My morning has been non-stop…until about five minutes ago.
I woke up just before five am. I kissed my husband goodbye as I grabbed my chirping phone, and I’ve been replying to Facebook messages, tweets, emails, and texts ever since. It wasn’t until about five minutes ago that I clicked onto my website to begin this post that my brain just quieted, and I’ve been staring at the blank screen ever since.
Where do I begin??
A Tale of Two Centuries is my third published book in eleven months. It still doesn’t seem real. Knowing that other people–people around the world–are reading my books, swooning over the book boyfriends I created, is mind-boggling.
All I can do is say thank you. For someone who spends their day with words, those two seem incredibly simple and nowhere near strong enough for what I want to say, but they are heartfelt.
THANK YOU.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. Thank you for each and every email, comment, tweet, Facebook message, Goodreads ad, and every review you write. Thank you for every person you grab and say, “you must read these books.” When you happen to attach me on those tweets, I swear I beam so much it’s like I’m half glow-worm.
I will continue to reply to each and every message and I look forward to talking with you! I also plan to thank you by continuing to write characters that make you laugh and swoon, and stories that give you an escape.
- A HUGE launch event is going on with Inkslinger PR, and a second one with Entangled Teen. Prizes are everywhere!! Too many to list, but if you do a quick internet search or look in my Twitter stream, you’ll find TONS of links to reviews, excerpts, deleted scenes, and giveaways!
- On the main blog tour, today’s stop has me positively flailing! PARAJUNKEE began by saying this, “ Hello, Rachel Harris…meet your new fan.” You can imagine I pretty much read the rest of the review giggling and dancing.
- I also wanted to give y’all a heads up that I’m one of the nominees for MOST SOCIAL AUTHOR for The Bloggy Awards. If you feel like casting a vote, I’d sure appreciate it *grin*
Now before I head out for a massive bookstore hop, I wanted to share one of my favorite scenes that hit the cutting room floor.
A few of my Flirt Squad girls have this on their blog today, but I have a sneaky feeling most of them are going to share the second option I gave them, which involves kissing. (he he). Be sure to lookout for that!!
This is just a scene that made me giggle writing, and that my girls loved helping me research. It involved us standing in a bathroom together, flushing a toilet, and having interesting conversations about the results. I hope you enjoy!
After several hours and rejecting more than, as Cat would say, a bazillion selections, we finally make our way home, bags brimming with a half dozen dresses and an array of ankle length skirts. And though our quest to find items that actually cover both my calves and elbows did prove time consuming, that was not really the reason for our extended excursion…it was my complete and utter awe over the vast display of readymade clothing! Modern women no longer have a need to select fabrics and patterns and hire a tailor—they merely step inside a store, choose an item off a rack, and bring it home. Marvelous.
I step inside Cat’s comfortably cool home and slurp the final remains of my creamy beverage. My cousin insisted she needed a ‘sugar fix’ on the way home, so Vivian stopped at a building with bright yellow arches filled with delectable delicacies. A chill seeps down my throat and I close my eyes at the blissful sensation, before recognizing the uncomfortable, full one tightening my stomach.
Wonderful, yet another experience in which to amuse my cousin. Since arriving, I seem to do little else. And though it is quite improper to discuss such topics, I have no other choice but to continue the entertainment now.
I turn to her, my cheeks burning with the ever-present annoying blush, and ask, “Pardon, but may I inquire where your garderobe is located?”
Cat grins in reply—as I expected—and I hang my head, following wordlessly in her wake back to the chamber she called a bathroom. She turns the knob on an interior door, steps inside, and lifts the lid on a bright white object.
“This, my time-traveling ancestor, is a toilet. Much cooler than your stinky garderobe business. See this?” She places her hand on a silver lever located near the top. “This means we have central plumbing.”
She lowers the lever and the toilet goes wild. A loud gurgling, much like the sound of a waterfall, erupts from the basin and I jump back and grip Cat’s arm with a muted squeal. The water pooled inside begins to bubble and fresh water cascades down from the rim above. The rumbling noise recedes to a gentler hiss but just when I think the excitement is over, the basin makes one last hurrah, twirling and whirling the water down the hole at the bottom with a final booming glug.
I slap my hand over my mouth then promptly remove it. “Do it again!”
Cat smiles and rolls her eyes, then pulls me into the tiny alcove. “Yeah, I don’t think so. You can do that when you’re done…using the facilities.”
The need to know where the contents go once they disappear is nearly overwhelming but I refrain from asking, having had quite enough of playing the simpleton cousin for at least one afternoon. But unfortunately, my role as entertaining time traveler plays on, as I do need to clarify matters a bit more. “So I sit on this toilet and, um, use it to…err…. relieve myself?”
My voice rising to a high-pitched squeak at the end does not help the situation.
Pushing my hair from behind my ear and ducking my head to hide my face, I clamp my eyes shut and will this moment over. Oh, why must every new discovery be such an embarrassing revelation?
My cousin, bless her, must take pity on me because I feel her brush past, pausing to give my arm a gentle squeeze. “Yep, nothing to it.” She pauses, and I hear her tap the frame of the door behind me. “So…I’m just gonna be in my room. Er,” she snaps her fingers together, “take your time.”
The door clicks closed and I shake my head. Suddenly, all of Cat’s humorous missteps from when she traveled to my time flash in my mind along with all my resulting merriment and I look to the heavens with a begrudging grin.
Yes, my present embarrassment is an apt form of divine justice.
When my head lowers, my gaze centers again on the silver lever and it is as if my insatiable curiosity is a living, breathing creature inside the alcove with me. I bounce on my toes, gnaw on my lip, and finally give in, shooting my hand out to depress the cool metal. The wondrous performance begins again, and my laughter echoes off the sage colored walls.
Have a fabulous day everyone! Thank you SOOO much!
