Don't leave me out!

A painting, a word, a song...art speaks to us and makes us feel things in a way that nothing else can. Music is a universal language. If you only speak English but hear a song in Spanish, it can still affect you. The blend of instruments with voice is a powerful device that can flip a switch inside of us.

When I'm depressed, music cheers me up better than any happy pill. I'll turn up the music and dance around the house as I'm cleaning. It pushes me to finish that last rep or that last mile on the treadmill. But it can also lock you into that depression if you listen to a sad song. Some say music makes you kill (sorry but I think if you're going to do that, you don't need music to make you).

My art is with words, but I've often wished I could make music. Music is an art that is more widely accepted, and appreciated. I don't know anyone who doesn't sing to the radio and karaoke is a huge thing for a reason, though I do know people who don't really listen to music. It can annoy and exasperate, gratify and entertain. It speaks to us on a deep level. Looking at a painting can bring these feelings out, but there's just something about music. I turn on my mp3 player when I'm writing and there is always a song that matches the emotion I need for the particular scene I'm working on.

Good singers use their emotion. Guitarists or drummers or pianist or fiddlers etc etc use their emotion but put it into the instrument they are playing. When I play RockBand, I feel, for a little while, that I am helping to create that song. Even though it isn't a real instrument, I have a lot of fun tapping on the drumset and drumming up a powerful feeling within me. Being a part of something, creating a song. That game is as close as I'll ever get since I don't play a musical instrument. I can match and hold a note, but I'll never be good enough to actually do anything other than sing to the radio.

Music is like writing in that each author has a voice. I can recognize any song from certain bands that I have come to love just by their voice and their style. Today I want to give a shout out to LEFT OUT. A friend I've known since 2nd grade is married to the singer/guitarist, so I'm highly supportive of them and love their stuff. I just got their next album (before it was released!!!!) and am happily drinking my coffee and listening to it. I don't have the album cover to post, but the one above is from their last album, which is just as good. And if you don't know how good, well here's a video of my book trailer with their song, RUST.

http://youtube.com/emmasanders
(Well, for some reason I can't find my saved version on my computer. Argh!)

Happy Anniversary!

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings. Anais Nin

Today, my husband and I celebrate fourteen years of marriage. We are just in love now as we were those many years ago, even if we do have problems. With so many relationships failing (much of my family's have fallen apart), I'm going to write what I think is important to keep a relationship alive.

Love is just like any other part of our life. We can't skip work all the time and expect to keep our job. We can't not exercise and expect to stay fit. We can't abandon our friendships and expect to stay friends. Why should marriages be any different? Yet so many people treat them as if they are different. As if they're supposed to last without any work. So many people don't put the work involved to keep a marriage alive, yet after a divorce you have to work even harder. It doesn't make sense.

Why do people fall out of love with the person they once cherished? Why do they feel the grass is greener elsewhere? Those cute habits become annoying, those moments become something you have to do.

Personally, I think it's because they let it. They stop trying. They feel unloved themselves because maybe their spouse isn't putting even 100%, much less 50%. Here are just few tips that I feel will help:

1. RESPECT. Without respect, you can't stay in love. Or at least you won't feel like you're in love half the time. What did you once respect about your spouse? Can you find it again? Also, you have to be respectful. Bringing up a fault of your spouse in front of people is disrespectful. Arguing with him in front of others is disrespectful. You don't have to make it everyone else's business. Argue in private. You don't always have to be right.

2. TRUST. You can only trust by being truthful, yet sometimes it doesn't matter how truthful you are if others aren't. Even little white lies are hurtful. Honesty with yourself and others is always the best policy.

3. FUN. Have fun. Be silly. Laugh and play. You don't have a act like a grown up all the time. Laugh at your spouse's jokes even if they aren't funny. Eventually, you'll probably find them funny. Show your spouse you still find him/her charming.

4. TIME. Spend quality time together, but also allow your spouse his/her time. My husband has his hobbies and I have mine, and we both respect each others. We also have hobbies we enjoy together. He'll do things for me he doesn't necessarily want to do because he loves me, and vice versa. This is also respect.

5. TALK. Tell him/her how much you appreciate him. Tell him/her when you are proud. Praise him/her in front of others (though not all the time, that gets old, too).

6. CHERISH your partner.

7. CHANGE. Don't expect your partner to change. You be the one to make the changes. Most of the time, he/she will follow and be willing to make changes in order for things to work out.

8. SURPRISE each other! Your man likes them just as much as you do!

And here are a couple of things NOT to do:

9. DON'T EXPECT. High expectations will always disappoint. Your partner can't read your mind. You have to tell him without throwing out accusations.

10. DON'T TAKE without giving and don't take each other for granted.

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.- Captain Corelli's Mandolin. "Love is the beauty of the soul."--St. Augustine

Being in love is wonderful. You can be together forever and still have that "in love" feeling. Happy Anniversary, honey!!!

Be excited!

"Think excitement, talk excitement, act out excitement, and you are bound to become an excited person. Life will take on a new zest, deeper interest and greater meaning. You can think, talk and act yourself into dullness or into monotony or into unhappiness. By the same process you can build up inspiration, excitement and surging depth of joy." - Norman Vincent Peale

Sony eReader

Sony eReader Giveaway!

