New Release–Cold Ambition

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to present Rachel Sharpe’s debut novel…

Blurb

“It was my life-long dream to become a private eye. Little did I know that with my very first case, that dream would become a life-threatening nightmare…”

When Jordan James decided to embark on a career as a private investigator, she never could have imagined that a chance encounter would lead to her staring down the barrel of a gun on the roof’s edge of a high-rise building. As she begins to investigate her first case, the puzzling murder of a prominent businessman that has left Boston’s finest mystified for more than two decades, she finds herself suddenly immersed in a treacherous underworld brimming with betrayal, raw greed, and political subterfuge of international proportions. In the midst of this, she discovers she is falling for her mysterious client despite the hints of his dark past. Can this feisty Southern girl with a penchant for trouble solve this baffling case or is she doomed to become another tragic chapter in an international conspiracy?

Bio

Rachel Sharpe is the author of Cold Ambition, the first novel in the Jordan James, PI series. Although born and raised in the South, “Yankee” relatives first led Rachel to historic New England, which she has come to consider her second home and is the setting for the series.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in English, Rachel began dedicating her free time to her childhood passion, writing, and in the fall of 2013, she signed her first book deal with Soul Mate Publishing. An active member of Sisters in Crime, Rachel currently resides with her husband in the Greater New Orleans area.

Links

Website: http://www.rachelsharpe.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorrachelsharpe

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RachelCSharpe

Amazon: http://is.gd/fg1ksg

The Second Act of the Second Act

Posted on June 11, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Soul Mate author Eris Field sharing the challenges and triumphs of her first and second acts.

Here’s Eris!

Act 1 of the First Act. At nineteen, a registered nurse and married to a Turkish doctor, I saw myself, not as an individual, but as part of a team. A team that worked together to build careers and to create a home and family that included five fantastic children. That stage of life is reflected in a biographical novel that I co-authored with my husband: Legacy of Change: The Saga of a Turkish Family from Empire to Republic.

Act 2 of the First Act. Taking care of the family, working, and teaching psychiatric nursing filled the next period of life in which I was both an individual and a part of a team. That stage is represented by the textbook that I wrote for psychiatric nurse practitioners: Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nursing: a Biopsychosocial Foundation for Practice.

Act 1 of the Second Act. As a widow, I struggled to find the me that was left over when I was no longer a part of a team. I went back to a very early love–romance novels. My first publication in that field was The Gift of Love and reveals, to some extent, my sense of being stripped of part of my identity.

Act 2 of the Second Act. Although we may start out as one individual, life adds layers of knowledge, exposes us to experiences, and teaches us values, molding the individual that we were into a new, burnished individual. Now, my writing centers on contemporary multi-cultural novels. The first one, Lattices of Love, is about a Turkish-American woman who wants a marriage based on love, not an arranged marriage. It is scheduled to be released by Soul Mate Publishing on June 11, 2014. The second, For Love of the Circassian, is about a beautiful refugee and the three men in her life: one who has her, one who wants her, and one who loves her. It is in review, and a third is in process.

The poet, Robert Browning said it well: “The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.

Blurb

Emine Wheeler, a 26 year old Turkish-American professor of psychiatric nursing, wants to be free. She does not want to live any longer behind the lattices of old harem rules. Despite pressure from the Turkish grandmother she adores and her brother to accept marriage to a Turkish man they have approved, Emine is determined to marry for love, like her American father. She vows there will be love in her marriage.

At a psychiatric conference in Amsterdam, she meets Marc, a reticent Dutch psychiatrist who, believing that his colleagues blame him for his wife’s suicide, restricts his life to the safety of work and family that includes a troubled four-year-old he calls his daughter. However, when Emine encounters a problem with registration, he finds himself offering to help her.

