Computers are evil!

So… as we all know, I have struggled for the last 5 years with health and mental health issues related to the health issues. Still with me? It doesn’t get easier, but does become mostly manageable. Or so we think. Enter the computer thug.

A few weeks back, my laptop decided to throw a temper tantrum. I’m talking about trashing the room, throwing things, stomping the feet and screaming temper tantrum. Bribery, I thought. That would do it. I offered new video cards, upgraded speakers, a dedicated fan to keep it cool. No. But, I absolutely set my foot down when it demanded a new hard drive. Not happening. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for said laptop, “I has backup,” in more ways that one. Not only do I have a smarter-than-the-average-computer son-in-law, but I also have SOS Online Backup. So, the aforementioned son-in-law slapped the little miscreant with a restore to factory settings. Take that! And after a few re-installs of necessary programs that I need to continue with the books, I’m now ready to retrieve all those files safely tucked away with SOS. So, hopefully by this time tomorrow I will be back ready to work again, in spite of the bratty laptop.

I am eternally so grateful for all of you and how steadfastly loyal you continue to be through all of these delays and setbacks.

Happy Reading to each and every one of you!

~Raeann

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NEW RELEASE! He’s Here! TOMMY is waiting for you!

The wait is over! Tommy is brand new and available for you right now!

I have mini-bookmarks and magnets of the cover already. And I’m working on a deal for more items like t-shirts, mugs, phone covers, etc. More info soon on how you can win some of these or other Seven Brothers items.

I hope you enjoy Tommy as much as I have enjoyed bringing him to you.

Happy Reading,
~Raeann

Tommy (The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Four)

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Tommy Joe Branden was tired. Tired of living from bus to jet, sleeping in between towns. Tired of having to tape the name of each town to his guitar so he wouldn’t make a mistake on stage. And he was especially tired of missing his family. Missing out on so much of their lives. He was tired of being alone.

The decision he made created a media storm around all of them, especially the tabloid vultures that he despised. But in the midst of the storm he stumbled over a pretty little girl with amethyst colored eyes with a pretty name… and a secret past. What happens when his brothers start digging?

Carley Cierra Adams had every intention of staying invisible, unnoticed and unnoticeable as she temporarily hung around the edges of Tommy Joe Branden’s life. She certainly never meant to get captured by the famous baby blues. Never meant to dance with him. Never meant to see him again. And she sure never meant to kiss him.

Damn. Now what?

MAKE A DATE WITH TOMMY!

The wait is almost over! Tommy can be headed to your house on February 19, 2016. Want to make sure you’re one of his very first dates? Just pre-order now by clicking on the cover at the right or click the link below.

I have mini-bookmarks and magnets of the cover. More info soon on how you can win some of these or other Seven Brothers items.

I hope you enjoy Tommy as much as I have enjoyed bringing him to you.

Happy Reading,
~Raeann

Tommy(The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Four)

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Tommy Joe Branden was tired. Tired of living from bus to jet, sleeping in between towns. Tired of having to tape the name of each town to his guitar so he wouldn’t make a mistake on stage. And he was especially tired of missing his family. Missing out on so much of their lives. He was tired of being alone.

The decision he made created a media storm around all of them, especially the tabloid vultures that he despised. But in the midst of the storm he stumbled over a pretty little girl with amethyst colored eyes with a pretty name… and a secret past. What happens when his brothers start digging?

Carley Cierra Adams had every intention of staying invisible, unnoticed and unnoticeable as she temporarily hung around the edges of Tommy Joe Branden’s life. She certainly never meant to get captured by the famous baby blues. Never meant to dance with him. Never meant to see him again. And she sure never meant to kiss him.

Damn. Now what?

Two years post transplant – TOMMY is coming soon

Wow! It has been a while, hasn’t it? Almost 2 years since my transplant now. Things have mostly been good. A lot of highs, but also some horrendous lows. Depression plus anxiety plus the finally diagnosed akathisia has not been fun as we experimented with first one combination of medications to another in an effort to control all three that would work with all of my transplant medications. That part hasn’t been fun for any of us… even the crazy dog, I’m sure. I’m hopeful that we have found the right combination now as the last few days have finally felt normal again. So it’s back to the everyday life, for now at least. Thank God! I could use some ‘normal.’

