10 Fun Facts About Lindsay You Didn’t Know

I came up with an idea for a new series on this blog! I want to give you 10 fun facts that were not included in my novels about my characters! How does that sound? I thought it might be a fun way for you all to get to know the characters we love so much a little bit better, and if you haven’t read my books yet, perhaps it will pique your interest enough to finally pick them up. 😃 Anyway, onward to the first character in the series, Lindsay Picou Sterling from The Way We Go!

10 Fun Facts About Lindsay You Didn’t Know

1. Lindsay is allergic to bees. She discovered this when she was six years old and got stung while playing outside near some bluebonnets with a then childhood friend named Holly. A honeybee stung her on the knuckle of her left thumb, and she went into anaphylactic shock. Holly’s mom had to call 911 to save her life, and now Lindsay has to carry an Epi-Pen with her everywhere she goes. She still thinks honeybees are cute, though, and actually contemplates getting a tattoo of one one day. 
2. Speaking of tattoos, Lindsay has one. She got it with Ruby the summer after their first year of college. They got “best friend tattoos", but they aren’t matching because they aren’t that “ugh, goddamn cheesy” according to Ruby. Lindsay has black and white quill and inkwell on her right shoulder blade, there’s a splash of color where the ink has spilled. It’s in Ruby’s favorite color – blood red. Perhaps I’ll tell you what Ruby’s is in her 10 Fun Facts list. 😉
3. Lindsay was not happy when Gloria found out she was pregnant with Katie. They are seven years apart, so there is quite a big age difference, and Lindsay had gotten used to being the only child. She was not really happy in her life with Gloria, how could she be when her mother was either prostituting or jumping from one bad relationship to another? Their life was never stable, but it was the only life Lindsay knew. When she found out Gloria was pregnant, she thought things were going to get much worse. She was already sharing her mother with Katie’s father, and now she was going to have to share it with a new baby? Lindsay was certain that she was going to get no love at all. But she was dead wrong because Katie brought more love into her life than she could have ever believed. 
4. Let’s talk about food. This is really two facts in one, but I love y’all. 😉 Lindsay’s favorite food of all time is chicken strips from Popeyes. Yeah, she’s got a real refined palate. Haha! Oh, yeah, don’t forget the Mardi Gras mustard! Her least favorite food is anything grape-flavored. Real grapes are fine, but anything grape-flavored grosses her out to no end. Even the smell makes her gag!
5. When Lindsay was nine, she broke her arm falling off a jungle gym at a park. It was one of those big, half-circle ones (do ya know what I’m talking about?) and she and some neighborhood kids were playing King of the Mountain, and she was rushing to climb to the top and fell off. She landed funny on her arm, and SNAP! She fractured her radius.
6. Her first “boyfriend” was in second grade. His name was Kennedy, and he was a redheaded, freckle-faced little boy who’s favorite things to talk about were Star Wars and Ninja Turtles. He tried to hold her hand once, but she pushed him away and ran away. He wasn’t her boyfriend after that.
7. She hates painting her fingernails. She hates the smell of nail polish. She hates the feeling of nail polish. She hates when it chips. She just hates the whole process. Her nails grow long, strong, and really pretty, but they are always bare and natural. Her toes, too.
8. She’s not shy even though everyone thinks she is. She’s just an extremely observant person. She would rather sit and watch people rather than/before interacting with them. One of her favorite things to do is people watch. People really interest her, but she can be quiet and seem withdrawn/shy when really she’s just taking in everything around her. This can also make some people think she’s bitchy/standoffish when she’s really not.
9. Lindsay only dreams in black and white. She’s never had a dream in color, and she’s really fascinated that other people do.
10. And speaking of dreams, she can lucid dream. She taught herself how when she was a kid because she used to have a lot of nightmares due to her traumatic childhood. She read a lot as a child, and she happened to stumble upon lucid dreaming when she was a pre-teen, and she realized it could help her with her bad dreams. It did. It didn’t help her escape the nightmare of her real life, but it did get her away from her nighttime traumas. Now, she can control her dreams, and that’s pretty dang cool!