Recognizing that Marc is the man of her dreams, Emine turns her back on the harem rule to avoid contact with men outside the family and accepts his help. Later, when Emine is faced with the choice of marrying a man she does not love or damaging her family’s honor, Marc offers a solution, a marriage of convenience. She will have the protection of marriage and he will have a mother for his daughter. Believing that her fierce love for Marc will be enough, Emine accepts only to discover that it is not, and when Marc falsely accuses her of betrayal, she flees. Marc realizes belatedly that he loves Emine beyond everything in his life but will his love be enough to entice her back?

Target line: To seek love requires courage but to let love own you requires risking everything.

Bio

Born in her grandfather’s home on Field’s Road, Eris spent her early childhood in Jericho, Vermont. At 17, she left Vermont to attend Union University School of Nursing in Albany, New York where she met her future husband, a surgical intern from Istanbul, Turkey. After they married and moved to Buffalo, New York, Eris worked as a nurse at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. When their five children finished high school, Eris completed her Master’s in Psychiatric Nursing and taught psychiatric nursing at the University at Buffalo.

Eris’ first publications were a biographical novel, Legacy of Change: The Saga of a Turkish Family from Empire to Republic, that she co-authored with her late husband and a textbook, Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nursing. Now, she lives in a ‘snow-belt’ town in Western New York and writes what she loves to read–contemporary, cross cultural romances.

She is a member of the Romance Writers of American and the Western New York Romance Writers group. Her interests include supporting the Crossroads Springs Institute in Kenya for children orphaned by AIDS and visiting as many fascinating places as she can.

Where to find Eris…

Website | Soul Mate Publishing | Amazon

Joanne here!

What a beautifully layered life! Thank you for sharing your journey, Eris, and congratulations on the release of Lattices of Love.

Spotlight on Taming Miss Tisdale

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Fall in love with romance again…

Blurb

Miss Tamsin Tisdale believes herself to be completely unsuitable for London life. After a myriad of social mishaps, and the potential ruination of her family name, she’s shipped away to her cousin’s northern estate. Only after she accepts the type of existence Society dictates she must follow will she be welcomed home.

Marcus Winston, the Duke of Grayson, has a lackluster reputation. The last in a dying line, he’s endured a protected life—rank with privilege, but encumbered by isolation. After a brief encounter with rebellion, he learns the devastating consequences of his carelessness and willingly accepts living life from inside his gilded cage.

However, a chance meeting with the brazen Miss Tisdale gives Marc the opportunity to reinvent himself into the man he’s always dreamed of being. But when his deception comes to light, and ghosts from both their pasts threaten to unravel the intimacy they’ve come to cherish, will either of them set their fears aside long enough to embrace love? Or will Miss Tisdale’s stubbornness divide them?

Excerpt

Marc watched the faint outline come across the dense morning fog, becoming more discernible as it approached. The tall, thin figure was riding along at a perilous speed, given the morning’s lack of visibility. He thought perhaps it was some gangly young man misguided in the fog. It wouldn’t be the first time someone accidentally stumbled upon the vast property that made up his family’s immodest estate.

Then the fog parted in an almost biblical manner, revealing his gross inaccuracy.

Were those . . . breasts?

Marc closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Typically, women didn’t ride alone at such an hour and they certainly didn’t wander unexpectedly across his property. It’d been quite a while, his last birthday to be exact, since his last intimate encounter with a woman—a gift, compliments of St. Regis—so there was always the possibility that perhaps his half-drunk, sex-starved mind had conjured up the sensual image.

He shook his head, opened his eyes, and looked back again toward the horizon.

Yes, those were most certainly breasts.

And she was most definitely not a young man. The woman’s riding habit pulled taut against her body as she raced toward him. Her hair was blowing behind her—various hues of auburn and gold, like wild flames curling about in the wind. Then a decidedly feminine voice burst through the morning’s silence, interrupting his self-doubt.

“Oh, thank goodness I found you!”

This was no mirage. She was indeed very real.

And loud.

