RJ's Annual #AutismAwareness Blog Hop + #Giveaway @Rjscott_author

**** Contest is now CLOSED *** 

Winners have been announced in the comments section!

I'm honoured to once again join RJ Scott and a host of other wonderful authors and bloggers in RJ's Annual blog hop, highlighting World Autism Awareness Day, April 2nd and National Autism Awareness Month. Each participant will share a fact, a post and a prize.


Follow this link to RJ's master post and join us for the entire month of April. You might just win a prize but more importantly you'll learn a thing or two. 

This year the theme is Animals 

FACT: Service Animals provide companionship and support for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders, when used in part with a child’s therapy. [Autism Canada]

Any dog lover will tell you that dogs have a sixth sense when it comes to understanding it's human's emotional needs and often respond appropriately. Like people, they can tell when you need a cuddle. Cats on the other hand can also seem to pick up on our angst but often seem unconcerned. They tend to come around when they need the attention. Even watching a tank full of fish can induce a calming sense.

In doing a bit of research for my post, I ran across a story of a family with two autistic sons. One child, has an especially deep relationship with the family’s dogs. However, his brother does not. The dogs are too unpredictable for him. Like any therapy or drug, sometimes it's not one-fits-all and a child's sensitivities as well as the family dynamic must be observed. But in some cases animal assisted therapies can make a big difference in a child's day-to-day life and progress.

Service Dogs can:
Provide increased safety for the child;
Help control the child by commanding the dog;
Passively teach the child responsibility;
Enjoy the right of full public access under the B.C. Guide Animal Act;
Lower aggression and frustration levels, leading to positive behavioural changes;
Provide comfort when the child is upset;
Add a degree of predictability to social settings for both the child and parents; and
Reduce social stress levels, allowing greater participation in education, as well as social and leisure activities. [Autism Canada]

Besides service dogs, there has also been great success with children and horses and of all things, Guinea Pigs, in a classroom setting. 

I found this year's topic a timely one. Over the past year, we lost our long-haired Chihuahua. We were lucky enough to have him enrich our lives for sixteen years. A long time perhaps for a small dog but not nearly long enough for us. Animals change lives.

Resources:

Local Autism Ontario

Autism Canada - Service Dogs

IAN - Interactive Autism Network

Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides

Autism Speaks Canada

#LightItUpBlue

Information on Autism

Autism facts and history

The National Autistic Society

Autism fact sheet

National Autism Association

68 things to know about autism

Kerry Magro

Facts about ASD

The CDC

I'd like to thank RJ for all she does to promote Autism Awareness and education. 💙

ENTER MY GIVEAWAY

This past year, I've been lucky enough to write for three very different erotic anthologies, with some of the most prolific, talented and popular authors in the genre along with authors who I am also a fan of. So I felt doubly blessed for the acceptance while in the meantime doing some fan-girling of my own to have my name alongside theirs. 

Love and Lust in Space (erotic, sci-fi, romance) 

They say your screams can't be heard in space... Unless you have a partner or two! Eleven authors take you on a trip where any pairings are acceptable, locations vary from spaceships to strange and futuristic worlds, and interesting and exciting objects can be used in sex play.

Ladies Only (f/f, erotic romance)

Worth a Shot

Samara Wynne thinks she’s finally found the perfect roommate, but Katie’s keeping a secret that could turn their dream home into a nightmare.

The Woman Next Door

What’s a girl to do when her arch nemesis moves in next door?

The Tiny Blue House

I am Molly Knowles. Please, marry me.

In the Flesh

Working undercover, nothing is ever as it seems…

Window Dressing

Can Jessie work with a woman with the looks of a pixie and the personality of a dragon to complete the most important task of her career?

AND Last but not least

Sacred & Profane (taboo, priest, erotic, romance)

Ten stories of temptation, romance, and blasphemy

Not even men of the cloth are exempt from God’s greatest gift: Love. In Sacred and Profane: Priest Erotic Romance, you’ll find stories of clergymen stepping outside their vows, pastors weaving divinity into their seductions, nuns and parishioners confessing to their body’s every earthly desire, and more.