I hope y’all enjoyed these 10 Fun Facts About Lindsay You Didn’t Know! If you haven’t already read The Way We Go you can find the novel here on Amazon (both it and its companion novel, Growth Spurt, are on sale for $.99/£.99 on the Kindle store for a limited time) or on my website (where you can get a signed copy directly from me!). I will do more of these with more characters in the near future! 😀 

10 Fun Facts About Lindsay You Didn’t Know

I came up with an idea for a new series on this blog! I want to give you 10 fun facts that were not included in my novels about my characters! How does that sound? I thought it might be a fun way for you all to get to know the characters we love so much a little bit better, and if you haven’t read my books yet, perhaps it will pique your interest enough to finally pick them up. 😃 Anyway, onward to the first character in the series, Lindsay Picou Sterling from The Way We Go!

10 Fun Facts About Lindsay You Didn’t Know

1. Lindsay is allergic to bees. She discovered this when she was six years old and got stung while playing outside near some bluebonnets with a then childhood friend named Holly. A honeybee stung her on the knuckle of her left thumb, and she went into anaphylactic shock. Holly’s mom had to call 911 to save her life, and now Lindsay has to carry an Epi-Pen with her everywhere she goes. She still thinks honeybees are cute, though, and actually contemplates getting a tattoo of one one day. 
2. Speaking of tattoos, Lindsay has one. She got it with Ruby the summer after their first year of college. They got “best friend tattoos", but they aren’t matching because they aren’t that “ugh, goddamn cheesy” according to Ruby. Lindsay has black and white quill and inkwell on her right shoulder blade, there’s a splash of color where the ink has spilled. It’s in Ruby’s favorite color – blood red. Perhaps I’ll tell you what Ruby’s is in her 10 Fun Facts list. 😉
3. Lindsay was not happy when Gloria found out she was pregnant with Katie. They are seven years apart, so there is quite a big age difference, and Lindsay had gotten used to being the only child. She was not really happy in her life with Gloria, how could she be when her mother was either prostituting or jumping from one bad relationship to another? Their life was never stable, but it was the only life Lindsay knew. When she found out Gloria was pregnant, she thought things were going to get much worse. She was already sharing her mother with Katie’s father, and now she was going to have to share it with a new baby? Lindsay was certain that she was going to get no love at all. But she was dead wrong because Katie brought more love into her life than she could have ever believed. 
4. Let’s talk about food. This is really two facts in one, but I love y’all. 😉 Lindsay’s favorite food of all time is chicken strips from Popeyes. Yeah, she’s got a real refined palate. Haha! Oh, yeah, don’t forget the Mardi Gras mustard! Her least favorite food is anything grape-flavored. Real grapes are fine, but anything grape-flavored grosses her out to no end. Even the smell makes her gag!
5. When Lindsay was nine, she broke her arm falling off a jungle gym at a park. It was one of those big, half-circle ones (do ya know what I’m talking about?) and she and some neighborhood kids were playing King of the Mountain, and she was rushing to climb to the top and fell off. She landed funny on her arm, and SNAP! She fractured her radius.
6. Her first “boyfriend” was in second grade. His name was Kennedy, and he was a redheaded, freckle-faced little boy who’s favorite things to talk about were Star Wars and Ninja Turtles. He tried to hold her hand once, but she pushed him away and ran away. He wasn’t her boyfriend after that.
7. She hates painting her fingernails. She hates the smell of nail polish. She hates the feeling of nail polish. She hates when it chips. She just hates the whole process. Her nails grow long, strong, and really pretty, but they are always bare and natural. Her toes, too.
8. She’s not shy even though everyone thinks she is. She’s just an extremely observant person. She would rather sit and watch people rather than/before interacting with them. One of her favorite things to do is people watch. People really interest her, but she can be quiet and seem withdrawn/shy when really she’s just taking in everything around her. This can also make some people think she’s bitchy/standoffish when she’s really not.
9. Lindsay only dreams in black and white. She’s never had a dream in color, and she’s really fascinated that other people do.
10. And speaking of dreams, she can lucid dream. She taught herself how when she was a kid because she used to have a lot of nightmares due to her traumatic childhood. She read a lot as a child, and she happened to stumble upon lucid dreaming when she was a pre-teen, and she realized it could help her with her bad dreams. It did. It didn’t help her escape the nightmare of her real life, but it did get her away from her nighttime traumas. Now, she can control her dreams, and that’s pretty dang cool!