Marc watched, dumbfounded, as the girl—no, woman—slowed her approach. “Pardon?” he called back, certain he couldn’t possibly have heard her correctly.

“I’m so happy I’ve found you,” she repeated, nearly breathless. “Well, not you specifically, anyone really. I’ve been riding in circles for close to an hour now, and I’d just about given up all hope of finding someone when I spotted you. My cousin warned me about the altitude of these hills and how I mustn’t underestimate the density of this blasted fog. Of course, I didn’t listen and got myself thoroughly turned about. You see, I’m forever regretting not listening.”

She rode closer still and he could see her quite plainly now. She was tall and lanky, her riding habit revealing a rather trim frame. His focus quickly shifted from her slender build to her smile. It resembled nothing of the demure, timid smiles he’d become accustomed to seeing within his social circles. This smile was wide, revealing a number of straight ivory teeth, and seemed to extend to every facet of her face. Even her eyes, large and dark, appeared to be smiling.

Were they brown?

No, blue.

They were an impossibly dark shade of blue.

Then she gave her head a little shake, throwing a mass of unruly ginger curls over her shoulders, captivating him entirely.

Bio

Jessica Jefferson makes her home in northern Indiana, or as she likes to think of it—almost Chicago. She is heavily inspired by classic sweeping, historical romance novels, but aims to take those key emotional elements and inject a fresh blend of quick dialogue and comedy.

Visit her at http://www.jessicajefferson.com for more of her random romance musings.

Creative Energy Overload

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have author Kim Handysides sharing several colorful acts and introducing the Stolen series.

Here’s Kim!

I am an author-in-waiting. My books (one completed, one in progress and one in planning) and the right publisher are poised to meet. It’s going to be some time this year. The stars and my aptitude are aligned. But it’s taken almost half a century to get here. Let me explain:

When I was a kid I was either going to be a biologist —sucked at math, so forget that, a writer or a Shakespearean actress —cue the trumpet flourish. I studied English and Dramatic Art at the University of Windsor, but graduated in Communications Studies—you know TV, radio, film production.

My first career related job was as a copywriter for radio. You get to wear many hats in a small market. Within a 2-year period, I morphed into newsreader, reporter, disc jockey, producer, music director and freelanced as a Master of Ceremonies and a club DJ.

I fell in love with Montreal on a vacation, decided it would be my new home and either work in radio there or write a novel. Two days before my holiday ended, I got a job as an overnight DJ at a major radio station. Within the next five years I was a DJ, Music Director, TV field producer and weather woman, and created my own production company with two other women. Throughout this time, I began voicing commercials, documentaries, and acting in films and summer theatre. I once was on a film set with Robert De Niro, and though he was only 13 years old at the time, did voice work with Ryan Gosling. I became primarily a voice actress and over the next 20 years moved to the top of my field in my city.

I also wrote during this time, because I’ve got ‘creative energy overload’. Mostly for the media outlets I worked for, but also for magazines and newspapers. And I started writing novels. Romance novels because frankly, it was the time of my life when I was falling in love with Mr. Keeper. (Married 21 years now) I got to the point when I started to get requests for re-submissions from a New York Harlequin editor, but when children entered the equation my free time evaporated. I figured I’d get back to writing when they went to school. But lo and behold, in Grade 1 my oldest was a very bright and very unhappy dyslexic, with no accommodation available for her, so I began to home school. Both of them. And that lasted nine years. (Kids are currently straight A students in college and university.)

Fast forward to now. It’s been almost four years in the making, but I’m extremely proud of the Stolen series, based on the reluctant love stories of the Beaumont family, Matt, Arabella and Seb. Stolen Kiss features the first of the Beaumonts, Matt and his lady-love-to-be Ruby. And it’s actually more of her story than his.

Stolen Kiss opens with Matt Beaumont doing just that. Stealing a kiss from blueblood, Ruby Jamison, that ruins her life and launches them into a chase to retrieve a stolen ’73 orange convertible. Weaving through betrayal and blackmail, they run into border issues, are helped by an aging hippie godmother and crash on the scene of a mob-related drug bust. But will their blossoming love survive the journey?

