Saturday, August 31, 2013

Easy Come, Easy Go: Dealing With Fair Weather Friendships As If You're in an Episode of the Real Housewives


This isn't the type of post I'd usually write for the Saturday Spotlight here at Through Stephanie's Eyes but I thought it was appropriate given the myriad of changes in the lives of many of my friends and that of my alter egos.  Both Tammy and Lia have new releases coming up and I've taken a backseat to help them prepare for those. Not that I mind one bit. I'm still finding my own niche and going through my old manuscripts. A few I've been able to tweak and get presentable and others are just, well, just NO! LOL!




Being in the background, many people forget I'm there and I end up privy to a lot. I've watched authors slam others for no reason other than they're perceived as threats and because they can. I've sat back and watched a close, dear friend (let's call her Jacqueline) make the decision to distance herself from another of our friends(let's call her Teresa) because she couldn't stand being lied to anymore. Okay, lying is a bit harsh, but it was enough of a problem "Jacqueline" just couldn't overlook any longer. Instead of confrontation, she ended their affiliation and online friendship with "Teresa." 


Teresa didn't understand why it happened, but instead of going to the source, the questions were presented to the online groups involving people who had no business getting involved. This was and still is an issue between TWO individuals and has NOTHING to do with anyone else.  So why can't others stay out of it?


It's only human nature to want to help a friend who comes to you upset, but it's another thing all together to add fuel to the fire. Instead of just supporting the friend and allow them to work it out, another person (let's call her Kim D) felt it was her "duty" as mentor, shoulder to cry on, den mother, and enabler to step in and demand an explanation. 

Wait. It gets a bit more convoluted. When the demand for an explanation was met with only silence from Jacqueline, the conspiracy theory wheels began turning. Now instead of an issue between two people who probably would work this out on their own if everyone else just stayed out of it, it's become a nasty bit of business with little barbs and digs tossed out about Jacqueline and any other person (let's call her Caroline) who appears to support Jacqueline.

All the subsequent B.S occurring is now based all on the word of "Kim D" who as it turns out has been trying to put wedges between Teresa and Jacqueline for quite some time. 

Low and behold Jacqueline and Teresa pick up the phone and start talking. Yay! They hashed out their differences, laughed about the silly crap that got them there in the first place and agreed to work on their relationship from that point on. Of course that's not what Kim D wanted to hear!

Ms. D is mighty upset. Seems Jacqueline and Teresa have been comparing notes and find out from each other all the little lies being told about not only them but Caroline and the rest of their little group of friends.  All of it being spread by one person...KIM D.

Kim D's hold on the group of friends is slipping and more of them are breaking away, moving on to greener pastures and leaving her behind. This doesn't sit well with her and she launches a whole new barrage of attacks, telling such ridiculous tales about former members of their group. All of it is proven to be false. 


Jacqueline, Teresa and Caroline continue on with their friendship and meet new friends along the way. Ms. Kim D...well, that's a tale for another day, my friends. The smoke around her hasn't cleared yet. I'll let you know!





Until next time
~Steph

Thursday, August 15, 2013

#ThursdayThirteen From Author @ZeeMonodee And Her New #Multicultural #Romance The Other Side



Another week's gone by and I've another Thursday Thirteen to share with you. This one is from author Zee Monodee's contemporary romance The Other Side (Island Girls 1).  On August 10th, Zee visited with my alter ego Tammy on our sister blog Not Enough Time in the Day for the Saturday Spotlight. You'll want to stop in there and take a look. The author shares quite a bit about herself and this series as well as what's coming up on her project list.

The book we're teasing you with today, was released on July 30th and can be purchased from Decadent Publishing or Amazon. Here's the blurb to wet your appetite...


Divorce paints a scarlet letter on her back when she returns to the culture-driven society of Mauritius. This same spotlight shines as a beacon of hope for the man who never stopped loving her. Can the second time around be the right one for these former teenage sweethearts?

Indian-origin Lara Reddy left London after her husband dumps her for a more accommodating uterus—at least, that’s what his desertion feels like. Bumping into him and his pregnant new missus doesn’t help matters any, and she thus jumps on a prestigious job offer. The kicker? The job is in Mauritius, the homeland of her parents, and a society she ran away from over a decade earlier.
But once there, Lara has no escape. Not from the gossip, the contempt, the harassing matchmaking...and certainly not from the man she hoped never to meet again. The boy she’d loved and lost—white Mauritian native, Eric Marivaux.

Back when they were teens, Eric left her, and Lara vowed she’d never let herself be hurt again. Today, they are both adults, and facing the same crossroads they’d stood at so many years earlier.

Lara now stands on the other side of Mauritian society. Will this be the impetus she needs to take a chance on Eric and love again?


Here's the Thursday Thirteen "taste" from The Other Side...

She shouldn’t have come. The sound of her mother’s high-pitched voice crept over the din, asking if someone had heard a car stop in the driveway. They’d come out in the next minute.

