Halloween Extravaganza!!! Winner Announced

Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. I am one of those people that is simultaneously terrified and fascinated with scary things. Anyone ever seen Wrong Turn? I will never set foot in West Virginia because of that movie. But, we have "paranormal activity" in our house (according to the real life Ghostbusters hired by the previous owner) and it doesn't scare me at all. I'm contrary that way.

Anyway, what are your favorite or scariest horror/Halloween movies? I'm interested to know so I can either rent them or steer clear of them.

Below is the story of my worst Halloween ever, for those of you interested in reading it. But if you want to get down to business, the winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is listed at the bottom of this page, with details how to claim your prize.

You know how sometimes the lowest points of our lives become the funniest when you look back on them? Well, last Halloween was one of those times. My son was four and trick-or-treating as one of the transformers.  My daughter was two and dressed like a ballerina. She should have been a ninja. Ever since she’s been able to walk, she’s had this incredible ability to slip away undetected. And she’s a master at hiding too. She’ll find somewhere small and dark, where you think, there’s no way she’ll hide there, it’s too scary. Then she stays silent for…however long it takes to find her. Seriously. This could be up to thirty minutes. It’s creepy.

Anyway, while trick-or-treating, my daughter put her ninja ballerina skills to the test and disappeared. Right in the middle of the biggest, most pimped out Halloween house I’ve ever seen.  Lit up pumpkins lined the walkway. Gravestones dotted along the lawn. Ghosts swayed from the trees (I have not yet verified that those were decorations). Fog machine, creepy soundtrack, the whole shebang. It was like a Halloween party store and an amusement park got together and had a baby on their lawn.

My son had one thing on his mind. Candy. So he went running down the walkway toward the tacky house promising tricks and treats. I could see the owners at the door dressed up like characters from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Now, I’m a regular Frankie fan, but how was I supposed to explain a man in a corset and high heels to a curious four year old? So I ran ahead with my son while my husband was supposed to be watching ninja girl. 

After thanking the Rocky cast for the candy, I turned around to find my daughter missing and my husband studying the mechanical hand popping up from the ground (he’s an engineer, ‘nuff said?).

A search party that could rival the FBI ensued. Ten frantic minutes later, we found a chocolate faced ballerina hanging out with a ghost behind one of the gravestones. Goodbye early bedtime.

Fast forward a couple hours later and ninja baby was asleep in her bed. My son was sitting on our bed watching the Disney Channel with hubby. I was doing some writing at our breakfast bar, not pigging out on the kid’s candy. All of the sudden, some black creature from hell came flying straight at my head. I screamed then ducked under the counter. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a bat. I rolled my eyes at the irony.  A bat loose in the house on Halloween. Can we get anymore cliché? 

Regardless, it still freaked me out. Have you ever studied a bat’s flight patterns? They are completely chaotic and unpredictable. I know they’re blind and use echolocation, yadda, yadda, yadda. But I think this one was drunk too. Anyway, I was so paranoid the thing would get stuck in my hair, I got down on the ground and crawled – army style – across the kitchen floor, screaming, “Bat! Bat!” My husband came running down the stairs, thinking the house was on fire and I locked myself in the playroom.

After a few minutes, I peeked out the door to see him waving the American flag we usually have hanging outside like he’s practicing for Color Guard. He later explained it was the only way to catch the bat without hurting it. A net, somehow, didn’t cross his mind. Whatever. I’ll leave the bat wrangling to him. 

So, hubby yelled that the bat flew upstairs where my son was sitting quietly watching Wizards of Waverly Place. Did he bat an eye (pun intended) that a drunken winged creature was zooming around the room like a helicopter with a broken propeller? Nope. Wizards of Waverly Place is that good.

Hubby followed the bat to our room, flag in tow. The flag soared around the room, mimicking the erratic patterns of bat flight. Decorations flew off shelves. Pictures fell off walls. Finally, the bat got wrapped up in the flag and both went down in a flurry of red, white, and blue.

And to top it all off, ninja baby threw up chocolate chunks in her bed. 

And that was my worst Halloween ever.

AMAZON GIFT CARD WINNER IS.....

Violet

Congrats. Email me at leia@leiashaw.com to claim your prize. If I don't hear from you by Wednesday night I will draw another winner.

Giveaway Closed - Winner Announced

The giveaway is closed. I'll announce the winner tonight at 9pm EST.

Amazon Halloween Giveaway!!!!

On Halloween I'm going to giveaway a $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD for one lucky winner who follows my blog and comments on any post with their favorite Halloween costume. If the follow button doesn't pop up try reloading the page. That usually does it.

I'll go first. When my husband and I were dating we went to a party and I was dressed as a butterfly and he was dressed as a butterfly catcher, complete with giant net.

Now your turn.

Bonus: Halloween hotness

Worst Halloween Ever

 Worst Halloween Ever!

Come check out my guest post at Good Choice Reading  where I write my worst Halloween story. A missing child, a bat loose in the house, and even an appearance by the cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. It's funny and I even have a picture of my kids up! Leave a comment and make me happy :)

Scroll through the other posts too cause they have giveaways and author guest posts all week. A fabulous group of gals and a great website!

