So, I told you I'd blog about my hair soon, and here it is! LOL! But first...I wanted to talk about Christmas! Yule tide, sleigh rides, fa-la-la-la-la, and all that fun jazz!
If you're interested in having signed copies of The Prophecy, The Outlanders, and/or The Fulfillment under your tree this year, please email me for details! Orders must be placed before December 10 to ensure they arrive on time!
And now onto another topic, which actually relates to my hair. So, thanks to Deek's awesome company, we have the opportunity to go to San Francisco soon!! I'm so excited because I've never been, and I really want to see it! I've always wanted to ride in one of those trolley cars and scale the humpy bumpy streets--I better bring good shoes! ;) Anyhoo, the date of the trip is just a few days after my next hair dye appointment. Now, because purple dye comes out for at least two weeks whenever it gets wet, I can't get it purple again lest we run the risk of trouble at the hotel. They usually frown upon showers stained purple. And since this trip is a gift, I don't want to have a hair/shower situation.
So...I'm looking for a temporary solution for my hair. I could just let the color fade out and go get it dyed again after the trip. But based on my hairdresser's schedule, that would be after Christmas. I'm really not interested in having wane, faded hair for Christmas. So, I'm thinking of getting it dyed a color that will easily transition to purple in early 2016 (I want to do purple at least one more time before we move back East). I'm considering having the dark brown/black touched up at the roots and then having the fading purple turned into blonde (for a Cruella de Vil type look) or silver (for a superhero type look).
This attempt at purple hair has been a bit different than my last one. Last time, she stripped the color out of my hair (a requirement for this type of color) and applied the purple. This time, we applied the purple to my already existing blonde. I wonder if that accounts for the difference. But regardless, this go round, I've ended up with some blue streaks. My hairdresser redyed them, but I'll be darn if they didn't turn blue again. I tried to get several pics, but it doesn't really capture how blue it is. The best way to describe it is periwinkle...
And now I'm at the stage where my hair is starting to fade. There are little peeks of blonde near my roots and tips. I'm becoming a kaleidoscope head! LOL!
See the fading at the roots and tips?
So, the time for a decision regarding my new look--black/blonde or black/silver--is rapidly approaching. What do you guys think? Do you have a preference?? Also, any places we "must see" in San Fran??
So, I was going to write a blog post about my hair (LOL!), but something MUCH more important than that is happening (don't worry, the hair post IS coming). Enough about me. Today, I'm here to talk about my AWESOME husband and his AMAZING short story "Birth of an American Gigolo"!!!
What is "Birth" about? Glad you asked. Here is the short blurb...
Birth of An American Gigolo
An old party girl turned domestic diva, infuriated by her husband's cheating--and his holier-than-thou, tree-hugging, no-tits and no-hips girlfriend--inflicts her wrath by training a local boy in the fine art of seduction. She and her new boy toy turned love god, start a gigolo business as a distraction for the neglected and mistreated housewives of Alabaster Cove.
Sounds amazing, right? Well, that's because it is!! I was emailing with the lovely Jess Calla a few days ago, and I was telling her about Deek's awesome writing style. I said he cleverly balances the darkness of his stories with humor, and his style is a unique blend of literary and commercial that I've never seen before. You're in for a treat, my friends. A real treat!
And now let me tell you about my wonderful husband. Prepare yourself because you'll be bowled over by his handsomeness. Try not to stare at his picture for so long that you miss the cover (though it will be hard to tear your gaze from something so good looking)!! ;)
About Deek Rhew
Deek lives in a rainy pocket in the Pacific Northwest with his stunning YA author bride, Erin Rhew, and their writing assistant, a fat tabby named Trinity. They enjoy lingering in the mornings, and often late into the night, caught up Erin’s fantastic fantasy worlds of noble princes and knights and entwined in Deek’s dark underworld of the FBI and drug lords. His first full-lengthed novel 122 Rules releases with Pandamoon Publishing in 2016.