I hope y’all enjoyed these 10 Fun Facts About Lindsay You Didn’t Know! If you haven’t already read The Way We Go you can find the novel here on Amazon (both it and its companion novel, Growth Spurt, are on sale for $.99/£.99 on the Kindle store for a limited time) or on my website (where you can get a signed copy directly from me!). I will do more of these with more characters in the near future! 😀 

[Roxie Reviews] | “Blizzard” and ‘Rosette’ by Cindy Rinaman Marsch #yoiw

I am really excited to talk about this set of stories with y’all today!

I was contacted by Cindy Rinaman Marsch about her works, a short story entitled “Blizzard” and a novel called ‘Rosette’, and from her email alone, I couldn’t wait to dive into these stories. Unfortunately, I had a couple other works ahead of them in my TBR, so I was on pins and needles until I could get to them. The story behind the works is intriguing enough!

Cindy Rinaman Marsch’s mother found a journal written by Rosette Cordelia Ramsdell-Churchill (her fourteenth one, specifically) in the 1850s at a junk shop in 2003, and she told her daughter she had to “write this story”. Marsch had always wanted to write, but life, as it often does, had gotten in the way. Thirty years after she had gone to school for creative writing and literature, and after her mother passed away leaving her a few thousand dollars, Marsch finally set out to tell Rosette’s touching story and bring her back to life. 

With the help of her own daughter, Betsy Marsch, a talented artist who illustrated the paperback version, Cindy crafted a truly beautiful book from Rosette’s journal entries. Rosette was a remarkable woman, headstrong in her own way, and ahead of her time in a lot of ways. I can certainly understand why Cindy – and her mother – felt that Rosette’s story needed to be told. 

This is an excerpt from the email Cindy sent me: “Little historical detail exists for Rosette beyond this journal and some census and city directory and legal records, and her descendants have mostly died out. But in 1894, when she was in her sixties, she wrote two letters to a magazine expressing her opinions on suffrage and women’s clothing (bloomers in particular). In telling her story, I feel I have brought her back to life in a way, but at least given her a voice for our generations to read.”
 
If there was ever a perfect set of stories to showcase in my #yearofindiewomen, it is certainly these for their origin story alone, and I feel honored to have been given the chance to read them. Historical fiction is not usually a genre I read, and I wouldn’t have found these myself if Cindy had not brought them to my attention. (And if not for Katherine Hayton, who I had reviewed previously and recommended me to Cindy, so thank you Katherine!) I truly feel enriched having read these stories, as though I have gained something intrinsically. As if I have made a friend, in a bizarre way, in Rosette, and I thank you, Cindy, for telling her story. You did a beautiful job. Your mother would be proud.

Most of the time, when I agree to read/review for an author, I request ebooks because it’s what I prefer to read and it’s a lot more convenient/cheaper for the author to provide, but for ‘Rosette’, Cindy was kind enough to send me a paperback copy! I will admit that I still read most of the book on my Kindle simply because it’s how I’m most comfortable reading, but I am in absolute awe of how beautiful this novel is. Betsy Marsch’s illustrations truly bring this story to life, and the layout of this book is breathtaking. Not to mention the cover! The cover is truly stunning. In my review below, I have taken some photos to showcase just how well put together this book is. 