The Wild Rose Press wants you to have a SONY eReader! All this summer (June 11 – August 31), every time you purchase a title by any of these sponsoring authors (see list below), you will be eligible to enter our drawing to win a SONY eReader. The drawing will be held on Tuesday evening, September 2, 2008 at our weekly chat (9:00 p.m. eastern). (You do not need to be present in the chat room to win). When you purchase any title from these authors simply email your order number to: SONYREADER@thewildrosepress.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Make sure you have a current email address and/or include your contact information so we can find you if you win. You may enter as many times this summer as you wish. If you purchase more than one title in the same order, feel free to send two emails and include the order twice. We will verify that you did indeed purchase more than one title. The following are the sponsoring authors for this wonderful contest. Please look for their author information on our web site and enjoy some fabulous reads this summer from these participating authors: Roni Adams Jules Bennett Donna Bolk Laurel Bradley Rachel Brimble Pam Champagne Christine Columbus Sandra Cormier SharonCullen Donna Dalton K.M. Daughters Debbie Doggett CarolAnn Erhardt Valerie Everhart Cindy Green Kathleen Grieve Larry Hammersley Stacy Dawn Sharon Horton Tara Haff Anna Kathryn Lanier Kat Mancos Marly Mathews Nicole McCaffrey Devin McKee Sandy Wichersham McWhorter Donna Michaels Stacey Joy Netzel AnneMarie Novark Amy Corwin Cindy Pape PL Parker Katie Reus Jane Richardson Deborah Rittle Jennifer Robins Donna Marie Rogers Emma Sanders Robin Shope Misty Simon Carol Spradling Lily Stone Browyn Storm Beth Trissel Leanne Tyler Brenda Weaver Nita Wick Teri Wilson For information about the Sony eReader click here For questions on this contest, please contact LisaDawn MacDonald at lisadawn@thewildrosepress.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Martha K at Martha@thewildrosepress.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or Rhonda Penders at rpenders@thewildrosepress.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Please put the words SONY eReader contest question in your subject line. Good luck! *No purchase necessary to win the SONY eReader. If you do not purchase a title, you may enter the contest by mailing a post card to The Wild Rose Press, Sony eReader Contest, P.O. Box 708, Adams Basin, NY 14410. Please include your name, email and contact information. In addition, you must write down three titles from any of the participating authors. Postcard entrants will be added to the names of email entrants and a winning entry will be drawn on September 2, 2008.

No Country for Old Men

Okay, so my blogging hiatus has taken a hiatus and I'm skipping over my tentative blogging schedule (which I haven't stuck to) to do an early movie review.

After a hard weekend of working, my hubby and I cooked dinner and sat down to relax and watch NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. I didn't expect to like this movie, but I was quickly enthralled. Twenty or so minutes before the movie ended, that enthrallment turned to disgust, anger and disappointment.

If you haven't seen the movie but want to, please stop reading. This is a spoiler.

The writers got lazy or something. Here's a tip on what not to do when writing. Don't make almost the entire movie about one particular person and the events of his life. Everything is okay and then the sheriff comes on scene and the guy is dead. DEAD! We don't see his POV, we don't see what happened. Suddenly, he's dead. Later, the same thing happens to his wife. We're pretty sure it's going to happen and she's going go die. At least we see her POV for a brief moment. Then, the killer is walking out the door, which leads us to believe she is dead.

It cuts to the sheriff. Now I'm already zoning out at this time. I'm already pretty upset. How many authors pour blood sweat and tears into their manuscripts and do everything they should do, yet still get rejected? And this movie won Oscars!!!! They skipped the most important events and just made us piece it together ourselves. Unbelievable!

Some writers think that not tidying up their story at the end will make it special. It doesn't. It makes it disappointing!!!!!

They could have done so much more with this movie. It had such potential. Yes, it was about the sheriff and the villain, but it was also about the character who found the money...Llewelyn. It's like the writers, directors and producers (the highly acclaimed Coen brothers!) thought we--the viewers--weren't important enough that we would care what happened to Llewelyn. I expected him to die. Yes, I like happy endings and get upset when it's not a happy ending, but I don't expect happy endings in the movies I watch (especially now, because it seems like there are less happy endings in movies these days). This movie made me feel cheated because it skipped over the most important events. All of a sudden, the character we have grown close to is dead. We walk up upon him and he is dead. We have been involved in his life but weren't involved in this part. It's like the writers didn't know what to do. So hey, let's kill him, show the guys getting away in a pickup truck, and then the sheriff pulls up and finds him dead.

Sigh.

If you want to know how best to make a viewer (or reader) feel cheated, watch NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.

If you're in the area...

...be sure to stop by Boomerang Books and meet a fabulous line up of authors (including me!) Readings, give-aways, trivia hunts AND...BROWNIES!!! Who can resist brownies?

I can't wait!

League City is near Houston and the luscious beaches of Galveston, TX! Brownies AND beaches! Ahh...I doubt I'll make it to the beach but I can dream, can't I?

By the way, in case you haven't heard of the Texas Authors of Romance Fiction, we are a fun and diverse group. Romantic suspense, erotica, paranormal and historical authors, to name a few.