What Is This?

 

My mother is an antique lover. She uses a pig scale for a coffee table. Need I say more?

The other day, she emailed me the picture above and said, "What do you think this is?" I am now passing the question on to you readers.

Ideas?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Who Wants to Hop on a Blog Tour?

I'm very excited to read Melissa Westemeier's Kicks Like a Girl. (It just arrived yesterday!) My longtime blogger buddy invited me to join her on a Worldwide Blog Tour. I am thrilled to participate and support some awesome authors. If you haven't already, please check out Melissa's work!

So, at this stop on the blog tour, I get to share a little bit about myself. I started writing for teen magazines like Seventeen and Teen in my 20's - when I was close to my teenage years. Now that I'm far from my teenage years, I still write books about teenagers. I just love how that period of life is so crucial to who we are and who we become.

My first novel, Fingerprints, is loosely based on my own life. When I was a teenager, my mother remarried. Shortly after, my stepbrother and stepsister moved in with me, my mom, my stepfather and my biological brother. It was nuts. Let's just say that our household was anything but harmonious.

The first story I ever sold to Seventeen, the StepPeople, was about our struggle to "blend" our families.Years later, I realized I could help other families figure out how to merge by writing a novel about our experiences. But I needed another storyline.

Thankfully, my past provided more inspiration.  Around the same time my mother remarried, I had started dating a guy who was verbally and physically abusive.

The two stories work so well together because the StepPeople scenes are hilarious. (We still recount those stories around the dinner table.) The comedy in Fingerprints balances the dark subject matter of abuse. So, while the reader may become aware of dating abuse red flags and warning signs, they don't feel horribly depressed as they read.

Savanna is the main character in Fingerprints. She has two best friends, Tally and Jane. So it only made sense to tell Tally's story next. Tally is sort of a forgotten child, left behind by two wealthy parents who are more concerned with their social lives than with their daughter.

Tally drinks. A lot. (They all do. So, if partying teenagers make you uncomfortable, these are not the books for you.) In her effort to be cool and "fine" through her desperate loneliness, Tally dances. At first, it's hip hop. Sexy, grinding hip hop. Usually on her stage of a kitchen island during one of her massive summer bashes. But when she ends up humiliated beyond her imagination, she goes back to her roots and seeks the structure and discipline of ballet.

I've just started writing Jane's story. Which I'm not going to spoil here. But I will tell you that the goal is to once again balance darkness with humor and hope.

We'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, this Friday, two lucky commenters will be chosen to receive a free copy of one of my books. So, please comment for a chance to win!

As for the next stop on the Worldwide Blog Tour, I've got something for everyone. Next Monday, August 4, visit these fine authors to learn what they're up to!

Kelly Polark, author of two picture books, Rockabet and Hold the Mustard, a middle grade novel, Rock and Roll Princesses Wear Black and most recently, a non-fiction picture book, Words on Birds.

Tony LaRocca, author of the awesome Sci-Fi collection, False Idols and Other Short Stories. It's literally out of this world.

Britt Dussault, author of 11 novels. (Yes, eleven!) And she's way closer to her teen years than I am. Check her out!

Meanwhile, what are you working on? What would you like to share with our readers?

xoxo,
Suzanne

What's Your Latest Food Obsession?

As part of my alternative healing process, my diet now consists mostly of cooked vegetables. Since roasted veggies can get pretty boring after awhile, I've been mixing up things up a bit.

My most recent obsession is stir fried baby bok choy and mushrooms with fresh ginger, garlic and jalapenos. It's fresh, spicy and salty all at once. Yum.

So what about you? What's your latest food obsession?

xoxo,
Suzanne

What's the Weirdest Gift You've Ever Been Given?

A few years ago, my very funny Aussie friends brought me this gem of a gift from their homeland.

Yes, that is indeed a bottle opener anchored in petrified kangaroo testicles. It's quite a conversation piece at parties.

What's the weirdest gift you've ever been given?

xoxo,
Suzanne

How Do You Feel About Alternative Healing?

I recently injured my back. It kind of exploded, actually. Without warning, it went into crazy spasms. The pain was so intense that I couldn't move. I'd never felt pain like that. I didn't even know people could feel that kind of pain.

At the hospital, I was prescribed prednisone, muscle relaxants and pain killers. For two weeks, I was high. But I still couldn't move. I couldn't drive. I couldn't sit up for any length of time. I spent most of my time on my back crying. I'd figured out that a traumatic experience had triggered the event, but I didn't know what to do about it. I called the doctor and asked for help. But they told me the treatment was the steriods and pain killers.

My friends had been driving me to a trusted chiropractor who was helping me do physical therapy. Slowly, I started to move a bit.

After about six weeks, for the first time (other than doctor visits), I went out. I met with my critique group. The first hug sent me spiraling into tears. And one of my fellow writers said she knew a therapist who specialized in healing trauma.

I started seeing that therapist. She gave me a surge of hope. I then met with a chinese herbalist who mashed up a brew of herbs that controlled the crying, anxiety and stress and minimized the inflammation. Next, I visited a neuromuscular re-education massage therapist who's been working every muscle in my body every week since. Seeking some more hope, I got a psychic reading. Then I had my chakras and energy cleansed by a reiki master. Just a few days ago, I had my first rehabilitative Pilates lesson. I couldn't do much of a workout yet, but we did identify the areas we really need to work on.

I still can't sit up for long periods of time. But I can walk. I can do the dishes and I can drive. I'm not crying all day every day anymore. I have hope.

But what if I had stayed with the doctor's plan of prednisone and pain killers? What if I hadn't tried multiple types of therapies? Where would I be?

How do you feel about alternative healing? What types of nontraditional healing have you tried? How did it work out for you?

xoxo,
Suzanne

What's on Your Summer Reading List?

I am reading False Idols and Other Short Stories by my friend, Tony LaRocca.

I have a confession. I have never read SCI FI. Like ever. And the stuff LaRocca writes about is spine tingling, creepy, suspenseful and totally makes me think, "What if?"

It's pretty awesome. And it's also fun to dive into a genre I know nothing about.

What kinds of books do you usually read? What's on your summer reading list?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Would You Want to Go Into The Storm?

When I was younger, I loved scary movies. I still remember the night in 1984 when my BFF and I held onto each other screaming through The Exorcist. Throughout my teens, I loved the suspense of Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street and every other spine tingling, terror inducing horror flick I could watch.

Now that I'm older, you couldn't pay me to watch that stuff. The real world is scary enough. Why would I want to add to it?

Last night, I saw a trailer for Into the Storm. I've never seen a tornado and I never want to. In fact, I'll take an earthquake over a tornado any day.

What about you? How do you feel about scary movies?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Wind Chimes. Love Them or Hate Them?

My neighbor has wind chimes. They annoy me. I know they're supposed to be slightly magical and calming. They probably have cleansing energy and psychological effects I could benefit from.

But they just keep reminding me they're there.

I get the feeling wind chimes are a love it or hate it kind of thing. What about you? Do you love or hate wind chimes?

xoxo,
Suzanne

What Word Do You Overuse?

When I began drafting Fingerprints, one of my critique group members, Sarah, pointed out that I had used the word "bolt" 67 times.

After doing a "find" in Word, I discovered Sarah was right! My MC, Savanna, had bolted out of bed, down the hall, across the street, out of David's house, into the salon, into the ocean and about 100 million other places.

Oops.

Since then, I've learned to use my thesaurus and choose my verbs very carefully.

What words or phrases do you tend to overuse?

xoxo,
Suzanne