas, I figured I could make it up – really come close to finishing – while I was on vacation over the holidays. Ha!

So, except for those four critical days I spent in influenza’s fever-induced haze, I was kicking butt and taking names. But I had to push into overdrive once I was well. Which meant back to four hours of sleep at night and carrying my laptop from room to room at home to write something at any available opportunity.

Five nights ago, I finished – revisions and all. At 4:12 a.m. Then there were the perfunctory details like a cover letter and mailing prep. Anyhoo, I went to bed around 4:45. And got up at 7:30 for work when my husband came in the room and said, "Hey, it’s late!" Ugh.

That goes down as my worst non-sleeping offense. My family, in the meantime, has shown the utmost patience with my dream. They seem to understand -- though during weeks like these I think I push the empathy envelope pretty far. I try to find ways to make up for my tunnel vision between projects and hope the attention I give them has a halo effect – that they forget mommy was ever bad.

Maybe if I didn’t function so well while sleep deprived, I wouldn’t do the whole non-sleep thing. But, honestly, I think that even without a day job, husband and kids, I’d spend that much more time writing – but I still wouldn’t sleep.

Nothing beats the feeling of typing THE END.
And starting all over again.

Do it for Love

For romance writers, love is always in the air. Warm weather is an excuse to see the sights with the apple of your eye, while cold and snow are perfect reasons to stay home and snuggle.

But no matter how much you love what the season outside brings, flowers, beaches, leaves and fireplaces will have no affect on your relationship if you don't happen to love the one you're with.

In other words, enjoying external accessories begins with loving internal necessities. So it is with writing itself. My interview with Detroit author and writing colleague Natalie Dunbar brought out an important point: If you're striving to be a published writer, you better love what you do.

1) Thanks for being here, Natalie. Can you tell us how long you've been writing and what made you start?

I’ve been writing since I was a little girl, telling myself stories to go to sleep. I loved to read, but wasn’t always able to get enough books to satisfy me, so I had to use my imagination. This extended to plays and serials acted out with my sisters and brother.

2) How would you describe your stories overall?

My stories feature strong, smart heroines challenged by external circumstances and the hot, sexy heroes who love them and inspire internal conflict. My stories always include romance, and they run the gamut from romance to romantic suspense, action adventure, and paranormal romance.

3) Do you have a favorite character?

All my characters are favorites, but if I were single and dating, I’d go out with Arturo Bodega, Ramon Richards, and Reed Crawford in a heartbeat.

4) What is the most important lesson you've learned as an author that you want to share with aspiring writers?

The most important lesson I’ve learned as a writer is that If you’re going to be a writer, you’d better be writing for the love of writing…. This is not the glamorous business it appears to be. Unless you’re a big name author or it’s in your contract, you can’t pick your cover, most authors don’t make boatloads of money for their works, it’s a lot of very solitary work. In addition, these days you can’t just write the book and move on, you have to promote and market it, too, since publishing companies put the advertising dollars where they expect the biggest returns.


5) What’s next for you?

I have a novella in the werewolf romance anthology “Vegas Bites Back,” which is coming out at the end of December/ early January from Parker publishing. My novella is titled “The Golden Wolf” and it continues with the characters I created in my “Vegas Bites” novella.

6) Anything else you’d like us to know?

Yes.I love to hear from my readers! And, I’m going to post a video trailer for A Serial Affair on my website… So, check it out! And thank you Stefanie, for giving me this opportunity to connect with more readers.

7) How can readers contact you?

I invite readers to check out my website at http://www.nataliedunbar.com/. Readers can contact me at Natalie@nataliedunbar.com, or at P.O. Box 626, Royal Oak, MI 48068.

Thanks, again, for talking to us, Natalie. Good luck with Vegas Bites Back.

Live. Love. Dream!

Stefanie

http://www.stefanieworth.com/