Deek and Erin enjoy spending time with friends, running, boxing, lifting weights, eating popcorn, drinking Coke Zero, and living life to the fullest.
Those are clearly his words as I would never call myself stunning. I'm just thankful he's blind enough to think so. But maybe I should take him to the optometrist to get his eyes checked. <dials number>
Ok, I'll stop my blather and get onto the main event. You've all come here to see his amazing cover, not read my random stream of thoughts (darn ADD).
Without further ado, I present the cover for "Birth of an American Gigolo"!!!!!!!!
And Now...The Big Reveal
Anita Carroll at Race-Point designed this amazing cover!
OMG! Anita at Race-point is a GENIUS! A genius I tell you. If you're looking for high quality covers from a kind and professional cover artist, look no further than Anita Carroll. Deek and I spent an afternoon going through covers we thought matched the theme of "Birth," and we sent them to Anita. She compiled the images, read the story (how many cover artists READ the story--she does, and I tell you, it sets her apart because she KNOWS the story), and produced this masterpiece. It's everything we said we wanted and more.
As an author, it's so exciting to see the cover for your work come to life. And I think this one captures the essence of "Birth." I can't wait for you to meet Lindsey, Dios, Stewart, Cindie, and Angel. You'll love some of them and hate some of them, but their story will linger in your mind long after you read the last word.
Friends, I am pleased as punch and so proud that my smile might reach my forehead. I fell in love with Deek's writing from the start, and then I fell in the love with the man who wielded those amazing words. Prepare to fall in love yourself...with "Birth of an American Gigolo."
"Birth" will be available on Amazon and other eRetailers early 2016! Be sure to add it to your Goodreads TBR list!
Now available - Conviction, the third book in the Razia series! Catch up on this fun, sassy space opera about a wayward scientist living a double life as a space pirate bounty hunter. Missed the first two? Pick them up on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.
About Conviction:
Clink.
Razia is in trouble. Captured by a fellow pirate, she now finds herself back on probation with a bounty worth zero credits. In the cold reality, she begins to question herself and everything she has been working towards all of her life--and what she's willing to do to reclaim her glory.
Piracy is a game. What do you stand for?
Razia's eyes snapped open and she grasped at the wall to steady herself. She stood outside the supposed poker game location, in a dimly lit alley that smelled like trash. There was something wet leaking from the bin next to her, so she didn't dare sit down. She had fallen asleep against the dirty brick wall for a split second, but was now wide awake and ready for Loeb to come out.
The door remained closed.
Poker, she reasoned, must be Loeb's chosen vice because he'd been there playing this game for over an hour. She wondered how many times he'd have to go to Temple to ask the Great Creator for forgiveness for this break in his piety.
She snorted at her own joke then burped a little beer. She rubbed her face roughly, hoping the increased blood flow would wake her up. She wished she hadn't had that that third beer (or however many she had from Sage's pitcher) at Eamon's, she wished she had some coffee, and she wished Loeb would just get a move on already. She had other pirates to capture, and he was being awfully selfish with her time.
She jutted her lip out and stared at the door, and her eyes began drooping again.
Her mini-computer began buzzing at her hip and she jumped ten feet. Scowling, she answered it without thinking.
"What." She blinked at the face looking back at her and for a brief moment saw Vel. With another shake of her head she realized it was Heelin scowling back at her. "Oh, it's you."
"Yes, it's me." Heelin looked nothing short of livid. "The brother with whom you are supposed to be working."
She grimaced. "Oh God in Leveman's, I don't have time for this."
"Well you'd better make time, because this stupid planet was approved for membership, so Dorst wants me to accompany you on your next excavation."
Excavation, what was that again? She rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of the word. Slowly, her brain readjusted from a month of bounty hunting back to her life as Lyssa Peate.
Wait…Heelin wanted to go on an excavation with her? "I don't think so."
"I think that you have to since Dorst ordered you to."
"I think that Dorst can get sucked."
"What is with you lately? You look different."
"I…what?" she said, looking down at the mini-computer.