What is Love?

Got in a discussion recently with someone about love. The person I discussed things with implied that the people in your life shouldn't put up with your "issues" and that there's no such thing as true, unconditional love.

We all have issues, can we agree on that? People are in a constant state of flux. We are a work in progress from the day we're born until the day we die.

But love doesn't expect change. It might strive for it, support it, challenge it, but it doesn't demand it. When you choose to love someone (and I firmly believe love is a choice), you choose to take them as they are with no promises or guarantees of fixing them, healing them, or changing them, in the future.

Love just is.

If you can't let it be, well, that's not unconditional love. And there's no such thing as conditional love.

We all go through periods of doubt, don't we? We wonder if we're good enough. If we're truly loved and understood by those around us. If we're even lovable. If there will come a day when the people we love most will stop putting up with our "issues" or flaws or weaknesses. And what would we do when that time came? Would we be strong enough to handle it or would we curl up and die? It's a frightening thought.

I had one of those moments of doubt recently and asked my husband (who I've known for 10 years), "You know me, right? All of me. You know I have issues?"

He looked at me and said, in his casual, easy-breezy way, "Of course I do. I accommodate them because I love you."

I smiled and all doubt was washed away. Because there is such a thing as true, unconditional love. And I have it.

So...what does love mean to you?

(This is such a hot topic and I have more to say so I'm going to continue it later this week)

Teaser Tuesday

Since I've been kinda lame, here's another excerpt from Destiny Unchained. This picks up from the previous post for 6 Sentence Sunday so start there if you haven't read it yet. Hope you enjoy it!

His eyes shifted rapidly as he studied her face. Her eyes, her lips, her neck, down to her breasts, back to her eyes again. 

She could have killed him. Probably. Maybe. But she didn’t want to kill him, she wanted to calm him. In an ultimate act of trust, she yielded. Her body sagged underneath him, her pride stinging a bit. And, in the wolf way, she turned her head and bared her throat. Male satisfaction burned in his eyes before he leaned into her neck with his nose and inhaled.

His savage moan tickled her skin. Then his body contorted. It melted on top of hers, fur disappearing, and half its mass. In only seconds, a human took its place. A naked human.

She tried to pull her arms down but he gripped them harder. “Be still, Talia,” he said, his voice husky like gravel. “Don’t move.” His face warmed the crook of her neck. “I could hear your pain from miles away. Do you know what that does to a man?” She couldn’t speak, only lay there under his heaving body. “My Natalia, hurt and afraid.”

She opened her mouth to deny that last part, but he bit her chin.

Lifting his head, he stared down at her. Calmer, more human now, but still on edge. “Don’t argue, Talia, for once. Please. I have to taste you. Do not deny me this.”

It was a command, but his eyes asked for permission. She nodded.

Six Sentence Sunday

The beast was heavy on top of her, but took care not to crush her. His powerful arms thrust hers over her head, pinning her to the ground. Even with five inch long nails, he was careful not to hurt her. His chest heaved, blood dripped from a bite mark on his neck. With every ragged breath, a snarl escaped his throat and blew the hair from her face. When she struggled, he growled quietly in warning.

Can you guess who the beast is?

Barely Surviving

Sorry I've been MIA. I haven't posted in a whole week.

Hubby is away on business in China :(  Me and the kids have been sick with just about every flu symptom you could have. Of course, this is directly after getting the flu shot.

Writing has been put on hold. Marketing has been put on hold. Basically everything but surviving has taken a back seat for a while.

The kids are still alive so that's a plus. They're well fed and mostly have clean clothes. That's about all I can handle with hubby is away. I don't think I'd survive if I had to be a single parent. I told my husband that I hope he didn't mind but if he died, I'd be on eharmony right away. No, really.

Anyway, trying to pump out book 3 for a December release but I can't say if it will be early December or late. I'd like to do it before the holidays but hubby doesn't get back for another week and I've been in a writing slump anyway. *Sigh*  Anyone wanna finish it for me?

I'll try to blog more often. I'll do 6 Sentence Sunday this week and put up something yummy. I promise.

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome to this week's Six Sentence Sunday. I have a simple little snippet from Destiny Unchained. Natalia is having doubts about her relationship with werewolf pack alpha, Cristian. Poor Cristian. He gets his heart broken. But don't worry, Natalia gets her shit together and there's a beautiful happily ever after!

Cristian had managed to drag her into Pretty Fluffy La-La Land where everything worked out just because he said so. Well, reality was a cold-hearted bitch. And people who believed in idealistic delusions deserved to be shot for screwing with the rest of the world. Especially Cristian, who made her…feel things she could never act on. He made her believe in things she could never have. She should've killed him a long time ago.

Don't forget to stop by Bitten by Paranormal Romance for Sage's interview and giveaway today.

And don't forget to check out my FREE novella, For the Love of Harmony! Just tweet or facebook my link or sign up for my mailing list and you can read the paranormal romance novella in your browser. Samples of all three of my books are at the end.