I look forward to passing this book on to my mother-in-law, who I know is going to love it. That, I think, is the best testament a story – when you know immediately someone you want to read it, too.

But without any further ado, let me get to the actual reviews.

“Blizzard” by Cindy Rinaman Marsch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5/5
Finished on August 18, 2016
Downloaded on Kindle for Free during a FREE promotion period. 
FREE on Kindle Unlimited | $.99 on Kindle 

“Blizzard” is a short story that Cindy Rinaman Marsch recommended I read before ‘Rosette’. It takes place in 1888 on one fateful day in Dakota Territory during The Children’s Blizzard. Rosette, her son DeWitt, his pregnant wife, and their young daughter are caught in the storm with nothing but a shack and their own wits to survive. 

I read this story as part of my #yearofindiewomen. I was contacted by the author about this story for an honest review, and I downloaded the story for free during a free Kindle promotion.

Before I read this, I had never heard of The Children’s Blizzard (also called the Schoolhouse Blizzard). (I will admit, I am not a well versed in history, as shameful as that is.) If you haven’t heard of it either, here’s a brief explanation from Wikipedia: 

The **Schoolhouse Blizzard, also known as the Schoolchildren’s Blizzard, School Children’s Blizzard,^[1] or Children’s Blizzard**,^[2] hit the U.S. plains states on January 12, 1888. The blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses. (…) The blizzard was preceded by a snowstorm on January 5 and 6, which dropped powdery snow on the northern and central plains, and was followed by an outbreak of brutally cold temperatures from January 7 to 11. The weather prediction for the day was issued by the Weather Bureau, which at the time was managed by Adolphus Greely; it said: “A cold wave is indicated for Dakota and Nebraska tonight and tomorrow; the snow will drift heavily today and tomorrow in Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota and Wisconsin.”^[1] (…) What made the storm so deadly was the timing (during work and school hours), the suddenness, and the brief spell of warmer weather that preceded it. In addition, the very strong wind fields behind the cold front and the powdery nature of the snow reduced visibilities on the open plains to zero. People ventured from the safety of their homes to do chores, go to town, attend school, or simply enjoy the relative warmth of the day. As a result, thousands of people—including many schoolchildren—got caught in the blizzard. The death toll was 235.^[3] Teachers generally kept children in their schoolrooms. Exceptions nearly always resulted in disaster.^[4]

What a tragedy. Can you imagine how scary that was to live through? And what an awful way to die? Marsch does an impeccable job of conveying just how terrifying it must have been through the eyes of Rosette as she is trapped in her son DeWitt’s tiny shack with her granddaughter as the storm beats down.

Shortly before the storm sets in, DeWitt and his heavily pregnant wife set out, walking, to a hotel in town so she could give birth, so not only is Rosette worried about keeping herself and her granddaughter warm and alive, but she’s no idea if her son and daughter-in-law are alive out there in the midst of the blizzard.

“Blizzard” showcases Rosette’s strength, resilience, and ingenuity. A lot of people would have crumbled under the pressure, but not Rosette. She held strong and keeps her wits about her for herself and her family.

This story is extremely well-written and engaging. I felt like I was right there with Rosette and Floy as they hunkered down in the freezing shack, pooling their body heat against the beating winds and snow, hoping their loved ones would return home. My heart raced along with Rosette’s as she searched the shack for something to form into a bell to signal DeWitt and Lillie in the direction of home, and I could very nearly feel the icy winds on my face as she faced them to post it outside the door.

If I wasn’t already excited to read ‘Rosette’ because of Marsch’s explanation of the novels origin, this story would have hooked me completely.