Are you aroused by the blasphemous dance of sex and religion? The dangerous edge of eroticism contained within submission to something beyond oneself? The taboo juxtaposition of holy and sensual? Then Sacred and Profane welcomes you.

I'll be giving away an e-copy of each anthology. To enter the contest, please leave a comment below. It can be as simple as the name of a pet/animal you love or have loved. Also leave an email address where I can reach you and what antho you might be interested in reading. I'll choose three winners on May 1st. 

And remember to follow the blog hop all month through!

Day 6 @Rjscott_author Autism Month and Competition #Giveaway Blog Hop #AutismAwareness

I'm honoured to once again join RJ Scott and a host of other wonderful authors in RJ's Annual blog hop highlighting World Autism Awareness Day, April 2nd and National Autism Awareness Month. This year the month long hop focuses on the five senses or what we may consider other 'senses', not only pertaining to autism but also other *sometimes silent* mental health issues. Each author taking part will share a fact, a post and a prize.


FACT:

Post:

A Mother's Sense...

I've suffered from anxiety for... it seems like forever. Even from my earliest memory. (I know some will scoff and think that is impossible) Back then it manifested as separation anxiety. I had trouble going to school. I missed a lot of kindergarten and the primary grades because the thought of being away from my mother was almost crippling. Every time she dropped me off I had this overwhelming feeling of loss and I was afraid she wouldn't come back for me or that something bad might happen to her and I'd never see her again. To this day, I've no idea why I was so frightened of her being out of my sight. She'd never given me any reason to think these things. She was always there for me and my brother and sisters. We were a close-knit, loving, church-going, hard-working, average family.

In my adolescence, I struggled with anxiety but then, as I guess teenage years do for a lot of people, it presented as self-esteem issues. Too much, I worried about what other people thought. And you would think by this time, I would have outgrown the fear of losing my mum but sadly, I hadn't.

During my teens, my father also travelled a lot and I started having dreams about him dying. And because of his travel, my father drank a lot, to combat his own loneliness and of course, once he was home, the drinking continued. There are several other factors and events here but you get the picture.

And in my adult years, I have dealt with depression. Here again, there are other factors, including our first born dealing with chronic health problems.

I've spent weeks in bed. Hiding from life, seeking the oblivion sleep provides rather than let my thoughts strangle me, or lead me to those dark places that call; promising peace, the forever kind.

I've self-medicated. Though I didn't know that's what I was doing at the time. Turned to alcohol at times but it made me feel even more like shit but sometimes mind-numbing of any kind is preferable to the alternative. And I lost myself in books, books, books, that took me out of my own head and blessedly let me live another's life.(and then I found writing, but that's another story).

I've done things I'm not proud of. Hurt my family. Cut off friends. Neglected my kids. Not in the abusive way, but somedays when they got home from school, I could not drag myself from my bed to be the mum they deserve.

It wasn't until my father did pass that I had to seek real help. Then I walked around in a fog of medication. Feeling numb. Which at times, is so much better than existing with the noise in your head, the doubts, the fear, the self-loathing. For anyone who has struggled, you know, finding the right medication and regimen can also be a long and arduous process as well. Building up to the right dosage only to find out that drug doesn't work for you, then you have to wean yourself off that one before starting something else. Then the cycle starts again. It's frustrating and makes you wonder if you will ever be well. Maybe you are unhelpable. That's not true, it's part of the illness. It's just finding the right balance for you. Medication, exercise, therapy, vitamins, diet. Whatever... It took me half my life to figure out what was wrong with me, it will probably take me the rest to get a handle on it.

Then I was blindsided ...

... when my daughter came to me and said, "Mom, I think I have anxiety."

NO!

"I've been reading up on it and I have almost all the symptoms...."

NO!

She was right. It's not that she hid what was going on. And she's never had a problem coming and talking to me. But Goddamnit, through all my own experience how could I have missed the signs. Where was that innate Mother's Sense that my child was in danger? That protective instinct to fight off any enemy stalking her? Or was I just in denial?

Or worse, I could have prevented this by being stronger, addressing my own issues so much sooner so that she didn't see it.

We never talked about what was wrong with me. She'd grown up with it, never questioned it. At least, she didn't question me about it. To her, that was just the way mum was and she loved me anyway.

