New Babies, MD Anderson, and a Beached Shark

Well, I failed again on my eight sentences for Sunday. Part of the reason is I was too dog-tired to even open my computer while the other part is I got off track on my days and forgot it was Sunday! My scheduler for posts has never worked on here, thus rendering me gone another week. However, I have interesting stories to share with you as a result as my most recent MD Anderson visit.

As many of you know, I have to be seen at MD Anderson in Houston every three months as the result of a cancer diagnosis that shook my world just under a year ago -- it shook my world alright, and saved my life. Sound strange? It does to me, too, which is why I had to write about it, just to make it make sense. That book is almost done :-)

Well, check out some of our adventures while there . . .

We braved the beaches at the end of a jetty in Galveston . . .  this picture was taken just before my daughter's foot was stung by a jellyfish (we still don't know what kind) and we had our first encounter with a fin in the water . . .

This baby Bonnethead shark flopped up on the beach right behind the kids and me, at my husband and son's feet. I immediately snatched him up for a photo op. He was so sweet and precious!! I wondered how anyone could ever be scared of them. Then again, he was just a baby. I put him back in the water, he swam back to my feet . . . several times. The surf was so rough. Finally, I think he made it back out to the sea. I watched and watched for that sweet little fin.

Before my appointment, we made our pilgrimage to the Rain Forest Cafe. Not for the food, but for the river ride in the back! We had just come out of the ocean and were soaking wet and shivering in this picture!

After my appointment, and a good report (of only some changes, but none cancerous . . . back in three months) we lit out for Dallas where these beautiful kids were waiting for us! We named them Banana and Carrot. 

And that brings us to an end :-) Hopefully -- now that I have reliable internet, the appointment out of the way, and a desk to work from, I will see you here Sunday for eight sentences :-)

Meet Author Ann Swann

Today, join me in welcoming the beautiful and talented author Ann Swann to the blog. Not only is Ann an amazing author, she is also a fantastic mother and grandmother! Yup, she is my mommy!

Welcome Ann (er, Mom!) Give us the run down on your newest release, Lilac Lane, your suspense follow up to bestseller Stutter Creek. 

Ella and son escaped her ex's drunken wrath once. Now he's out of jail. Can they survive another round?

        He shattered the old wooden door from the inside with one well-placed kick from his size twelve boot.

            The chair was still beneath the knob, but the entire top panel of the door had splintered. In the moonlight coming through the kitchen window, Ella could see his massive silhouette.

            With another kick, the whole door disintegrated. Shards of wood flew in all directions. The red kitchen chair went scooting across the floor until it hit a piece of debris and flipped over on its side.

Sounds like a good one -- as usual! Where can readers grab a copy? 

Amazon    http://tinyurl.com/qf2makb

iTunes   http://bit.ly/1z7ArgW

Barnes and Noble   http://bit.ly/WJt2H1

Smashwords   http://bit.ly/WJt8yf

http://www.5Princebooks.com

ARe  http://bit.ly/1lzgV4S

I hear you're working on a third installment in this series, Copper Lake. Care to share a bit?  

Here is a snippet from Work in Progress: COPPER LAKE ~ Book Three in the STUTTER CREEK series

            The bones were wet. The clay in the soil trapped the moisture as efficiently as a layer of mulch in a flowerbed. When Edgar held the femur up to the moonlight, he was thrilled to observe how fully the dirt and mold had settled into the cuts he’d made. It created an inky labyrinthine abstract on the once-white surface.   Ecclesiastes says there’s a time for everything.

            I think the time has come.

            He caressed the soil around the bones, and then he pulled on latex gloves and lifted the rest of them from their shallow bed. Time has come, he whispered. Time has come. He often repeated things to himself when his hands were engaged in pleasurable activities—and this was the most enjoyment he’d had in a long time.

Want More? Here's a little bit more about Ann . . . 

Bio

Ann lives in Texas with her husband and rescue pets. She loves libraries and book stores and owns two e-readers just for fun. Ann writes what she likes to read.

All For Love, a Contemporary Romance filled with heartache and hope, was Ann’s first novel for 5 Prince Publishing. It was an Amazon bestseller in Literary Fiction.

Her Romantic Suspense series begins with

Stutter Creek (Amazon bestseller), and continues with

Book Two, Lilac Lane, which one reviewer labeled “scared-the-pants-off-me.”

Book three, Copper Lake, will be out in 2015.

Ann’s Phantom book series centers around a couple of teenage ghost-hunters.

Stevie-girl and the Phantom Pilot,

Stevie-girl and The Phantom Student, and

Stevie-girl and The Phantom of Crybaby Bridge

All have been on Amazon’s bestseller lists for scary tales and ghost stories.

Ann also has short fiction in several anthologies. The most recent short story, Sleepaway Pounds, is included in the anthology, Seasonal, Sweet, and Suspenseful.

To find out more contact Ann at one of the ways listed below, or click on the STAY UPDATED button on her Amazon Author Page.

Amazon Author Page: http://tinyurl.com/6wl3oe2

Blog: www.annswann.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/annswann.books

Twitter: @ann_swann      

Email: swannann76@yahoo.com

Spring Break, Cancer Stuff, and A Book Sale

Thanks for stopping by at this, the tail end of Spring Break (or beginning of Spring Break, depending on where you are). Around here, we kept it interesting as a family of six (and sometimes seven) usually do.

I started off the break a few days early, getting a sub for my 6th grade classroom the Wednesday prior so I could have a couple of procedures done in the O.R. Pretty heavy stuff, but now I'll be the better for it and there was no indication that any cancer had crept anywhere else in my bod. Yay! However, I did have an issue waking up from anesthesia . . . suppose I just needed a bit of extra sleep :-) 

The Saturday after surgery, the family packed me into the car and we sojourned across the Lone Star State to my every-three-month checkup in Houston at MD Anderson. We tried to make it a mini-vacation, with stops in San Antonio and Galveston (despite the rain and fog) to dip our toes in the ocean. We found lots of dead jellyfish and some awesome seashells to bring home. 

At the appointment, it was determined all is well and I'm not due back for another three months -- double yay! No more surgery slated in my future (thankfully) and my oncologist maintains that everything cancerous was most likely removed in the first surgery (way back a year ago!) and the spots he was concerned with are posing no immediate threat. Works for me! 

On a lighter note, I just learned that my Amish romance novel, Rebekah's Quilt, is on sale this month for just .99 cents! I hope you'll pick up your copy today!

Come back Sunday and check out a sneak peak from my newest work, Missi Wanderin' in the Woods!