’Rosette’ by Cindy Rinaman Marsch
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5
Finished on August 25, 2016
GIVEN A FREE COPY IN EXCHANGE FOR HONEST REVIEW 
FREE on Kindle Unlimited | $3.99 on Kindle | $13.99 in Paperback

Rosette Cordelia Ramsdell is almost a spinster when she finally marries Otis Churchill in 1857. Her journal records their life together as they homestead in pioneer Michigan. It’s a hard life, and over the next six decades, the novel traces how we both choose and suffer our destiny, how hopes come to naught and sometimes rise from the wreckage.
 
I read this book as part of my #yearofindiewomen. 

Just like “Blizzard” this is a beautifully written novel that tells a story of a woman with a well of inner strength and wisdom that runs deeper than I think she ever realizes. She certainly never realized how beautifully she wrote. Her family, especially her mother realized it, though.

Marsch set out to bring Rosette back to life, and she succeeded. But not only did she bring Rosette back to life, but she brought all of Rosette’s family back, too. Each chapter is told from a different point of view, which I really liked, and it made all of the people in Rosette’s life all the more real. Her journal entries are poignant enough on their own, but with Marsch’s help, these people became alive again. 

And Betsy Marsch’s beautiful illustrations are truly something else. If you read this book as an ebook, I highly recommend getting this as a paperback for the illustrations. The cover itself is gorgeous, but the illustrations really brighten the story, and you can tell that there was so much thoughtfulness and effort put into every aspect of this book. It’s honestly touching, and I hope that where ever Rosette’s family is, they know about this book and are thankful for it because I know I would be.

Even if historical fiction isn’t a genre you typically read, I hope you’ll give this book a read. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. 

Here is a sneak peek at my upcoming YA fantasy novel, ‘Ealanta’. I think I might start posting little snippets like this. What do you think?

Here is a sneak peek at my upcoming YA fantasy novel, ‘Ealanta’. I think I might start posting little snippets like this. What do you think?

❣️❣️❣️

❣️❣️❣️

‘Ealanta’s’ proofs arrived today, and they are so beautiful, I could cry. 😂 😍

‘Ealanta’s’ proofs arrived today, and they are so beautiful, I could cry. 😂 😍

Three Months, Writerly Stuff, & Evil Idol

I figured it was about time I wrote a personal update ‘round here since I am a shit blogger in that regard. I suppose I always figure no one really cares about what’s happening with me personally. I mean, who really does?

My life is boring as hell. I do the same shit day in and day out. I wake up, tend to my guinea pigs, do a little housework, and then I write my ass off. That’s it. Every day I feel well enough, which thankfully has been most days lately. The days I’ve had bad headaches, I’ve mostly been able to power through. I’m so used to having headaches, I usually can just suck it up and keep going, as crazy as that is.
  
I give myself Thursdays off, but even then I don’t really take Thursdays off because I use Thursdays to write my book reviews and blog posts, and sometimes I write more then than I do when I write fiction. So really, I am always working, and I like it that way. I am not good at having downtime. I have never been. When I have downtime, that’s when I get depressed. That’s when I start to question why the hell I’m alive, so why would I ever want to slow down?

But anyway, that’s not the point of this post now is it? Leave it to me to get off on some ridiculous tangent. 

A couple of days ago was my three month meat-free anniversary. Super cool, man. I’m really proud of myself for having made this change in my life. I feel a bazillion times better since having gone vegetarian. (I have left sea food on the table for rare occasions, but my diet is 99% vegetarian; thus, why I call myself vegetarian and not really pescetarian.) I have lost about twenty pounds. Yep, twenty pounds. Dude, I can’t believe it either. According to myfitnesspal, it’s about fifteen pounds, but like I explained in my “Going Veggie With HIV” post, I am pretty sure I was about five pounds heavier when I started using the app again. I’ll know for sure when I see my doctor in a couple of weeks. I’m actually due for an appointment, but due to my partner’s crazy work schedule, I haven’t been able to schedule an appointment right now. Hopefully I can finagle one soon. I’m excited to get in and not only see my accurate weight loss and get my blood work done to see what my cholesterol levels are. I’m crossing my fingers that I can either lower my Lipitor dosage or hopefully get off of it entirely. 

