When Darkness Falls, the second book in my series The Dark Lines, released last Thursday. This book focuses on Blake Walker, a 14-year-old with a difficult past, who has learned to hide his psychic abilities and keep away from most of his classmates.

“We don’t have time to just go places at random,” I said. “Faith’s all right now because they think I’m going after her. If I don’t show up, they still might hurt her. They won’t wait long.”

Topher stopped, and I almost ran into him. “Are you sure about that?” he asked. “This afternoon, what did your counselor say?”

My mind raced so fast I had a hard time catching the memory. “He kept trying to make me tell him that I have abilities, and I think he wanted me to tell him what they are. He said they’d do something to Faith if I didn’t tell him.”

“So you are right about them using her to get to you.” Topher ran his hand through his hair. “I know you’re worried about what they’ll do if we hold off, Blake. I still think we need to. Throw them off a little. Whatever else they’re doing, they kidnapped her, and that’s against the law. I don’t think they’ll hurt her, because they won’t want to make things worse for themselves.”

“You’re saying we give up for the night?” Eli said through gritted teeth.

“They’re using Faith to force Blake to go to them,” Topher said. “Once they have him, they aren’t likely to just let her go. She knows what they are and what they work for.”

“She’s safe as long as we don’t find her.” My chest tightened, and I hitched in a breath. “I told her being my friend was a bad idea.”

“Don’t start, Walker,” Eli said. “If I can’t blame myself, you can’t blame yourself.”

“What do we do, then?” I asked, looking at Topher. “She’s scared, even if they haven’t done anything to her. I promised I’d protect her. I can’t just leave her alone with them all night.”

“You can,” Topher replied gently. “It sucks like hell, but you can do it. We all know Faith’s safe for now. Let’s go back to her place and figure this out. Think up a way to find her without them finding you, and I’ll have Callie and Gage drive over here. They’ll be able to help.”

I didn’t bother answering, just whirled and headed back up the street without waiting to see if they followed. I hated Topher right then. Not only because he’d told me not to look for Faith that night, but because I knew he was right to say it. Until we found her, Step and Perry would just keep her wherever they had her. They probably wouldn’t do anything except scare her. If I waltzed in, they’d bring me and her to the shack, and we’d both be taken.

I should have tried harder to make her leave me alone.

I stomped up Faith’s steps and into her apartment’s kitchen with Topher and Eli right behind me. Sitting at the kitchen table, Mom and Mrs. Carlisle looked up from their coffee cups. “Well?” Mrs. Carlisle said eagerly.

I slammed myself against the counter and folded my arms. “We can’t do anything tonight. Faith’s safe right now. But, we don’t know where.”

She smacked her cup onto the floor, where it shattered. A pool of coffee spread over the tiles. “You told me you’d find her!”

“We tried.” I swallowed hard and reminded myself that no one here would hit me, no matter how angry they became. “They aren’t going to hurt her. I’m the one they’re really after.”

“Then turn yourself over,” she snarled. “I want my daughter back!”

“Sherry, stop,” Mom commanded. “I know you’re upset. I don’t want anything to happen to my son, either. Trading him for Faith isn’t going to help anything.”

“They’re after me,” I repeated, drawing strength from Mom’s defense of me. “When they have me, they might let Faith go. Or they might decide they shouldn’t let her stick around and take her to the shack with me. As long as they’re waiting for me, she’s safe.”

Emotions flickered in her eyes, and I waited for her to say something. After a moment, she turned her back. “Go home. I don’t want any of you here. Laura, thank you for your support. Get your son out of my house.”

“Call the police, Mrs. Carlisle,” Topher said. “Report Faith missing. Tell them what you know about when she disappeared. I wouldn’t mention the psychic stuff if I were you. The rest of it, they should know. They might find her before we do, and in that case she won’t be hurt at all.”

“Fine. Now get out!”

I’m all for taking small, doable steps toward a healthier me. My eating habits range from “really healthy and on plan Weight Watchers” to living on the processed/boxed foods on which I grew up. Mostly it’s a balance between the two. However, one of the easy things I’ve done is to change the color of my potato.

I won’t lie: mashed potatoes still are my comfort food. And for me that means 4-5 Russet Potatoes, a few TBs of butter or low-fat Butter (Brummels & Brown, or Smart Life, or Move Over Butter are my favorites), and a big dash of skim milk. Squish it all with a potato masher, leave it kind of lumpy, then enjoy with butter! It’s a comfort food.

