I'm going to be publishing a book in May! May 11th to be exact, which is Eat What You Want Day. This means I am in need of blogs to host me and my new book, A Quick Bite for dinner. Or lunch. Maybe breakfast, but I rarely get up early enough to eat it.

Would you care to join me? Fill out the form below with your details and I will get all the information to you by May 11th.

The first Wednesday of every month is the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Posts go up the 1st Wednesday of every month. Check it out here and join if you need support with your writing. Don't forget to stop by and say hi to the co-hosts: Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

​This month's optional question is: Other than the obvious holiday traditions, have you ever included any personal or family traditions/customs in your stories?

My answer for this is short: No, I haven't. With that out of the way, on to my insecurities!

I had a thought last month that felt like the perfect topic for an IWSG post. I was making dinner and I had a thought: I wish I was successful. It paused me and I asked myself, "Why? Where did that come from?"

Because really, what would be successful achieve? Would it really make my life easier? At this point in my life, hubby and I are living comfortably. We can pay bills and buy things we want. Even pricier things aren't that much of a strain as long as we budget smart. Being successful wouldn't reduce stress in that manner.

But what else?

I thought some more and realized being successful wouldn't help much in my life. It won't cure my chronic illnesses or the bouts of depression I get. Sure I'd have loads of money to throw at seeing doctors, but they'd all tell me the same thing about my illnesses: they can't be cured. Think about it. How many successful people end up addicted to drugs or alcohol? How many come out and admit they are dealing with depression. Being successful isn't going to cure those things.

So, what did I really want with that thought?

I guess what it really was is a desire for things to be easier. Because of the above chronic illnesses there are times when simple things are exhausting for me. I run out of steam easily, and since I can't have caffeine, I end up napping and while that gives me a small charge, it's often not enough for me to be able to do much the rest of the day. But success won't make things easier just like it won't cure my illnesses. About the only thing success can do is ease the stress of money problems.

And then success adds new, different stresses. When you get successful, that generally means you have tons of people watching you. They criticize everything you do. Demand things of you. Impossible things. You start to worry about it all going up in smoke and losing everything you've gained. Either way, successful or not, you're still stressed out.

What do you think? Have I hit the nail on the head? Or did I miss something?

PS: Don't forget to head over to my YA blog where Elizabeth Seckman is sharing an excerpt from her new novel, About Us.

The history of the Ouija board is interesting. It started as an innocent toy. Now, people use it seriously, trying to contact spirits. There are tons of tales of hauntings from people using the board. Are they true? I have no clue, but I love to read about them and get a nice shiver down my spine.

Here are 13 facts that may make you rethink playing with an Ouija Board.

1. The first ever Ouija board was invented by a toy shop in 1891: According to various sources, it was a Pittsburgh toy and novelty shop called Danziger's & Company.
2. During World War I, Ouija boards could be found in almost every household in the U.S. (Kind of makes you wonder. Were people trying to contact soldiers who died in battle?)
3. In 1922, Ouija board sales outsold Monopoly: Three million Ouija boards were sold in the year 1920. Over the next two years, they jumped over the sales of Monopoly.
4. Ouija board got its patent without proper paperwork: Elijah Bond carried an Ouija board to the patent office and asked it to spell out the name of the officer. Which it did and the officer was so spooked he approved the patent without finishing the paperwork.
5. The Ouija board named itself when asked for it: They had no idea what to call it and decided to ask the board and that's what it spelled.
6. The word Ouija means "good luck": Apparently the word is Egyptian.
7. Emily Grant Hutchings said that the book "Jap Herron" was dictated by Mark Twain's ghost through an Ouija board.
8. People who take fatal decisions based on the boards are often related in one way or another: A mother-daughter duo played with an Ouija board after taking a lot of hallucinogenic pills and later burned their own house. Investigators found out they were related to a person who attempted to kill his dog after playing the same game.
9. The most demonic spirit in an Ouija world is called Zozo. Crazy fact here: I followed a Youtuber for a while who got an Ouija board. She got rid of it after the name Zozo was spelled out.
10. Bill Wilson, the co-founder of Alcoholic Anonymous wrote the famous 12-step recovery program using an Ouija board: Bill had a spook room in his house and he used to contact spirits in order to seek their guidance for his own research. He was also found to be on LSD sooo.....
11. Six intelligence officers with top-secret security clearances were arrested for messing with supernatural forces through Ouija board: The officials claimed the souls predicted the Gulf War and an earthquake in 1990. Later, they went AWOL on orders from the board. They were found and arrested for their misbehavior.
12. The 1973 film The exorcist abruptly stopped the Ouija obsession with a mass fear of spirit infestation.
13. The scientific concept on which Ouija boards are based is called Ideomotor Effect: The ideomotor phenomenon is a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. (source)

So, anyone want to play? Have you played with an Ouija board? Had an unexplained experience with one? Or is it all in our heads and done with unconscious movements that tell us what we want to hear? (If you liked this post, you can get early access to it and exclusive flash fiction over on my Patreon.)

I'm giving my blog today to my friend, Tara Tyler to talk about the different kinds of beasts in her Beast World books. I hope you enjoy and check her out.

Valentine's Day is Abducted Life's birthday, and to celebrate, I decided to host a blog hop about being abducted by aliens. Because nothing is more romantic than getting kidnapped by aliens. What? Savannah and Evan disagree? Bah. They are no fun.

Anyways, join me and others this week as we muse on being abducted by aliens. You can still join, too, if you'd like.  I decided to write about the moment before they were taken.

The wheat rustled in the night's wind, swaying around Savannah. She ran her fingertips over the tops. Where was he? He usually beat her. Then he'd wrap his arms around her and...

Heat rushed up Savannah's face.

Footsteps turned her around. Evan strode to her. He ducked his head and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late. Mom woke and--"

Savannah crushed her lips to his.

The force caused him to step back. "Whoa." He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. They held each other, reveling in the warmth of their embrace. Evan kissed her again. His hands slid up her shirt. She moaned against his lips and the world around them faded. Nothing mattered. School tomorrow. Unfinished homework. Getting caught. Not even the shooting star that seemed to be coming toward them mattered. They were together and nothing could separate them.

Savannah Janowitz’s perfect life was destroyed the night she and her boyfriend vanished without a trace. A year later she reappears—alone. With no memory of what happened and strange, new abilities manifesting, Savannah struggles to rebuild her life.

Evan Sullivan never gave aliens much thought until the night he and Savannah were abducted. Changed by the horrifying experiments that made him less than human, Evan hides in the shadows and watches Savannah rebuild her life without him.

But neither can let the other go. Reunited, Savannah and Evan finally see a glimmer of their old lives return. As they face what happened to them together, they realize aliens aren’t the only danger out there.

Someone closer to home is watching, waiting for the right moment to tear them apart.

Now, it's your turn. How would you be abducted by aliens? What would you do?