We went to the doctor and my daughter has been on anxiety medication for several years now. She fights it, she takes the illness by the horns and she tells it who's in charge. Yes, she struggles but she goes at it with determination. She has a weak moment. She rants and raves or sleeps. She gets up, she dusts herself off and she goes at it again. She never gives up. A credit to her and her own fortitude, she never let her grades slip, she graduated high school with honours and was valedictorian. Yes, the girl with anxiety got up and addressed an entire auditorium full of people. Now she is in college, her first year away from home and she is doing very well. Something I never had the courage to do.

But once she was diagnosed, I came clean with her. I told her everything. About my past, my childhood. My father's alcoholism and his own depression and the fallout that became our lives. (It's all a vicious circle). But as I spoke to her, it was as if a lightbulb went off, as if she saw me, the real me, for the first time and it all made sense. That jagged piece that was always missing finally fell into the puzzle and she understood where it was that I came from and maybe where she fit into it too. And again, bless her heart, she loved me anyway.

We tackle our illness in such different ways. I hide, staying at home as much as I can whereas she is out there living life on her own terms. She's upfront and open to people about everything. My daughter has anxiety but it doesn't have her.

I have learned so much more from watching her deal with this and how she lives her life, than I ever did on my own. Before I didn't care to learn the whys of how I came to be what I am. But now I want to know. I have to know. So I can help her and help myself as we figure it out. Though, so far, she has helped me so much more than I have her. I often wonder who is the mother in all this. :) But I continue to learn, through her. She is a great advocate for mental health awareness. I'm learning brain chemistry is a complicated thing and very sensitive to even the slightest imbalance. Maybe some day, she'll help other people who deal with the same things we do.

Though I still often blame myself for what she is going through, she is the first one to shoot that self-blame down. She doesn't hold me accountable. This is an illness. Genetic. Environmental. In some cases, consequence of circumstance. Sometimes a combination of them all. It is what it is, and we have to be proactive in it. Deal with it. Keep moving forward.

My daughter strongly believes that everything happens for a reason. And although I hate that I have passed this horrible mind-muddle on to her, perhaps this did.

We are more than mother and daughter, we are sisters in this battle to be masters of our own minds. I am better, stronger and hopeful because of her.

Thank you for stopping by. For anyone struggling, don't give up. There is help out there. You don't have to do it alone. 

Resources:

Bell Let's Talk

Bell Let's Talk Facebook Page

Canadian Mental Health Association

Children's Mental Health - Ontario

Kid's Help Phone (Canada)

I'll be giving away a free ebook from my backlist and a $10 Evernight Publishing Gift Certificate to one lucky winner.  To enter the rafflecopter you can like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter or If you have a helpful mental health link or if there is a bit of advice you could share that helped you or someone you know through a particularly tough time, please share it in the comments section below. The contest runs until the end of April. (you don't have to fulfill all the options to enter, unless you feel like it) Cheers and blessings.
 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

New Release, New Contracts and #AutismAwareness Month #competition #giveaway #prizes

A New Release, New Contracts & Autism Awareness Month

It's been a busy few months. And this past week book one from my very first series launched from +eXtasy Books . A crime suspense family saga with an angst ridden love story.  If you'd like to read an excerpt scroll down. I'm also visiting with my friend Donna Gallagher, author of rugby romance, and the very popular League of Love Series—if you'd like to read the excerpt that I shared there and there's a bit about how Always Cambridge started out.  

Always Cambridge Buy Link @eXtasy Books
Book One in the Always Cambridge Series
(expected Amazon arrival date April 9) 
I will add links to the site as they become available.

I've also got some contract news. I've signed the first three contracts for a paranormal erotic romance series with MuseItUp Publishing . Book four has been verbally accepted. And I'm working on books five and six while keeping up with edits for the Cambridge series. Although I have two historical romances with MuseItUp, this will by my first books with MuseItHOT.

 

The Wild Darkness Calls Collection  is a new line of sexy, dark erotic romance themed stories and they must all have dark in the title. Which was fun.