Stolen Heart pits marina biologist, Arabella, with her awkward high school nemesis, ex-Marine, Gus MacIsaac. The mob threatens the Beaumonts to keep incarcerated Seb quiet. Gus, the last person Ara ever wanted to see again, becomes her bodyguard. Following whale sharks in spite of voodoo threats, a tropical storm, and engine troubles, Gus attempts to break the barriers erected around Ara’s solitary heart.

Stolen Love will be Sebastian’s story. All I know about it so far is that Seb is on a path of redemption, wanting nothing to do with his former mob ties. His social worker, Mari, a single mom of three young kids has her hands full and has no time for love. Especially with a billboard handsome ex-con with a shady past and no solid plan for the future.

Where to find Kim…

Website | Facebook Page | Facebook Profile | Twitter

Joanne here!

Wow! I’m simply blown away by your creative overload. If you’re ever looking for another creative project, consider writing a memoir. BTW…The Stolen series sounds delicious.

Three Steps, No Failure

Posted on May 25, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

When asked about her extraordinary success, recording artist and motivational performer Jana Stanfield said, “I believe in the power of small steps to create great changes.”

Jana left a lucrative career as a broadcast journalist and moved to Nashville to pursue her dream of securing a recording contract. While waiting for her breakthrough, she signed up for voice lessons and took classes in song-writing, stand-up comedy and dance. She took advantage of Open-Mic nights and sang for free in the evenings. With the help of a small producer, she made a few recordings.

None of the record companies were interested.

Continue reading on the Soul Mate Author Group blog.

A Late Bloomer’s Story

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Soul Mate author Brenda Stinnett sharing insights and advice gleaned from her writing journey.

Here’s Brenda!

I graduated from California State Univ. Stanislaus with a BA in psychology. I taught kindergarten for twenty-one years in California, but I’m now a Florida transplant and a full-time writer. I have to admit that I’m a late bloomer. I didn’t get my teaching degree until my mid-thirties. However, I started writing after my daughter was born in my mid-twenties. Once I started teaching though, I got distracted from my writing and focused mainly on my family and my teaching career. Of course, I don’t think this was a bad thing.

Once my daughter started the Air Force Academy, I found more time to focus on my writing, so I took Writer’s Digest classes and went to some conferences. I also subscribed to Writer’s Digest and Romantic Writers Report. Both of these magazines have helped me tremendously in my goal to a writing career.

In my mid-fifties, I retired from teaching and focused more on my writing. It seems once I reach midway in a decade that I decide to try a new direction. My favorite pastime has been traveling and I’m fascinated by history and the paranormal, so I combined those interests into my passion for writing.

I submitted my paranormal romance, “The King’s Vampire,” to Soul Mate Publishing and I was fortunate enough to get a contract with this great publishing organization. My latest novel, “Tenth Degree of the Paranormal,” veered off into strictly paranormal suspense, so I decided to try the Indie route with it.

Second acts in life are scary and I think persistence and courage are major factors when we want to change our lives. It’s important to avoid people who send out negative vibes and seek out supportive groups who encourage us in our endeavors. I’ve found the authors at Soul Mate Publishing to be some of the most helpful, generous people around. I think we just have to hang on to our dreams and make sure we actually know what it is we want to do. We need to break down our goals into small steps. If we take five small steps every day to achieve our long-term goal, I think we have a good chance of fulfilling our dreams. We need to take joy in every step of the process and enjoy the journey as well.

Blurb

Whether a hunch, intuition, or something more sinister, Barbara knew she had no choice. Self-deception was no longer an option—comfortable but not an option. She knew each denial she’d ever made left a scar on her soul, each more painful than the last.

An epic battle between good and evil pits a mother who struggles to deny her paranormal powers against a megalomaniac intent on world destruction.

