On Birthdays

Happy Thursday morning, fellow word-lovers. Today, I am making a confession.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I say that with tremendous trepidation. Why? Birthdays have not always been my best days, shall we say. ;)

This year is a little different. There are some "bad" things going on, but not nearly to the level I'm used to. LOL. Tomorrow actually brings about a ton of change for me in my personal life. So, good bad or indifferent, I'm facing CHANGE as I get older.

But one positive thing that I have for my birthday is Impeccable.

Yes, I know. I blogged about Impeccable last week. Today, I want to talk about why Impeccable is such an incredible birthday gift.





Just as its predecessor, Impeccable was written during an extremely dark time in my life. As I wrote a story that brought about Carol's healing, I was healed. Her resolution became my own resolution. Writing that story was a gift I gave myself.

Then, it came time to wait. Wait for the contract. Wait for the editing. Wait for the release date. Wait.

In case you haven't figured this out about me yet: I am a rather impatient person. Waiting and I don't mix. LOL.

But I did because I had to.





I had NO idea that this book which is so near and dear to my heart would be released so closely to my birthday. Did my publisher plan it that way? She is good, so it is a possibility. It could have also just been plain old serendipity. I'm not sure. Either way, it's simply incredible.





So here I am, facing another year and a lot of change, and I have the greatest gift of all: my book. My book which I loved writing every word. My book which challenged me and helped me to grow as a writer...and as a person. My book which brought me such incredible solace. My book.

I love it. I am so excited to have both Imperfect and Impeccable out now and to have them both for my birthday. It was the greatest gift my publisher ever could have given me. And now, it is my turn to pass that gift on to you. If you are looking for a gift, if you are looking for solace, if you are looking to understand Carol's life, now is your chance. Download your e-book copy of Impeccable today! It is the best birthday present you could give me or yourself!

Happy reading!

Impeccable

The day I have been waiting for (for my entire life) finally arrived last weekend.


No, I'm not pregnant.

No, I'm not married...yet. ;)

Impeccable was released over the weekend!

I have been squealing with excitement like a piglet! It's just freaking awesome!

Impeccable is out in e-book formats right now, and always the good author that I am, I have the buy link on the the home page of www.leharvey.com




What is so special about Impeccable?

What isn't?





Seriously, Impeccable is the sequel to Imperfect that no one saw coming. It's ironic, because I thought it was at least pretty clear that the story wasn't done with Imperfect, and yet so many readers were floored that there was a sequel! LOL. There is and you can now read it (and get the FULL story)!

Imperfect and Impeccable were both written during dark times in my life. What's interesting is that they were very therapeutic for me. As much as I wanted to touch my readers, writing these two books touched me. That I could be impacted by these books astounds me. Not to sound egotistical, quite the contrary. I have never thought myself an incredible writer, so to be surprised not only by the story but by how it impacted me surprised me! Maybe I'm a bit better than I thought! LOL.

Both Imperfect and Impeccable surprised me in a lot of ways. Without giving it all away, those notes were not originally supposed to be tied to the person they were tied to. Things happened in Imperfect and I never quite knew why. As I wrote Impeccable, it all just fell into place. I did NOT plan it that way. It just happened. Lastly, I knew the basic end to Impeccable but how I actually close the book is as much a surprise to me as I think it would be to anyone else. I love that as a writer, I just go with the story and end up just as surprised as my readers! Life is not planned out to a "t," why should a story? The journey is a part of what makes a book great!

That being said, the journey in both Imperfect and Impeccable is emotional; it is trying; it is triumphant; it is cerebral; it is spritiual; it is fun; it is somber. It is incredible. If you are looking for a story that will truly touch you, look no further, my friend. There is a reason why I say this set will touch your heart and change your mind.

So, go download your copy of Impeccable today! I PROMISE you, you will not be disappointed!

Happy reading!

Trepidation

Good morning, everyone! There is an incredible irony to today's blog,

but you'll have to wait to the end to find out what it is. ;)



Recently, I was approahced by gayleeds.com to do a biweekly column for their site. I was flattered! I'm just a regular gal, not an extroadinary writer by any means. Yet, they asked me. So, I gladly accepted! :)



Then it came time to actually WRITE my first column. They said they were looking for something "blog-like." Phew. Ok, I can do that. ;) So I did. And I came up with something fairly decent. I set it aside for a few days and then went back in to edit.

After my edits, which did make the column a better piece, I began getting nervous. Did it make sense or did I sound like rambling fool? It made sense to me, but would anyone else get it? Would I offend people with my first article?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep. My wonderful insecurities were beginning to get the best of me. It was done, and needed to be sent in soon for them to review. I wasn't sure if they would edit it any further and I wanted to be sure there was time before my initial date of 9/12. It was with tremendous trepidation that I hit that send key. Suddenly, my finger nails were looking like a really good snack!

I didn't hear anything for a couple of days. Was it good news? Bad news? I second-guessed myself CONSTANTLY.




Then, this morning I woke up to an e-mail saying it was great & was being published today! It is, in fact, up on gayleeds.com and last I saw was at the top of the page! So, please check out my newest writing venture. I promise there are some very interesting column articles to come... ;)


Happy reading!

Love Without Boundaries

Good Thursday morning, y'all.



Today, I want to discuss my tag line. "Stories of Love Without Boundaries."

You see, in my world, love knows no boundaries. Love does not discriminate based on color, religion, income level, age, etc. And, amazingly enough, it doesn't in the real world either.



Love is an entity unto itself. It lives, it breathes, it exists. It is not a thing, it is a living spirit. Some may even call it a divinity, whith which I cannot argue. As such, love has its own beliefs and ways of living. And that is the way of no boundaries. Love is unlimited. It is only limited when we as humans place limitations on it. But, love the entity is endless. Let me show you.

I can think of two "interracial" couples with whom I am friends. Do I see them as such? No. I see them as the people they are. I know that not everyone sees them that way, but their love did not discriminate because of pigmentation. I know there are countless other couples out there like my friends. Since I like to emulate reality in my fiction, why should it come as any surprise then, that Carol and Alex are an interracial couple? Love does not know the boundary of color.

A dear friend of mine, who happens to be an incredible writer, has a book called Hyphema. I first heard of this book and these characters during a week-long writing workshop. What's so great about Hyphema? Many things, actually. One of which is that author Chelle Cordero uses that book to prove that love does not know the boundary of religion. Her characters are amazing and very easy to relate to. She breaks down walls and stereotypes and you see that love knows no religion.

In my personal life, love has never cared what is in one's bank account. Since when did love come with a price tag? Love does not know about finances. Trust me, it does not know ANYTHING about money! ;)



Love does not discriminate based on age, either. My own mother found the right person in her early fifties and has been living happily ever after. Love doesn't have a cut off after a certain age.

Nor does love have an expiration date. My 90 year-old grandparents are proof of that. They are still madly in love with each other. They may not always hear each other or remember what the other said, but they do love each other now more than ever.

These are my examples. This is what I write about. Love that never dies; love that isn't bigoted; love that is simply the entity of love. Some may call me a fool or a hopeless romantic. Truth be told, I don't mind those labels. I know love to be limitless and thus I am more than happy to write books that reflect that.

Happy reading.