And now for more good news. ‘TOMMY’ is almost ready for publication. We are going through the last proof read right now. The files for the covers are done. The magnets and bookmarks have already been ordered. AND The sample is up on the website for you to preview. We should have an actual release day for you soon, but it will definitely be in February!

I know you have all waited so long as I struggled through the various health issues. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate both the encouragement I have received from you and the loyalty you have all shown. I will try very hard not to let you down.

And just so you will know, you should start seeing the books coming much quicker now. My full-time day job unfortunately just went part-time, so on top of being better both mentally and physically, I also suddenly have more time to work on the books. Yeah! Maybe it’s time to turn my home office into my writing den now that it gets used part-time for the day job. Could be.

I hope you will enjoy ‘TOMMY’ as much as you have the others. Be sure to watch for that February release date to be announced soon.

Happy Reading,
~Raeann

MICHAEL is here!

Buy it now!

Want to start the summer out with some sizzle? Then “MICHAEL” – Book Three of Raeann Blake’s popular “The Seven Brothers of Elko” series is what you need. With its supercharged passion, growing danger, escalating attempts at revenge, and a serial killer on the loose, “MICHAEL” does a lot more than just sizzle.

Michael (The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Three)

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Michael didn’t want or need a woman in his life. So how did he wind up with two?  One that lived in memories that wouldn’t die. And one that slipped in around all of his defenses and underneath the radar to trace whispers across a heart that wasn’t ready for her. And he certainly wasn’t going to help the situation by hiring her as the final member of his primary investigative team. The team needed her. She was a necessity… and a distraction that could get one or both of them killed.

Trisha really wanted this job.  To get it, she needed to get her mind off of “the hat” from the night before.  She especially needed to forget about the wounded eyes, the broken heart, and the gentle touch that she saw and felt when the hat came off for a single dance. Instinct told her that the man beneath that hat was made for loving.  But he hadn’t just been singed around the edges. Somebody burned him through and through.  He would never let himself love again.

Michael. His name is Michael.

MICHAEL is coming soon!

Read the sample.

I know, you’ve waited forever, but we’re almost there now. Michael will be available very soon. To read a sample, just click on the cover.

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Michael (The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Three)

Michael didn’t want or need a woman in his life. So how did he wind up with two? One that lived in memories that wouldn’t die. And one that slipped in around all of his defenses and underneath the radar to trace whispers across a heart that wasn’t ready for her. And he certainly wasn’t going to help the situation by hiring her as the final member of his primary investigative team. The team needed her. She was a necessity… and a distraction that could get one or both of them killed.

Trisha really wanted this job. To get it, she needed to get her mind off of “the hat” from the night before. She especially needed to forget about the wounded eyes, the broken heart, and the gentle touch that she saw and felt when the hat came off for a single dance. Instinct told her that the man beneath that hat was made for loving. But he hadn’t just been singed around the edges. Somebody burned him through and through. He would never let himself love again.

Michael. His name is Michael.

TRANSPLANTED + 100 Days

Well, hello there! Good to see you here. Good to see ME here. It has now been 100 days since my transplant and I have to admit that I am amazed at the difference 100 days makes. I can’t say that it has been easy because it certainly has not been. There were setbacks that required hospital stays and several more that did not. These served to slow down my progress and make me question the wisdom of my decision to go through with the surgery more than once. I had many days where I was so disappointed in what I saw as not doing as well as I should even though the medical professionals were telling me how unusual my rapid progress really was. What I heard was “blah, blah, blah.”

But here I am now. I feel better than I have felt in two years. I’m walking (usually). I’m driving again. We’re back on the bike (YEAH.) Before you know it, I might even get to go back to work at the day job early. No oxygen. No breathing treatments. Graduated from Pulmonary Rehab. Only have to go to Dallas once a month for the rest of this year. Not dancing yet, but you never know. The rest of my body might be old, but my lungs aren’t. One of the hardest things I have tried to learn is quite simple. I don’t have COPD anymore. I very often forget that I don’t have to take certain precautions that I had to take before. But in their place I have new rules, regulations, and precautions as a transplant recipient. It’s very strange. But looking at this list, I surely don’t see much to complain about.

 This is me when I sort of “fell off the cliff” in January 2013 and became suddenly and unexpectedly in very serious condition and another one taken this week. I have to admit this is the first time since I can remember that I can look in the mirror and see a shadow of “healthy” beginning to return to my face. Of course I also see some of the 40 pounds I have gained. Granted, I badly needed 20, but not 40. My next task is to lose the other 20 pounds.