"And where are you anyway? Are you in some kind of dark alley? Where are your glasses?"
Razia realized with a jolt of fear that she was, in fact, Razia and not Lyssa—her hair down, no lab coat, no glasses.
"Uh…gotta go!"
She ended the call quickly and breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't expect Heelin to recognize Razia from just a simple phone call. Unlike Lizbeth, who was sharp as a tack and made the connection almost immediately, the Peates seemed more eager to ignore that Lyssa ever existed.
Like Jukin.
She swallowed the lump in her throat, hating herself and her drunkenness for bringing him up. She still had no idea why she'd saved him. She'd told Lizbeth at the time it was because she wanted to believe he was a good person, but there was more to it than that. She was still harboring a little bit of guilt that she had been chosen as Sostas' assistant, and not Jukin.
And perhaps she felt a little responsible for everything Jukin had done.
She belched loudly in the alleyway, ending the drunken philosophical train of thought. In some part of her mind, she wondered if it was a good idea to be out in her current state, but then again, she was simply stalking Loeb. He wasn't going to surprise her and walk out…
Her eyes nearly fell out of her head as Jarvis Loeb exited the bar all by himself.
She braced herself against the wall, waiting to see if his body men were going to join him. Loeb got almost a block before she realized that he was alone. Whether this was some great twist of fate, or maybe some gift from the Great Creator, she didn't know, but it was definitely an opportunity.
She nearly tripped over her own two feet as she barreled after him, the beer sloshing in her stomach uncomfortably.
"OI!" she called out, standing in the middle of the deserted street.
Loeb turned to watch her with an amused look on his face. "Hello there, dear. Are you here to capture me finally?"
"Sure am!" she announced, perhaps louder than she should have.
She walked up to Loeb, who seemed awfully sober to her, and she reared back her fist to strike him. But she was moving so slow—slower than ever—and Loeb easily ducked it. She lurched forward, her center of gravity completely off, and watched the pavement fly up towards her face.
Loeb's hand clamped down on her wrist and she felt cold steel encircle it.
S. Usher Evans is an author, blogger, and witty banter aficionado. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she left the sleepy town behind for the fast-paced world of Washington, D.C.. There, she somehow landed jobs with BBC, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Television before finally settling into a “real job” as an IT consultant. After a quarter life crisis at age 27, she decided consulting was for the birds and rekindled a childhood passion for writing novels. She sold everything she owned and moved back to Pensacola, where she currently resides with her two dogs, Zoe and Mr. Biscuit. Evans is the author of the Razia series and Empath, both published by Sun’s Golden Ray Publishing.
Be sure to check her out on the below social media sites:
Thank you to everyone who read our anniversary dedications and wishes us a happy day! We had an AMAZING weekend celebrating our first year of marriage!
Before I start talking about our anniversary, let me promote my hubs a little. His short story "Birth of an American Gigolo" releases later this year, and we now have the cover available to share. We'll be running a cover reveal November 17-19, and we'd love to have you participate! If you're interested in being a host, please fill out this form, and Deek will send his media kit on over to you! http://goo.gl/forms/T6xCXVBjZH
Ok...and we're back. For those getting married soon, we wanted to share a great idea. You know how people say to freeze a slice of cake to defrost and eat on your first anniversary? Well, Deek and I have an even cooler idea! When you get monetary gifts during your wedding, set some aside to spend on your one year anniversary. That way, you've got instant money to help celebrate your first year!
Here we are ready to celebrate!
Since this is our last anniversary in the Pacific Northwest, we decided to do a tour down memory lane and revisit several places we visited on our honeymoon. First thing first, we got massages (just as we did for our honeymoon--see, this is where saving money from your wedding to use on your first anniversary comes in handy!). Oh, are massages heavenly! Deek had tweaked a muscle in his shoulder during some of our lifting, so they did a procedure on his back that left it looking like a pizza. LOL! But the good news is that it really seemed to help his shoulder.
Pizza back
Deek wouldn't stop taking pictures of me. He was like the paparazzi. LOL!