Barbara Stevens has always struggled with her inexplicable powers. Her unwillingness to acknowledge her pent-up abilities has not stopped her young daughter Tiffany from exercising her own powers.

Recruited by a group intent on honing and harvesting these paranormal powers to create a super race, Barbara and Tiffany are soon kidnapped and held on an island off the coast of Russia.

Suspicion soon grows that Tiffany may, in fact, manifest the ten highest paranormal abilities of astral projection, aura reading, bio-energy transference, levitation, past life regression, precognition, spontaneous healing, telekinesis, and telepathy.

If proven true, Tiffany’s abilities will trigger an opening to the gates of hell. But can this descent into evil be stopped in time?

Where to find Brenda…

Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Joanne here!

A fellow teacher and late bloomer, I found myself nodding in agreement as I read your post. Your advice is spot on. Thank you, Brenda, for sharing your inspiring story.

Beyond Seven-Year Itches…

Posted on May 16, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Soul Mate author Anne B. Cole chatting about seven-year itches and her debut novel Souls Entwined.

Here’s Anne!

My First Act is similar to many other women.

• Married my high school sweetheart after 7 years of dating
• Taught Elementary school for 7 years
• Stayed home to raise three children for 7 years
• Taught preschool for 10 years.

Whoa! What happened to the seven year itch my life seemed to be following?

It happened…I just didn’t know it…

Seven years into my preschool teaching I found myself at the pool where my children were competing in a very long swim meet. Swimmer parents know these things can take up to six hours for one session. I had kids swimming in both sessions, so I was parked at the pool for over ten hours.

I love to watch my kids BUT there is gobs of wait time in between their events. I grabbed my bag at the beginning of warms up and found that I forgot to pack my library book. Darn! For someone who is constantly on the go I have a hard time sitting still with nothing to do. Knowing that I was too far away from home to get my book, I turned the heat sheet over and started to jot down ideas. That outline became the foundation of my Second Act.

I began to carry composition books around with me so I could write in the car, at the pool, anywhere I could find a minute or two. What started out as a hobby became an obsession. Two years later, I finished writing my novel and found two wonderful critique partners. One pitched my story in a contest last year. A month later I found myself with a contract with Soul Mate Publishing.

On April 30th I became an author.

During last minute edits two weeks ago I saw a quote that inspired me;

“No Pressure. No Diamonds.”

My Second Act is a little more frantic since I remain a wife, mother of three teenagers, and a preschool teacher. Add to that; learning social media, writing a sequel, and promoting the release of my novel.

My advice to anyone with a seven year itch? It’s never too late to do something new.

Thanks, Joanne for having me here on your Second Act Series!

Blurb

When a cursed family heirloom sends Gretta Dobbs back in time, a hunky construction worker, Sam Daggett, suddenly finds himself love struck and joins her adventure. Their souls entwine within the bodies of young lovers on a Greek island in 1829, where they begin to unravel the mysteries behind Gretta’s ring all while avoiding a bloodthirsty pirate who is determined to seek revenge. Gretta and Sam must find the secrets needed to save her and her relatives from an afterlife in purgatory and return to their own lives—or risk becoming prisoners of the past, continuing the evil cycle of the ring’s curse.

Where to find Anne…

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Joanne here!

Anne, Thanks for sharing your inspiring story. I’ve just started reading Souls Entwined and am enjoying it immensely. Best of luck with sales.

Connecting Purposefully and Passionately

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Smiljana Orlic sharing the struggles and strong sense of commitment that shaped her life.

Here’s Smiljana!

I have been an individual with many interests. The truth was not the fact that I could not focus but I saw much excitement and fulfillment in life. I have always been passionate and I have always followed my heart.

Hence, this made it difficult growing up and in a society where I was told it was not possible, I needed to figure out my one purpose, get a safe job or just told it can’t be so. This created doubt, lack of confidence and consistently being hard on myself. At the time, I closed down and found it easier to be “normal” and more “like” other people. This consistent battle within myself caused me much pain and robbed me of complete fulfillment.