Picking up her courage, and wishing it were Dutch courage despite her not being a drinker, she tore her fingers and head from the wheel and threw the door open. Lara peeled herself out of the vehicle at the same time a chorus of gasps resounded in the garden.

All three older women were over her like a bad rash. Hugging and kissing her cheeks, holding her face in their hands while they exclaimed how beautiful she had become. All of which were simply tactics to lull her into complacency for when they’d really pounce on the meaty topic—her divorce.

With their deceptively frail-looking hands on her shoulders, they pushed her toward the back door to the kitchen. A memory of being pushed around in the same way toward the altar on her wedding day, the glittery gold and red veil over her eyes, assaulted her. She stopped in her tracks, the pain coming in from nowhere to slice through her heart. The biddies must not have noticed her stilling; they simply continued to steer her inside until she was seated at the table. A plate of towering hot bhadias appeared in front her, along with a bowl of satini cotomili, the coriander, tomato, and chili paste-like dip Mauritians ate with all their fried foods.


Auntie Ruby, resident gossipmonger, lived up to her reputation. She had been the first to mention Lara’s failed marriage before they made it back into the house.





To find out more about Zee Monodee and her work, you can find her on her website, Amazon Author Page, Twitter and Facebook.

Until next time
~Steph

Thursday, August 8, 2013

#ThursdayThirteen With Author @dochappycamper And #CoverReveal #eroticromance #LGBT


Welcome to a special Thursday Thirteen today at Through Stephanie's Eyes. I'm so excited to be a part of the celebration for my fellow Sassy Vixen author and alter ego Tammy Dennings Maggy. The third book in her now and forever series is going to be released within the next month. To get you all ready for it, she's agreed to share the first thirteen lines from The Surrender of Julia (Now and Forever 3) as well as give us a look at the fabulous and smokin' hot cover created by LMK Graphics

First let's take a look at the blurb...

L.A. artist phenom Julia Santos appeared to have it all. After a nearly two year long dry spell, her creativity was at its peak and she had her muse and model Jacob Hartley to thank for it. He brought the fire and raw sexuality back to her sculptures and into her bedroom, and a sense of security that only one other person in her life had ever given her. At last she had found the perfect balance between her professional and private lives, until the day a single call from someone in her past threatened to tear her world apart.

Fearful of losing all she’d worked so hard to accomplish, Julia delved deeper into the hedonistic lifestyle she’d come to rely on to give her an escape from the horrors of her past. Instead of bringing her comfort, her sexual urges lead her down the path of destruction; not only for herself, but those around her.  With Jacob fighting for his life after a near fatal motorcycle accident and Julia on the brink of death herself, Fate and her Guardian Angel Daniel intervene and transport her to a safe haven called the Island.


There she’s given a choice: stay on the Island and wait for her next rebirth, or go back and fight to be with the one who has been there for her through every lifetime.  Will she take the easy way out and leave all the pain behind, or will she choose the long and hard road reliving the horrors of her childhood in order to have her happily ever after with the Mistress of her dreams?

And now the gorgeous cover that brings Tammy's characters to life...


And here are the opening lines to tempt you even further...

“What if he doesn’t want to see me after all this time? What if he can’t ever forgive me for hurting him thirteen years ago?” Julia Santos continued to pace the floor of her art gallery as she wrung her hands together to keep from running them through her hair one more time. The new asymmetrical bob her stylist put her in did show off her raven colored hair beautifully, but Julia was having a hell of a time getting used to not having her locks piled on top of her head or cascading down her back.  The new cut was to help give her a more professional and confident look for one of the biggest meetings of her career. Now her nerves were shot to hell and her confidence was fading fast. I can’t do this now. I should never have let Carmen send that letter to him.

“Well at least you tried. If you end up doing the artwork for the club at the MGM Grande, you may run into him from time to time. His brother is Stephen Eischer’s right hand man. You’re going to have to work fairly close with him too.”

Julia stopped her pacing and stared at her lover and partner of over twenty-five years. “Carmen, I don’t think I can do this…”


Learn More About Tammy

Tammy Dennings Maggy is a multi-published poet and erotic romance author with Siren and Sassy Vixen Publishing. Her writing explores many facets of romance from ultimate betrayal to finding your soul mate. Her poetry serves as a companion to her novels and has inspired entire series all on their own. Tammy and her alter egos Lia Michaels and Stephanie Ryan make up the core authors at Sassy Vixen Publishing and together they've created the shared world series Temptations Resort. Look for the first books in that series to come out later this year.

Now happily married to her own Muse and soul mate, she continues to live her dream and act as secretary to all her characters demanding to have their stories told.


Check out:

Tammy's Website
Tammy's Blog
Tammy's Books on BookstrandAmazonBarnes and NobleSmashwords,  and iTunesSassy Vixen Publishing
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Like Tammy's Facebook Author Page
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