Celebrate the Small Things and Cherie Reich's Reborn Release

It is time to Celebrate The Small Things.

This blog hop is very easy - just post a celebration, however small or big, in your blog. Visit the original host, Viklit, and sign up on the linky to join in the fun!









Yikes, my post turned out long, so skip along the bold print if you are in a hurry!

1. Viklit has four new co-hosts to help with Celebrate the Small Things:
Diana Wilder
LG Keltner @ Writing Off the Edge
Cyborg Mom (Katie)
CaffeMaggieato @ mscoffeehouse
Thank you, ladies!!!

2. I broke through a mental and physical barrier last week and rode 47 miles (75.6K) last Saturday at the Lewis County Historical Ride! I had a asthma/breathing problem at mile 45, walked a mile, rode really slow for another mile, and sent my husband ahead for the car since the course was actually 49 miles. However, I rode a farther distance than I had ever ridden before, and I think I learned some of the wisdom of "butt in seat" for long distances. In other words, it doesn't matter how fast you ride, but how long you can keep your butt on the bike seat. (sound familiar to novel writing? it did to me.) It was glorious and agonizing, and afterwards I felt both triumph and defeat (Yay - I biked really far!, Boo - I didn't quite make the course. My husband drove me to the finish line, just so I could get there.)

3. Because I broke through that barrier, I found I could ride a base 20 mile ride in the mornings. By base, I mean that this is my new standard ride.

4. New handlebars are being put on my bike because I'm being held back from long rides by pain in my hands, arms, and shoulders. I get my bike back from the bike shop this morning!

5. Homeschool Co-operative classes are done for the year! Woohoo!!! (For those that don't know, a homeschool co-operative meets one day a week, and while there are several types of co-ops, usually parents combined talents to teach each other's kids different courses. I teach writing and literature. Other parents teach science, performing arts, math, etc. With just one day of teaching, we assign the students homework for the other four days and each parent supervises their own kid's homework. My kids don't do all their classes at co-op, so they each have some homeschool work to do before we take a "full" summer holiday. At this point, with the sunshine blazing this week, we are schooling half-time hours - which is all we really need to do to be done by mid-June).

6. The Homeschool Formal is this weekend and my oldest is super excited to go again this year with a group of friends. (Yes, homeschoolers have dances too. We don't all live like the characters depicted in Footloose - which sadly means, there is no Kevin Bacon dancing around - although maybe my kids are thankful for that.)

7.  Had a great Writer's Workshop group this week. At the same time, I'm kind of sad because one of our group is going to move away. She's a super talented writer. You can read her work at figment. I keep after her to submit her work, or publish it, so if you can, please encourage her. 

8. My cover reveal went well last week! and I am super thankful for all those who helped with posts, tweets, and facebook shout outs! Thank you!

9. Yesterday, I purchased Reborn by Cherie Reich and read it last night, it is so good. I didn't sleep as many hours as usual, but that's ok. Full review coming at Goodreads and Amazon later this weekend. I'm giving it five stars! So, I am super happy to Celebrate and Present:

Are you ready to challenge Fate?

To save a kingdom, a prophetess must challenge Fate.

On the day of Yssa’s death and rebirth, the god Apenth chose her as the Phoenix Prophetess.

Sea serpents and gods endanger the young prophetess’s journey and sour the omens. Yssa is cursed instead of blessed, and her duties at the Temple of Apenth prove it. She spends her days reading dusty scrolls, which does nothing to help her forget Tym, the boy back home. But the annoying yet gorgeous ferryman’s son Liam proves to be a distraction she can’t predict, even though he rarely leaves her alone for two sand grains.

 

Her boring temple life screeches to a halt when visions of her parents’ murders consume her. Yssa races across an ocean to stop the future. If she can’t change Fate, she’ll refuse to be the Phoenix Prophetess any longer. Fate, however, has other plans for her and the kingdom.

Yssa must either accept her destiny or fight to change Fate.

Available in Ebook and Print!

To purchase: Amazon | Createspace | Google Play | Kobo | Nook | OmniLit | Smashwords | Other Retailers

 

Click here to add on Goodreads.

A self-proclaimed bookworm, Cherie Reich is a speculative fiction writer and library assistant living in Virginia. Her short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies, and her books include the horror collection Nightmare, a space fantasy novella collection titled Gravity, and the fantasy series The Foxwick Chronicles and The Fate Challenges. Reborn is her debut novel. She is Vice President of Valley Writers and a member of the Virginia Writers Club and Untethered Realms. For more information, please visit her website.

For a quick review, let's just say, that this novel is well-crafted with beautiful writing and has characters that pull you into their world and their story from beginning to end. I highly recommend Reborn if you like Fantasy with a sweet touch of romance.

What are you celebrating this week?