The Writer's Block

Today I want to spotlight a wonderful author, Shawn Speakman. He is a contributing author for "Unfettered," a compilation of short stories of the fantasy genre, and author of The Dark Thorn. Shawn is a cancer survivor and many consider him a hero to youth with cancer. He showed many of us that it can be overcome, or at least made a part of our lives that we accept and live on. He is also a good friend and webmaster to authors David Anthony Durham, Naomi Novik, and fantasy author (and my favorite), Terry Brooks of the Shannara epic. He is now working on The Everwinter Wraith, equal to The Dark Thorn. He is definitely a writer worth watching for. http://shawnspeakman.com/ https://twitter.com/scspeakman

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from my book, Balance on the Terra. Let me know what you think. At the beginning of Time, there were many Gods of different sorts and degrees of importance. They each had phenomenal powers, and all had fascinations of one kind or another. One had a love for the water and placed water sources that moved and flowed on the Terra, while another had a 'green thumb,' as it were, and filled as many areas with plants and trees as she could, creating her own garden to tend. This was the same for all of the gods. While others would obsess over their interests, there were some that took their time and leisure to let their diversions flourish on their own while the god would watch it, like a child would watch a spinning top. It was this way when the Creator of Time was given free reign over the Terra. Anything that his imagination could see walking, crawling, swimming, or flying was created with joy. However, he realized that while each one of the creations

Welcome, this is the first of what I hope will be a favorite segment of mine: Lottie's Author Spotlight. Today I am happy to say that the author is Zoe Saadia. She is a brilliant writer of historical fiction. I have personally really enjoyed her Rise of the Aztecs and Pre-Aztec series. Zoe has been researching pre-Columbian culture and history for over a decade now and brings the populace of the time alive with dreams, ambitions and beauty. Her historical accuracies make the everyday lives of these people incredibly fascinating. I am looking forward to reading her Peacemaker series and the Mississippians. Readers will be enjoying this author for years to come. http://blog.zoesaadia.com/ @ ZoeSaadia

This morning, as always, I logged onto my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Looking over all of the posts, I found that I looked forward to seeing what everyone was up to on a daily basis. This isn't because I do not have a life of my own to keep up with, quite the contrary, but I do much of my socializing on various networks such as these. This morning, however, I really let it sink in. Some of these people on Twitter have become associates and even friends yet we have never spoken more than through various emails. The folks on Facebook are my family, friends and even a few fans. Each and every one of these people have touched my life is some way. They have helped me get through sorrows and celebrations, the birth of a new book and several grandchildren, helped me in the kitchen (even if it was just with a better recipe than my own), gave me a boost when I needed it and taught me new things EVERY DAY! I just wanted to say that I truly appreciate everyone in my life, even the "e