We were all super zen after the lovely massages!
After we left the massage, we headed over to have lunch at the same place we ate for our honeymoon...complete with the same kind of nachos!
Deek and nachos on our honeymoon
Deek and nachos on our first anniversary
Sneaking in a kiss! ;)
After lunch, we walked to the place where we stayed for our honeymoon--The Portland White House. It's a total beauty and a gem of a place where you'd least expect it.
The Portland White House--so beautiful!
From our honeymoon
This year, it was raining, so it was harder to get good pictures.
Then, as we did a year ago on our honeymoon, we wandered around the streets of our beautiful city, hand-in-hand. We talked and laughed while enjoying one another and the city. In addition, we sampled some of the local yummy treats. My favorite had to be the salted caramel cheesecake. Holy. Moly. I'm glad Deek and I split a teeny piece because it was rich, but boy did my taste buds do a happy dance.
I love how they light up the city for Christmas. That's a definite plus about having a November anniversary!
Just a girl, her coffee, and her thoughts on a rainy day
Just a guy, his umbrella, his coffee, and his thoughts on a rainy day.
Of course, we had to visit a bookstore. We ARE authors after all, and we had a gift card. Woot!
And we topped the evening off with the same kind of nachos we had a year ago. Yum! Do you see a nacho theme in our lives?? LOL!
As we did for our honeymoon the year before, Deek and I got tattoos. This time, we opted to get three!
Deek a year ago
Me a year ago
Our tattoos from a year ago
So, here is the story behind one of our tattoos. When we got married, we both said we wanted to get tattoo wedding rings. For the wedding, we had our actual wedding rings, which we planned to exchange for the tattoo bands on our first anniversary. Well...we fell in love with our actual wedding bands and didn't want to give them up. So, we discussed getting one another's lowercase initial (it's a running thing between us to use our lowercase initials) at the top of the fourth finger on our left hands. But when we talked to our tattoo artist at the consultation a few weeks before our anniversary, she said finger tattoos never end up like people hope. They're often fuzzier than other tattoos, and they grow dull or come off completely quite fast since people use their hands so much. The tattoo place will give free touchups on any location except the finger because of how quickly they turn bad. So, Deek and I elected to get one another's initials on our left wrists instead. Now, you may notice there is a "j" on my arm instead of a "d." That's because Deek's superhero name (aka: real name) is Jay. ;) The fonts match the ones on our "tenacious" tattoos from the year before.
Our wedding band tattoo ring alternatives
We got two other tattoos as well. I got two on my feet, and Deek got two on his calves. I'd heard that feet hurt the worst of all, so I was pleased to discover they didn't hurt much more than the wrist. Where the skin gets the thinnest on the foot, it stings a bit more, but nothing I couldn't handle. Thank goodness. But to our surprise, Deek said the calf muscles hurt more than he expected. Maybe because the lines his needed required a bigger needle?
Deek's toughing out the calf ink!
Later, as we talked in bed, I paparazzi photoed him. Haha! Payback! ;)
Deek is my best friend, my soulmate, and my better half. He's there for me through thick and thin, and he's always got my back. He makes me laugh, wraps me in his arms, listens to me, talks to me, challenges my way of thinking, helps me be a better artist, and loves me no matter what. I'm blessed beyond measure to even know him...mind blown that I get the honor of being his wife. I love you, Deek. #Always your e
Today is an amazing, glorious, fabulous, wonderful day! On this day, one year ago, I married Deek! Happy Anniversary, baby!
Dancing from happiness and excitement one year ago. And I'm still dancing with happiness and excitement on year later!
Recently on FaceBook, a friend of mine had a post that said: The one word that best describes my spouse is ___________. I said "beyond" for my answer. Deek is beyond kind, beyond thoughtful, beyond funny, beyond attentive, beyond loving, beyond handsome...I could go on but you'd be here all day. He's beyond my wildest imagination. Beyond what I ever dreamed possible. He's beyond.