And I am so glad to be back working on the books again. I can’t work as much as before right now. I am still recuperating and I have remind myself of that daily. Well, technically my body reminds me when I forget. I have a tendency to push too hard and do too much. I can do more and more every day but just not quite back to normal yet. At any rate, “Michael – The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Three” is currently being put through the final paces. Last round of editing, then over to the proofreader and he will be ready to go. Hopefully during May, surely by June.

In the meantime, Taming Clay just turned 2. To celebrate that, all four of my current books will be going on sale for $0.99 for two days, followed by $1.99 for two days before they go back to the normal price. If you want to purchase a copy for a friend or you have friends you think might like to buy one or all, give them a heads up that it’s coming. I’ll let you know soon what the dates will be.

I am so grateful to all of you for the support you have given me. You have no idea what your messages of encouragement and prayers have meant and how much they helped. My family, my friends, my readers, and followers from Twitter and Facebook… each and every one of you kept me going. I had some really low days that I had to get through. You helped me get through them. Just to know I had so many people behind me, propping me up until I could get my feet under me again, lifted my spirits more than I could ever explain. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Oh and for those who worried about me being alone at the hospital so much, not to worry. “Geez”, my wolf mascot given to me by my daughter, was with me every step of the way with his own face mask and everything. (Thank God they didn’t make me put him in a gown and gloves.)

So for now I will call it a day. I hope you each have a wonderful evening and an even better day tomorrow.

Happy Reading

~Raeann

Good Riddance to September

I, for one, will not miss you. Most of it was spent on the couch unable to walk much at all. Only a few steps would shoot my heart rate into the 130’s, blood pressure into the 160’s/110’s and O2 saturation down to 85. Just typing anything took studied concentration and a truck load of patience (something I’m still struggling with). All rehab had to stop. I left the house only for doctor appointments. I lost back all the weight I had worked so hard to gain. And the panic attacks came back in a big way. That was depressing enough, but having to sit back and watch everybody else go about their daily lives as normal when I couldn’t was even worse.

And now, one medication change and one week later, here I am. Still struggling with the typing, but walking and talking (at the same time even). I’ve been to Wally World to ride around on their nifty little scooter while I shopped. I walked all the way back to the car unassisted and did just fine. We went to Mickey D’s where I ate an entirely unhealthy lunch that was SOOOOO good. And we finished it up at CVS to pick up a prescription and get my flu shot where I walked in, out and around without help except for John carrying the concentrator for me so I wouldn’t have to carry the heavy little sucker. The appetite is back so maybe I can gain that weight back. And I feel GREAT….today. We will see what tomorrow brings.

I will admit that I am definitely NOT looking forward to next week. I have 20 appointments next week for the evaluation testing for placement on the lung transplant list. There are 2 that concern me. If any of you know me you know I am extremely claustrophobic. I really would appreciate everybody sending me plenty of prayers around lunchtime and a little after on Monday because that’s when they do the MRI and it’s not an open-air one. And I wouldn’t say no to a few more on Friday around the same time when they’re doing a heart cath. It will not be a pleasant week for me and thereby not for John, poor guy.

On another good note, I’m almost through with my first self-edit for Michael. One more quick skim through it after that and it will be off to Sharon while I work on the cover then get started on Tommy.

Thanks to everyone who has bought any of my books. You all really lift my spirits with your comments and reviews here and on Goodreads, Facebook, and Amazon. I LOVE MY READERS!!!

I hope you all have a super happy weekend. Grab a book and cuddle up somewhere. Happy Reading!

Raeann

Special Announcement…DAVIS is here!!!!!!

Finally, right? Davis (The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Two) is now available for Kindle. Look for the paperback version in the next few days.

Davis (The Seven Brothers of Elko: Book Two)

Davis Reardon was a persistent man. Lonely, but persistent. For two years he happily watched love grow and deepen between his brother and the woman who completed his life. Jake and Brinley were two halves of a whole. And Davis was patiently waiting for his turn. Waiting for the one woman who was meant to be the other part of him.

He thought the wait was over when Dusty Lawton drove into his life. That connection, that instant recognition of matching pieces came immediately. Still, he tried hard not to slide down that slippery slope too quickly. But sliding he was. Right up until he discovered the one thing he didn’t want to know.

Gold ring. Third finger. Left hand. Married! Now what?