I'm also taking part in author RJ Scott's Autism Awareness Blog Hop. RJ hosts this hop every year and I've learned so much from it. I hope you'll check it out, along with taking a moment to read the thought provoking posts from the participants this year. The topic is What I've Learned from a Child. And if you scroll down again, here, you'll find my post and what the prize is that I'm giving away. Plus you'll see the link that takes you to RJ's place where you'll find the master list of authors and prizes taking part.

 Until Next Time, Take Care.

Gave Good Face is also available for Pre-Order @Totally Bound

 

April Blog Hop for Autism Awareness #Giveaway #Competition

April is Autism Awareness Month and April 2nd, 2014 marks the seventh annual World Autism Awareness Day. Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate the day with unique fundraising and awareness-raising events.  

I'm pleased to take part again this year in author RJ Scott's April Autism Blog Hop. There are lots of wonderful prizes to be won every day, but more importantly, follow the hop and check out all the posts from the amazing authors who are contributing this year.

So here's my Autism fact:

In the US Autism costs a family $60,000 a year on average.

The topic this year is what you've learned from a child.

I learn from my children everyday. I know as a parent you are the one who is supposed to be the teacher and the role model, but what I've gained from my kids over the years, has been immeasurable.

My eldest son was born with more than his share of health problems and in attempting to help him through, I had to grow up in a hurry. We've kind of grown up together really. In the early days, it kind of seemed like it was him and I against the world, just fighting every day to keep him here. And he is a fighter.  Thank goodness, I cannot imagine what life would have been like without him. I was determined that he would live. I know it was totally out of my control, but at the time, I couldn't think any other way. 

It took years and several major operations and therapy and he will always be watching over his shoulder for the next thing that might befall him, but he is as prepared as he can be and determined. This past year, he had a bit of a set back. And because he'd gone such a long stretch of being in relatively good health, I think it was a wake up call for him, that he is not Superman, (though he'd love to be) and that he is not invincible. Though his mind is steel, his body isn't. And it really pisses him off too. :) He hates that it is his weakness. But as I a said, he is a fighter and he never gives up. He taught me strength; that I didn't know I had, he taught me love; that I didn't realize was possible, and he taught me tenacity, which any one who knows me, would never attach that word to me. I'm not a go getter by any stretch. But maybe when it counts, I can be a bulldog, and 'C' taught me that. 

So when I started this new chapter in my life, my writing, my son was my biggest supporter (all of my kids have been incredibly supportive of my dream), but he never allowed me to give up, even at some of my lowest points when I just wanted to stop. He'd pick me back up, give me shake and tell me failure was not an option. At times, he has been my sounding board, my critic, my mentor, my artistic expert and the shoulder that I go to. I have dedicated the first book in my latest series with eXtasy Books to him, because right from the very first day that I mentioned this project to him, he has been behind it. It has taken years and many twists and turns and incarnations. I'm not sure that AC would have seen the light of day, if not for his faith and support. 

Here's the blurb for my brand new release, book one in the  

Always Cambridge Family Saga Series:

 The Always Cambridge Series chronicles the life of Holly Cambridge through her tumultuous childhood and violent teen years and the consequences that stem from being the daughter of mob boss, Bill Cambridge.

~

Always Cambridge Book One

He is her guardian, but she'll do anything within her power, to protect him.

His only duty is to keep her safe, but he can’t save her.  

Holly Cambridge is just a typical kid, or so she thinks, until one day, she takes a good look around and realizes that her friends don’t have bodyguards dogging their every step.

At the age of sixteen, Holly is assigned a new bodyguard, Randy Phillips. He is a tall, muscular, God-like force in the young, impressionable and lonely girl’s life. He is her friend, her confident, her conscience and the older man she adores beyond reason.

Randy Phillips, is fully aware of his young charge’s adolescent crush on him. Although, he is flattered by the adulation, he maintains a safe distance and professional demeanour until Holly is wounded in a rival family blood feud, and the course of both their lives is changed forever.

Always Cambridge Now Available @eXtasyBooks

release date April 1, 2014

eXtasy Books     Amazon Canada     Amazon US
Amazon UK

Thanks again RJ for being such an incredible advocate, author and friend!

So here's my prize:

Leave an email address in the comments below and on April 16th, I will announce a winner at random. I'll be giving away a $10 gift-card from ARe and winner's choice of any one of my titles. 

