awesome

Is there any better feeling than realizing you're too old for some nonsense?

I've always been a people-pleaser by nature. Not only do I want people to like me, but I REALLY want people in positions of (perceived or real) authority to realize I am following their rules. Because of that, I've always been a good employee. A good volunteer. A good team-player.

I still am that way, deep down, but I think the best part of getting older is realizing who REALLY has the authority. Most of the time, it's actually me.

A few months ago, I agreed to be part of a volunteer organization. I was super excited about the opportunity and the ways that my particular skills could help the organization grow and improve. But over the past few months, it has become increasingly obvious that another person within the organization has a WILDLY different view of how things should be going.

At first I laid out my rationale for what I wanted to do. And then I tried to just do my own thing and not worry about what the other person thought. But it became obvious that neither tactic was getting me anywhere. And all that stuff I was excited to do a few months ago? I didn't want to do any of it if I couldn't support how it was being done.

22 year old me would have stuck it out, desperate to please all the people.

25 year old me would have a little more respect for her own needs and would have tried harder to advocate for alternative options.

But 30 year old me?

She quit. Because life is too short to butt heads with other people. And it feels grand, friends.

Book that is awesome: ALIAS HOOK by Lisa Jensen

Songs that are awesome: "Habits" by Tove Lo and "American Kids" by Kenny Chesney.

I recommend looking into those things.

SUMMER IN NEW YORK

No, I'm not going on vacation. (Besides, isn't Labor Day the unofficial end of summer?) I'm helping with the blog tour for SUMMER IN NEW YORK, an anthology of short stories by some writers that I really adore.

About SUMMER IN NEW YORK:

In USA Today bestselling author Janette Rallison’s delightful novella, JOB HAZARDS, Lydia Robinson is posing as a prostitute. Undercover of course. Lydia’s job as a police officer hasn’t reeled in her prince charming yet. That is, until Harrison Aldridge, old high school flame, pulls up to the corner to rescue the fallen damsel. Lydia can’t exactly give Harrison the truth without blowing her cover, and it takes a series of mishaps and another whole set of misunderstandings before Lydia will even consider letting Harrison back into her life.

In Heather B. Moore’s enchanting novella, A TASTE OF SUN, Winona Grant embarks on a summer-long visit to NYC to house-sit for her great-aunt after a nasty break-up with her boyfriend Paul. But when her aunt commissions neighbor Steve Monti to tour Winona around, they strike a deal. Winona has too many deadlines to play tourist, and Steve is looking for a distraction from his looming gallery opening. So Steve goes on the tours by himself, and Winona reports back to her aunt as if she’d gone too. The longer this happens, the more Winona wants to change her mind. Seeing the city with Steve might be the perfect solution to forgetting about Paul.

In Luisa Perkins’s sweet romance novella, DULCE DE LECHE, Marisol is desperate for another nanny job after being unfairly fired from her previous position. She has only two more semesters of college, but she’s too proud to ask her wealthy parents for financial help. When her potential new employer, a single father working long hours as an anesthesiologist, decides she’s too young and pretty to hire, she practically begs him for the job. Darius finally agrees, and as he watches her work miracles with his Asperger’s son, he realizes there is much more to Marisol than he first believed.

In TAKE A CHANCE, a captivating story by Sarah M. Eden, Miguel Santos has a stopover in New York. When the announcement of delayed flights comes over the PA system, Miguel is looking at spending several hours at the airport. Determined to get comfortable for the long wait, he’s surprised when he spies a familiar face amongst the stranded passengers: Jane Schoonenburg, the last person he expected to see. Three months have passed since he asked Jane to marry him—three months of misery. And now he knows that he must talk to her, if only to find out why she broke his heart.

Annette Lyon’s entrancing novella, FIRSTS AND LASTS, begins with Dani’s last week in New York. She’s failed in her dreams to catch a break as an actress and is now ready to return home and dust herself off. As she visits the places on her final to-see list, she meets Mark, another New York City transplant with big dreams. Except Mark hasn’t given up on his. As they spend the day together, Dani realizes that even though she hasn’t hit the “big time” she might be living her dream after all. Only problem: she has a one-way ticket back home.

In Lisa Mangum’s whimsically titled story: &, Lucy is riding a wave of success at having found a bestselling novel in the slush pile at an exclusive New York publishing house. If only her personal life was storybook perfect as well. Her relationship with Devon is on the rocks, and even though she's been put in charge of the house while her boss is gone on business, Lucy isn't sure she's up to the task. It will take a chance encounter with a handsome wordsmith to help Lucy claim the courage that has always been a part of her heart.

 

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And now, an excerpt from SUMMER IN NEW YORK:

Job Hazards

Janette Rallison

Chapter One

Fighting crime wasn’t supposed to involve wearing a leopard-print miniskirt, a silky halter top, and stiletto heels. Not once while Lydia Robinson was in the police academy a year ago had she envisioned that the job would land her on a seedy New York street posing as a hooker. But as Lieutenant Miner had told her a week ago after he called her into his office, “You’re a natural.”

A natural hooker? “Is that supposed to be a compliment?” she asked.

He held up his hands to stop her protest and nodded at the glass window of his office. Outside, two other female officers were talking about a case. Officer Loomis was fifty-two and had more wrinkles than a pile of forgotten laundry. Officer Dustin was seven months pregnant. “I just meant,” Lieutenant Miner said, “that you’re the best one in the department for the sting.”

So now Lydia stood on a dimly lit corner next to a row of bars and strip clubs. She wore so much makeup that she looked like she was part of a Broadway play. Her usually long, brown hair had been curled, teased and poofed. It was magazine-girl, notice-me hair. Half-a-bottle-of-hairspray hair.

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Doesn't that sound fun? You can buy it here, here, or here. Let me know if you like it!