He was raised to never touch another man’s wife. He could practically hear his daddy rolling over in his grave at just the thought. He pretty much figured the man would rise right up out of it if he couldn’t stop that downhill slide and actually touched her. But if she wasn’t meant to be with him, how could he explain all the things that said she was?

The man who raised Dusty always told her the right man for her was out there somewhere. How cruel that she should find him when it was too late, after she was trapped in a marriage she never wanted. A marriage her husband would kill to keep her in.

In a dangerous game of cat and mouse, the crosshairs land first on Owen Lawton, while Davis, Jake and the rest try to unravel the mystery of why Dusty insists she must remain in a marriage that’s in name only, before it was too late. Just when they think the game is won, things take a deadly twist.

How it is…

So…I’m pretty sure you probably all thought I died or something. I apologize for not being around. I am still breathing…most of the time. I’m not sure I’ve ever specifically spelled it out before, but I have severe COPD with very little lung function left. This whole process of learning to cope with the disease, the side effects of the medication, the treatments, tests, depression, and an overwhelming anxiety has been just more than I could bear and truly interact with all of you. I cannot promise you that it is going to get any better although the doctors seem to at least for now have a handle on the anxiety to the point that it’s not just completely debilitating anymore. But I face many struggles coming soon and as I reach each one, I can’t tell you what will happen then. There are many tests yet to be done and we have already taken the first step of many towards the recommended lung transplant. And if that happens, that’s a whole different road to go down once the surgery is done.

I am not a fan of sharing too much personal information either on the web or even in person. Some things just seem to be better kept private. The state of my health has always been one of those things, but I think my readers should know what is happening. I’m hoping that posting a few updates here will not only update you but could be therapeutic for me. I can’t promise you that I’ll update it every day. In fact I can almost guarantee you that I won’t. And I can’t promise you that I’ll update it every time something happens. Each setback tends to push me farther inside myself and it is usually days or even weeks before I can discuss it with anyone. I still want to respond to each of you individually when you post here or on FB, but it just might not be possible or may be a while coming.

I’m not doing this for everyone to try to cheer me up or send me ‘be strong’ quotes for the day or anything like that. I’m doing this for me. Although there is no cure for COPD, I want to get better. And if writing things out helps me mentally or emotionally then that is a positive step. And if it keeps you updated on the progress of the books then that’s another benefit.

I’ve tried so hard to get back into my writing. I only have a little bit left to do on the final pass-through of Davis before it will be ready to go, but I have had so little interest in anything at all that it is very difficult to get myself to sit down and get started. I’ve been trying to write this post for over a month now and finally managed it. Maybe that’s a good sign that I’m ready to start back.

If I can just get a little healthier I just know that all the things that used to interest me will start to come back. I have to get my weight back up again. I weighed 97 pounds when they first put me in the hospital and I had gained up to 107 at one point. But I’m back to 97 now. It’s so difficult to force food down your throat that just tastes burned. Some of the medications have killed my taste buds and there are only a few things that I can taste at all. So I have no appetite but have to eat and drink nutritional supplements to try to get my weight back up. And then my physical ability has waned again since I’ve missed so much of my pulmonary rehab while we were struggling to control the anxiety. Bottom line is that I don’t weigh enough and I’m not strong enough for a lung transplant now, so that is the number one priority at this point.

On the up side, I am breathing better right now than I have in months as long as I’m not engaging in any physical activity. (Update…I was until another exacerbation sent me back to the ER on Saturday…doing fair now.) I know that sounds sort of stupid, but when you can’t even breathe freely while sitting in a chair for several months and now you can, it’s a big deal even if a weather front comes through or some other trigger crops up and messes it up again tomorrow. I’m lying down to sleep again and I’m turning the TV and lights off at night again. That was mostly a side effect of the anxiety.  I still haven’t been back on the bike but once since the last setback, but to ride again anytime, anywhere is one of my goals.

If you are inclined to follow these sparse update posts, I can promise you a lot of bitching, whining, and just generally feeling sorry for myself. Hopefully those days will be balanced with ones where I can express that I really do know how lucky I am to still be here and remember to see the good things along with the bad.

While you are so patiently waiting on the rest of The Seven Brothers of Elko, remember there are so many gifted authors out there. Some are established and some are brand new. Yes, there are some that are not so great, but keep searching. There are diamonds in the rough. Happy Reading!.