After much experience in the corporate world, I was tired of chasing the power and fulfillment I sought. I no longer could divide myself in two between my Divine self and the Power I knew was within to the superficial power that comes when we look for the answers outside of ourselves. Hence, I created my own business that incorporated the strong spiritual principles inherit within me and I intertwined them with strong business strategies to help others build their dreams. I have a process that I take individuals through and together we create systems that they can walk away with and incorporate to get the goals they desire in their business and/or lives. I love sharing the true ‘secret sauce’ of life, connecting them with their passions, empowering others and seeing them succeed in living their unlimited potential of themselves!

The advice I would share to professionals alike is not to ignore the voice of your spiritual soul, your uniqueness or your passions, as they are the nuggets that will lead you to building and creating a life of purpose. There is always a way without compromising your true authentic nature.

Success to me can be measured in many ways, beyond living the life I desire, living in the state of flow and having the things that make me happy, I rate my success on how many others I can help bring passion back in their lives and in their businesses. Seeing them truly free themselves in becoming all they can be and deserving of the business and life they desire brings a great smile to my face. Living a life that is thriving and not just surviving is what truly invigorates my core being and purpose!

Where to find Smiljana…

Website | Facebook | LinkedIn | Pinterest

Joanne here!

Smiljana, Thank you for sharing your journey and insights. You are an excellent role model for your clients. Best of luck with all your future endeavours.

A Satisfying Life

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Soul Mate author Janis Lane sharing a lifetime of experiences.

Here’s Janis!

Growing up: It’s an interesting thought to consider life having first, second, third, etc. acts. They’re the early days when I was growing up which included schools, proms, first kisses, learning to drive a car and a standard shift in a pick up, and skinny dipping once with my girlfriends. College and that sort of thing. Those were big changes as I left home really for good, only visiting after that. I wrote letters home and made them amusing.

Marriage and Babies: I had a few memorable adventures in my early marriage days. We moved around a lot initially, which I was eager to do. Life was a constant surprise and I was up for it. Hubby bought an airplane. Then came the beautiful baby girl and I wanted instant stability. I remember how puzzled my hubby was at the change in me. I thought he was weird not to understand. We planted ourselves in Western NY and there we welcomed a sturdy baby boy to go with our gorgeous little girl.

Years of Mothering: At the time they seemed to go on forever, but now it seems they were too fleeting. I wrote a bit. Seems I meant to do that when I majored in a few courses in college, but life was too interesting and I just couldn’t settle. The muse was knocking, but “…I hear ya knocking, but you can’t come in…” I painted, learned all about wild flowers, birds, nature, and how to be a Blue Bird leader and that seemed to subdue the urge to create. In between, I read tons of books from all sorts of genres and played an excessive amount of tennis. I earned this bum knee quite honestly.

Empty Nest: You think I’d sit down and write, don’t you? Nope. Freedom meant I could go with hubby and travel became an intense hobby. We made it a habit to “collect” art museums all over the country and quite a few out.

Beginning to Write: Then one day I sat down and started to write. I always meant to and the time seemed right. And I wrote, and I wrote, and I finished a novel. It was satisfying. I joined a local writers group and that was satisfying and illuminating. There were people like me!

I don’t know how long this writing bug will continue. So far I have more ideas than I can possibly get written and I have a lovely office all my own. I do know there is a deep urge in me to continue, some call it the muse, and some call it a creative talent. I call it having fun and living a satisfying life, which runs with hills and valleys but always interesting.

Blurb

MURDER IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD is the first of handsome Detective Kevin Fowler Mysteries. MURDER IN THE JUNKYARD and THE GLASS CAT (a short story) are due out sometime in May.