This might be TMI for some of you, but I have shared quite a bit of my health stuff here, especially regarding my lipodystrophy journey, and this is part of it. Since developing lipodystrophy, I haven’t had my period but maybe four times in five plus years. Yeah, that’s real fucked up. It sounds awesome, and yeah, it kinda is, but it’s not healthy. I’ve been to the gynecologist to try and balance it out with hormones etc., but because of my severe migraines, they won’t give me hormonal birth control because of the extremely high stroke risk. (My insurance won’t even cover it because of that.) Well, since I’ve been losing weight, my ovaries/hormones seem to sort of be balancing themselves out for the first time in years. I’m gonna try not to get too graphic here to spare those of you that get freaked out by menstruation even though I think that’s silly as hell. It’s natural; get over it. I haven’t had a full period, but over the last couple of weeks, things seem to have been getting moving down there. It’s made me pretty happy which is kinda funny because I never really thought I’d be happy about getting my period again (I wanted it soooooo bad as a pre-teen, and then I realized how stupid I was, LOL), but now I would love to have it back. 

Overall, I am so fucking happy with this vegetarian thing. The only thing that could make me any happier would be if I kept losing weight, but I’m not stressing it. This whole time, I’ve gone into it with the mindset that that hasn’t been my goal. If it happens, that’s cool, but I’m not gonna be sad about it if I don’t lose even another pound. I’m fine with my body at this size. I’m just happy to be healthier and feeling much, much better than I was three months ago. 

I have been cranking out red pen edits on ‘Ealanta’ because my goal has been to get the book finished and published by the end of the year. If you know me at all, you know red pen edits is the part of my writing process I absolutely hate the most. It makes me actually question whether or not I want to be an author at all. LOL 

In December, I set up a manageable writing schedule for myself that has been working really well since I’m working on three projects – ‘Ealanta’, ‘Tell Her I Love Her’, and my series of novellas under a pseudonym. Basically, I alternate weeks between the novels and work on the novellas on the weekend. Well, since I wanted to get ‘Ealanta’ finished, and I’m so close, I decided to stop alternating between the novels and just focus on ‘Ealanta’ until I finished the edits because once I finish the red pen edit, the book is ready for a proof copy I can send out to beta readers. This was fine for a couple of weeks, but then I started getting really, really burned out. I started to hate the book, and that sucked. I realized a couple of days ago, what’s the point of that? I love this book. It’s my baby. It’s been six years in the making. If it takes another couple of months, who cares? I don’t want to end up hating it by the end of this process. So, I’ve gone back to my regular schedule of working on the novels alternatively and the novellas on the weekends. Besides, it’s probably a good idea not to get too disconnected from ‘Tell Her I Love Her’. 

And the last thing I wanted to talk about here is the voice acting competition I’m in, Evil Idol. My narration video goes live on the 27th, and I am so nervous. Chilling Tales for Dark Nights has been posting my competition’s narrations for about a week now, and I’ve been listening and commenting on all of the videos. They are all so good. I doubt that I’ll win this contest, but I hope I’ll at least move on to the second round. The only way I can do that though is if you guys will remember to vote for me. My narration will be live for seven days after it’s posted, and I’ll need you to “like” the video and share it and ask your friends to vote. The more “likes” the video receives the better chance I have of moving on. 

If I win this contest, it will be a dream come true. The winner receives free recording equipment and becomes a permanent member of the Chilling Tales for Dark Nights team. They tell phenomenal stories, and listening to them (along with other kick ass audio horror fiction shows) is among some of my favorite daily activities, so being a part of it would just be absolutely incredible. 

Either way, I think I might make a YouTube Channel of my own and do story narrations. This has kinda given me a confidence boost that I might be able to do something like that. We’ll see.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great weekend. If you read all this, you the real MVP because I didn’t really proofread this. #badwriter 😝 Love you all.