And don't forget to follow RJ's Blog Hop for Autism Awareness

April Blog Hop for Autism Awareness

Fact about Autism:

65% of people with autism surveyed in 2012 said they would like more friends.

This Year's Blog Subject:  Prejudice

My son was born with numerous health problems. At four months old, he had already survived two surgeries and by the time he turned five he had endured many more. But we were lucky; he now lives a fairly normal life. By looking at him, you would never know that there is a problem. He is a normal child. And there’s a word that I hate. Normal. Who’s to define what is normal. My child's limitations are ‘normal’ for him.

I have to say that I was probably overprotective of him. And his siblings were allowed to do things that he couldn’t. It broke my heart that I had to be the bad guy and always say no, but coming so close to losing him, time and time again, I was not about to jeopardize his health so that he could play football, like his brother. But standing on the sidelines, watching, was little comfort and he just didn’t understand.

We went through some very tough years with him. He resented us. He hated his life. He was the angriest little man. He couldn’t seem to see past the bad to appreciate how lucky he really was. The only thing he could see was that he was different.  

We come from a religious background. I attended church every Sunday when I was a child at our parent's insistence, and even though, I no longer ‘practice’ I still believe. My faith is strong, although while my child was fighting for his life, I struggled. And while some of the other mother’s were crying why me? I was praying why him? Why any of them? Why are some children only born to suffer?

And during my son’s time battling through his own limitations and trying to find his way in the world, when things were at the worst for him, he had a teacher at school who terrorized him. Berated him, embarrassed him, verbally abused him and left him out in a Canadian winter without a coat. Several visits to the school and phone calls to the principal, this ‘teacher’ still had a job. Why? Because it’s the child’s word against his. I am not excusing the things that my son did, he was angry at the world, and yes, I do believe he acted out. But he needed understanding, not cruelty. And because of our faith my son wore a crucifix on a chain around his neck. It made him feel better. The ‘educator’ and I use the term loosely, walked past my son one day, thumped him in the chest, right on top of the little silver cross and said, “That won’t save you.” 

These are the people who help shape our future. God help us all.

Please, don’t get me wrong. There are some wonderful teachers out there, and fortunately my child was lucky enough to have several in the years following that helped restore not only our faith in the system but more importantly his, and I have a number of family members who are in the time-honoured profession of education and I will not allow the behaviour of one bad apple to cloud my judgement of the whole.

But sometimes it would help us to remember that we just don’t know what is going on in another person’s life. And we don’t realize what long term affects might stay with a child, especially when we are in a position of power.  

I often wonder if the individual in question believes in anything? Obviously not God, but a higher power? Or even just Karma?

And being a Christian, I believe I am supposed to forgive this man, for his malice and prejudice. But on those awful days when my son came home crying or so angry that he hurt himself, I also remember the good book says an eye for an eye. And I am human. Just a mother trying to protect her child. So, God will have to forgive me if my thoughts are not always charitable.

Someday we will live in a world with... 

Acceptance. Charity. Compassion. Empathy. Fairness. Faith. Forgiveness. Grace. Gratitude. Generosity. Honesty. Justice. Kindness. Love. Mercy. Patience. Peace. Respect. Responsibility. Tolerance. Sincerity. Understanding.

Let it be true.

 
H K

Wow, that was kind of a heavy post but now for some light-hearted fun; I will be giving away a copy of either Swap, Lost Time, You Found Me or Streetlight People to one lucky commenter. So, don’t forget to leave an e-mail address and tell me which book you’d most like to own, if you are chosen the winner. (Click on the thumbnails below to read the book blurbs)

I’d like to thank RJ Scott, Love Lane Books, Total-E-Bound and eXtasy Books for educating us with this Blog Hop for Autism Awareness.

Please Check Out the Other Awesome Participants Taking Part in the Autism Awareness Blog Hop. AND don't forget to hop on over to RJ Scott's and quickly fill out the form to enter the
Competition to win vouchers from Total E-Bound, eXtasy and Love Lane Books

http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.ca/2013/04/autismbloghop.html?zx=3e295c58b49bf976

Grand Prizes will be drawn May 1st, 2013.