More WeWriWa 8 Sentence Sunday from The Mechanic

It's time for another WeWriWa!

Click www.wewriwa.com for more information and to see other 8 Sentence Sunday posts.
This post is part of an ongoing blog hop hosted by Weekend Writing Warriors. Every Sunday, participating authors post eight sentences from a published work or even a WIP (work in progress). Then we hop to our fellow warriors’ blogs and check out all the fabulous fiction that’s happening! It's a great way to meet readers, writers, and your next favorite book!  :)


For January, we are going to explore The Mechanic. This is Linda's story in the Loving Her series.Linda. Her name means beautiful. Linda's life, though, is anything but beautiful. Independent, head strong and perhaps even a bit vindictive, Linda is both tough and vulnerable. Linda survives the unthinkable from both family and strangers alike. Linda is not one to be kept down. As long as she stays true to herself, she knows that her life will one day, indeed, be beautiful. Linda's incredibly powerful story is the third book in the Loving Her series.

Background on this snippet: Linda is outside smoking one evening. She looks up at the sky and is very contemplative.

The sky was a jet black blanket with the stars as little shining decorations. A three quarter moon sat like a full, round, content Buddha belly. The Philadelphia skyline was a lighted mountain range, poking the sky at various heights.

She exhaled her smoke and watched it swirl up into the night. Linda suddenly felt so small. The buildings around her stood at unfathomable heights. The sky was so much larger than the small portion she could see. The universe was so much greater than the few stars she saw.

Hope you liked it! Happy reading!

Feminism in my books

I just read an article about some of the forward leaps that have been made in the name of feminism this year. That caused me to look at myself and my work.

For as long as I can remember (yes, even as a kid. No joke), I have been adamant that females are equal to be males, and should be treated as such. So, I live feminism. I also write feminism.

You'll note that the majority of my main characters are women. And they are strong women. They are career women, wives, daughters, sisters, lovers, fighters, individuals. My characters come from all walks of life. They run the gamut of personalities. They are not defined by their looks or their jobs. They are simply who they are as human beings.

For as much as I want to raise LGBT awareness, I also want to support the feminist movement. I want to remind all readers that we are so much more than our race, orientation, and gender. What we look like, what our physical bodies are, do/does not define us. We need to raise our voices. We need to remind the world that our size and gender do not mean that we are lesser in any way. We are so much greater than our bodies.

So, women and men alike, I implore you to read my books. Come discover these characters who defy race, gender, and orientation. They remind us that we are all simply human beings.

A to Z '14 - Valiance

For this year's A to Z Challenge, I am honoring my grandfather who passed away on April 3, 2013.


V is for Valiance.


My grandfather was a very valiant man.


He served in WWII. He was an MP for a while, and eventually became a speech writer in the Army. He wrote for one of the generals. He was one of the first people to hear about D Day, and wrote a speech for the general that day.


He was valiant beyond his military service, though.


He was never afraid to take risks. Business risks, personal risks - he lived on the edge without being reckless.


Never once would he refuse to stand up for what he believed in. Defending what his right, he was brave and courageous when necessary.



He showed me that you could be brave without being pompous. He was quietly strong. Never one to start a fight, but always ready to do what was best.



Valiance, courage, bravery are all wonderful attributes to have. They cannot be used carelessly. But when used properly, they are the mark of a true hero.


V is for Valiance.

A to Z '14 - Unafraid

For this year's A to Z Challenge, I am honoring my grandfather who passed away on April 3, 2013.


U is for Unafraid.


My grandfather was unafraid. Never once did I ever see him exhibit fear. When my mother was 16, they had an electrical fire in the house. When my grandparents got to the house, my grandfather ran in (while the house was burning) and saved the family parrot. The firefighters told him he couldn't go in, but he did anyway.



That was him: brave, determined, and always thinking of others (seriously. How many people do you know who would risk their lives to save someone else?).


He came from nothing. A childhood in poverty, he had to be determined just to survive. He started working as a teen in order to support himself and his family. With no degree, not even a high school diploma, he could not be afraid if he wanted to get anywhere in life.



He turned down no jobs, no opportunities. Even if he was afraid because it might be something new, foreign or awkward to him, he still did what was needed. He never let fear hold him back. He never said, "I am afraid."


He was bold, and he ended up making a name for himself in the process.


He taught me the meaning of courage and determination.


Thanks to him, I face life boldly.


U is for Unafraid.