From the beginning of our relationship, I've wondered if it's just too good to be true. Sometimes I think I'm in a dream, one that I never want to wake from. And I think, this amazingness can't stay this way forever. Except it does. Every day, I wake up, and my husband is just a little more wonderful than the day before. I love him just a little bit more than I did the day before. He remains engaged and involved in every aspect of my life, attentive to all my needs. And when I muse these thoughts to him, he says that our relationship can stay this way forever, all it takes is effort from both of us. And since we're both committed to putting in the effort, the rest of our lives looks pretty good. ;)
We talk to each other all the time. Communication really is key!
I read a quote on FB (are you seeing a trend here--haha) that said: "The best portions of your life will be the small, nameless moments you spend smiling with someone who matters to you." Many people are mistaken and think that life exists the pursuit of things, money, or trips. But the essence of life exists in the small moments, the little things, the every day. Here are some moments in the every day that I appreciate about Deek:
--His smile when he first walks in the door and sees me.
--That he puts his hand on my knee when he's driving
--That he stops whatever he's doing and turns his full attention to me when I talk.
--How he'll just randomly say, "Gawd, you're beautiful. I'm a lucky man."
--The way he always kisses the back of my neck and says "I love you" before we go to sleep at night.
--How I can never predict what will come out of his mouth, and it's usually hysterical.
--How he's always up for both adventures and chill time.
--The way he looks into my eyes and touches my cheek.
--The way he values my writing and makes sure I have time for it.
--That he'd rather talk to me than watch TV.
--How he does so much around the house--cooking and cleaning right alongside me.
--How when I wake up, no matter what he's doing, he stops, scoots down to face level (I can't see
without my contacts), kisses me, and says, "Good morning, my love."
--How he always holds my hand when we're walking around.
--How he'll randomly bring me a cup of tea or coffee just because he's wonderful.
--How he brings me my breakfast in bed on the mornings he works from home.
--How he randomly leaves me love notes
This list doesn't even begin to show the full incredibleness of my husband, but it's a start. And I'm glad we're on the same page about living life in the here and now. We do enjoy our adventures, but as Deek said recently, "Make life your vacation. A getaway should add spice to an already great meal; it should not be the main course." Amen to that. And our life, our marriage is the greatest vacation I've ever been on.
So, my love, here's to one fabulous year in the books and many more to come! I love and adore you more than words could ever express! You are BEYOND!
In keeping with the life is in the little moment theme, I'm going to post some pics of us in every day life--loving life and loving each other.
Our First Year
If you know us, you know this isn't even close to the number of photos I *could* post--LOL!
November
Our honeymoon-- He's so romantic!
December
He's adorable! Loving the lights despite the pouring rain!
January
Deek first 5k official race. We love exercising together!
FYI: They're cleaning to gum wall starting 11/10/15. :(
February
Superbowl party with friends
Hahaha--See why he cracks me up?
March
LOL! We are always making the craziest faces!
About to go hiking.
April
Life imitating art, or art imitating life? You decide! ;)
Spending my birthday with this hawty!
May
Coffee, walking, talking...and sneaking kisses
Swoon!
We enjoyed getting married so much that we...um...did it again. 2nd wedding in the South on May 30, 2015!
June
Spent hours on this porch just talking and enjoying our time together.
July
4th of July
Froyo!
August
He supports my dreams!
September
Just chillin at home
Post-workout coffee
October
Putt-putt wars
Chillin at home and making silly faces--it's how we roll
Taking a walk and dancing under the stars
November
I adore every second we spend together.
I scoured the internet for songs to end this post, but I kept coming back to the same one. "Our" song--the one we danced to after our weddings and the one we've agreed to only dance to again on our anniversaries. My Deek, it's your love. Happy 1st Anniversary! I'm yours now and #always.
Okay, I'm pulling a sneak attack. There is one more song that I can't get out of my head, and I'd like to share it. Deek and I wrote a post about squashing spiders, and this song is s representation of my commitment to squash a big spider of his. I love you, Deek!!!
