Welcome to February Celebrations!

Hi ya'll! Happy early Candlemas!

So much going on this month, you'll want to drop back by from time to time and see what I'm up to, 'cause it's sure to be fun. 

First off, I'm determined for this February to be 100% better than last year's. For those of you who are regulars to this blog, you'll remember Feb. 2013 was hell in a hand basket for yours truly. Car problems, house problems, and then I did an #EPIC fail, or should I say fall? Whew. Not my best moment. Had to deal with the fall-out (pun intended) for months afterward, and even now, a year later, my nose still gets weird tingles if something brushes against it due to the nerve damage. ::sigh::

Second, February is my birth month and to celebrate I'm giving little love valentines, (like many of us did when we were in school), on special blog posts throughout the month. Do you love jewelry? Is your favorite color purple? Were you born in the month of February?

A winner will be drawn from each of these special valentine posts. So watch my blog in February and you could win some bling from me.

**actual prizes may differ slightly from pictures, also other types of jewelry are included in various contests this month.**

Third, my friends are helping me plan a virtual birthday party on the 16th, with music, games, and prizes. I hope you'll be able to attend.

Fourth, the fates willing, I hope to have all the edits done on a couple of my older ebooks and hope to rerelease them this month, as well as other material. *fingers crossed* 

Sending all ya'll love and light. Keep warm, merry, and bright.

Cass

>> oh, p.s. for those of ya'll who are wondering about Candlemas and St. Brigid's Day, I posted a couple of articles a few years back, check it out:  http://cassandracurtis.blogspot.com/2012/02/happy-imbolc.html and http://cassandracurtis.blogspot.com/2009/02/imbolc-and-la-fheill-brighde.html

Super Fun Buzz For Readers

I wanted to announce some super fun stuff coming up that I think readers will enjoy. My good friend Rachel has asked me if I'd like to participate in a huge blog promo to celebrate her upcoming book, Geared For Pleasure and of course I said YES! :-) I'll be offering up several chances to win a copy of my latest contemporary ebook, Naughty Little Secrets. Once I get a list of all the links to the blogs where her contest is featured, I'll post again here and let ya'll know. :-)

You'll also be happy to know I am working on a neat little short story that I plan to upload to Smashwords as a freebie for readers. I'll keep ya'll posted on when it'll be released.

Tomorrow is leap day and I'll be over at the Amber Heat blog talking about one of the coolest days around. Just leave a comment on my post there at the Amber Heat blog site and you'll be entered to win a neat set of tiny red dragon lady nail appliques. These are so cute, I know the winner will love them. :-)

Also I've made a few changes to my blog and my website as I continue upgrading both to reflect my growing list of ebooks and to make the blog and the website more reader friendly and fun.
Part of that is the new MixPod widgets I've added to my blog. Now you can play the soundtracks from a couple of my current and upcoming ebooks!

As you can see, Dixie (from Shimmer) loves her Modern Southern Rock. ;-)
I also added a Mixpod for Open Season and that first song, Dirty by Grendel, is one that Cora and I used to request when we'd go virtual clubbing. :p But it does fit the nightclub/dungeon scene in Open Season very well.

Until next time...
Cass

If Life is A Highway...

Not sure, but if life is a highway, I think I just got a speeding ticket! :P

I actually took a notepad and pen up to the hospital, thinking I might have time to squeeze in and work on a new idea for a book. Sure. As if I am not already overwhelmed, I piled on more things to do. Oh yep, I do believe I am a glutton for multitasking.  But instead of brilliant new ideas, I have notes on my pad to remember to call all these people mum wants called. Oh and to drop by her rent, and call the office for her that handles her home health nursing, etc... There are pages and pages of notes and none are writing related. I really must be delusional to have thought I could find the time to write something or even think beyond the situation at hand.

The best news I can give is that she's been downgraded and was moved late yesterday into a 'regular' room. Whew. Another hurdle jumped and cleared. She also seems more cognizant, albeit in serious pain since they stopped her pain meds. I am upset she is not on anything for pain, but glad she is coming back to 'herself.' The drugs they were giving her made her hallucinate and she was sure Hollyweird was in ICU filming a movie the last couple of days. She would smile at the nurses and such, then once they left her room, she would turn to me and say, "She's another one in on it. She is part of the CAST."

Yep, a new movie, and setting is the hospital. A crazed gunman takes over ICU and trades shots with members of a SWAT team and one of the doctors tries to rationalize with the gunman and is shot. But she assures me the doctor is really okay, because another patient told her they only use rubber bullets.

Hmm, you know, maybe I could work mum's hallucination into a book? You think it would fly? :P

In the meanwhile, mum's new room is in the farthest wing of the hospital, and the nearest elevators don't lead to any parking lot I can park in, so I am hoofing it down long corridors yesterday and my asthma kicked in. Lovely. I so do NOT want to be a patient there. My sister also has asthma and heart trouble, so I am checking on her as we walk the 'blue' line down the hallway, both of us wheezing. lol.

I've got some appointments of my own later today, so I am trying to catch up on my emails and snail mail and updates to this blog so the extended family and all my friends and readers have the latest skinny.

Oh speaking of skinny, I got on some scales I saw at the hospital and have lost 3 pounds! Woot! At least some good is coming out of all of this. Now officially at 50 lbs weight lost this year! ::lives for silver linings::

Until next time...

~ Cass

Long Overdue Update

I decided an update to my website and blog is long overdue, and since it's easier (at least I thought it would be) to update my blog first, you're getting a sneak peek at what I've managed so far. Not bad, but nowhere near finished. Speaking of unfinished, I better get back to my wip. Eeps!

Until next time...
Cass

p.s. How the heck do I transfer all my old WP blog posts to this one, or is that even possible? Oh and how do I get this blog to show up in my WP website's menu bar? Yes, I am technically challenged and living in a complex technical world. But thanks for reminding me! :P

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I see it’s been awhile since I updated and felt like I should at least let ya’ll know I am back. Well, not completely back, more at half-speed, but better than nothing. ::smile::

My surgery was successful, in that I didn’t incur any complications. However, my road has not ended. You see, the surgery was for removal of a very large tumor that used to be my thyroid. Two weeks later, I received the results of the post-surgery biopsy and the news wasn’t what I’d hoped for. Folks, no easy way to say it, but I have cancer.

The good news is that they think they got it all, but I will have to undergo more tests and a special radiation treatment (called RAI 131), followed by a total body scan to determine if the cancer has metastasized.

If you Google the RAI 131 treatment for hurtle cell carcinoma, you’ll note I have to be in isolation for a period of time, since I will be radioactive. Yep. That’s me, Radioactive Girl. I joke that now I will glow in the dark, but in reality, I probably won’t. I hope.

Not sure if I will attain any superpowers with my radioactivity, but should you read of a woman in a glowing cape shooting arcs of light beams from her fingertips…or anywhere else, well, I’m just sayin’. LOL.

Gosh, the writer in me is really itching to pen a story about a woman with cancer who becomes a superhero. Who knows, I just might jot down story notes between radiation treatments. :)

Anyway, this is nothing more than a side path of my journey before I get back on the main road. I plan to rest, read, and write when I can, and when I feel like it. I am even doing edits on some of my upcoming books, taking my time to make the stories the best they can be and enjoying the process.
Hey, I might actually learn something! LOL.

To those that have emailed me with notes of encouragement or get well wishes, I want to say how much I appreciated that. ((hugs))

With much love,
Cass