Life in a peaceful neighborhood is turned upside down when middle-aged women are found dead on their front steps. Detective Fowler races the clock searching for the identity of a madman and is aided by that beautiful, home town, princess reporter, Beverly Hampton.

Where to find Janis…

Website | Facebook | Twitter

Joanne here!

What a rich and colorful life! Thank for sharing, Janis and best of luck with all your releases.

Carpe Diem

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Joanne Guidoccio

Welcome to my Second Acts Series!

Today, we have Lori Anding King talking about her personal challenges and sharing remarkable insights and advice.

Here’s Lori!

I’m happy that I got a degree in something I enjoy: biology. I was grateful to land a job at a biotech company founded by Jonas Salk working on a Phase III study to boost the immune system of HIV infected people.

The same year I started, Magic Johnson announced he was HIV positive and HIV was thrown into the spotlight. I worked hard for a great cause and played hard too. I traveled all over Europe with a backpack on my back, biked through Northern Italy and traveled solo down under for 3 months when I decided to leave the company. I earned the nickname of “Indiana Lori” for my adventurous spirit and lack of fear for traveling to the unknown.

Then, I got serious, and took a partner position in a translation agency. All work and no play. This provided the foundation to venture out on my own to create AXIOM Translations with a business partner. I learned more in the 9 years as a small business owner than I did in my whole life. It was exciting, painful, fun and arduous. Towards the end of my 1st Act, I realized that I was recruited into this line of work recruited into someone else’s dream. Wake up, Lori, it’s time to live your dream. What is your passion?

What woke me up?

As I was walking on the treadmill of life, I didn’t even notice the pace was picking up to the point that I was running until signs of stress began to set in. A full blown breakdown occurred with my husband after dropping off the kids at school: “I just can’t handle all this juggling anymore!” With the relief of letting off some steam, I jumped back on. Next, my neck gave out. I was in a brace but could still function so I kept on running. Then, my neck gave out again, this time I could barely move it. “What, I can’t drive!” Flashes of my responsibilities run before my eyes. “I can’t drive the kids to school or pick them up? Who else is going to do it?”

I lose it.

Then, I remember, I need to let go. I am not in control. This is the way it is.

B R E A T H E

Months later, I found out a fellow alumna of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program unexpectedly and suddenly died while 9 months pregnant. The news of Sandra Huerta’s death rocked my world. She was a beautiful spirit who lived life to the fullest and I asked myself: “What are you doing with your life?” Subsequently, I read an article asking: which one would you pick 1. A raise or 2. Time off. Hands down, TIME OFF! I tell this story to my business partner who takes it as “Lori is going to take a few months off.” Cool. I go with it. And that is how I took the summer of 2013 off of work. I couldn’t bring myself to get back on the treadmill. I resigned as an active partner in the business in December 2013.

I wish I could say I have it all figured out; but I don’t. My mother always said, “Do what makes your heart sing.” That is exactly what I am doing, delving into the world of social media. My passion is for empowering people and small business owners to thrive. As a small business owner, I know how all-consuming it can be and how easy it is to lose sight of what is truly precious – family.

What I’ve learned:
– I will honor my passion.
– I will frequently check-in to be sure I’m not consumed by work.
– I will seize the day!

If you are pondering a 2nd Act, I have a few questions for you.

1. Are YOU happy?
2. Is what you are doing resonating with YOU?
3. Are YOU listening? Take time to really L I S T E N

I couldn’t hear on that treadmill; the wind in my ears prevented me from really listening. A mother’s death woke me up. Now, every day, I practice listening because I have time.

Life is too short to ignore your heart.

This is dedicated to Sandra Huerta, a much loved daughter, sister, mother, friend who was taken from this lifetime much too soon. She touched many souls with her kindness, love, zest for life and generosity of heart. Carpe Diem

Where to find Lori…

LinkedIn | Google Plus | Twitter

Joanne here!

Lori, Thank you for sharing your story and posing the difficult questions. I invite everyone to follow Lori’s progress online.