But we also have a lot of baked potatoes at our house because my partner prefers baked potatoes to mashed. (Silly guy!) So when we have baked potatoes, I have sweet potatoes.

A sweet potato, sprinkled with cinnamon, and yeah, sometimes a little butter, is a lovely addition to any meal. Tonight we had smoked pork chops and baked potatoes, and with my sweet one, I felt I had a perfect fall meal for the first day of Fall.

The steps we make toward wellness don’t have to be big ones. I’ve found sweet potatoes are the same price as russets at my local grocery store. Substituting the potato I bake at home, or when I can order them at restaurants, allows me to put more color on my plate and more vitamins in my body.

I recently did a Blogtalk Radio interview with Sherry Ficklin of YA Book Babes about my Reality Shift series, specifically book 4, Taking Control. If you haven’t read the book yet (and why haven’t you? Hmm?), I won’t spoilerize it for you, but I will say that Shanna finally speaks up about something she should have spoken up about a long time ago.

Sherry and I discussed Shanna’s reluctance to tell Jonah about her mother’s abuse, and she asked me what my advice would be to anyone who suspects a friend is being abused.

My answer was the same one I’ve given in every school visit I’ve ever done: Tell someone.

People who are being abused often won’t talk about it because they’re afraid they won’t be believed, and/or afraid of what the abuser will do if they tell. Many times they keep their mouths shut until it’s too late.

Often when someone is being abused, at least one friend or relative suspects it. But that person, too, is often reluctant to report their suspicions because they’re afraid they’ll lose their friend or afraid of the abuser.

Whether it’s happening to you or to someone else, my advice is always to tell someone. If you don’t dare go to the authorities, find someone you trust and tell them. And keep telling until someone listens.

In Taking Control, Shanna speaks up before the worst can happen, but things have gotten pretty bad. In real life, the worst happens far too often.

For someone with year-round allergies, August is my worst month. Between the corn pollinating and the hot, dry days alternating with muggy, oppressively hot days, this year has been worst than most. I rely a lot on essential oils and teas to help control my allergies, as I’ve found many OTC and prescription medicines don’t work for me. All the ones they advertise on TV…I’d be better off grabbing a roll of smarties and chowing down. Cheaper and at least I’d get a sugar buzz. Even the pseudophedrine-based medicines, which in my state are kept behind pharmacy counters only work from a placebo-effect for me. So I rely more and more on my neti pot, essential oils and teas.

The good news is that not only do these things help, but that they’re cheaper than medicine and they make me feel like a million bucks. One of the things I love to do is sprinkle a few drops of essential oils in the back of my shower, then step in and enjoy a spa-like experience. My favorites are a mix of lavender and tea tree oils, which not only smell yummy, but also have the added effect of helping pain (lavender) and being anti-viral and anti-bacterial (tea tree oil). My inhaler, a mix of peppermint, lavender, and eucalyptus oil, is never far away either. (It’s basically a lip balm that’s designed to be inhaled, or used just below the nostrils so you can smell the essential oils.)

But in the shower we’re presented with an array of fragrances designed for our every need. Want a pick-me-up in the morning? Try a citrus oil blend.

A floral blend, such as gardenia or rose can give you a sensual, luxurious feeling. And for those of us with sinus problems, in addition to the lavender and tea tree oil blend which I enjoy, you could try a peppermint or spearamint oil. Eucalyptus also works well.

Just a few drops will do, so a bottle of oil will last a long time. And your every day shower will turn into an extraordinary experience.

A funny thing happened when I visited a family member in the hospital, I found that I couldn’t do a full reiki treatment. Somehow standing there amid all the monitors and lines, and the prospect of a nurse walking in any minute, plus some of my own fear and anxiety, left me unable to do the full reiki treatment I’d wanted to do. Instead, I sent reiki from the chair where I sat using distance techniques. It worked just the same; we all know reiki is smart energy and goes where it is needed most. However, I found it odd that I couldn’t actually go through the full series of hand positions and complete a reiki treatment.

I suppose it could be termed a kind of performance anxiety, probably brought about by my own worries and fears. Luckily everything worked out just fine and he appreciated the reiki that I did send. I’m sure it helped. I think as reiki practitioners, though, we should be aware of our own biases and our own fears. Though reiki flows through us and heals us as well as the receiver, our own thoughts and feelings may impede the swift movement of reiki. Luckily for me, I am well versed in distance reiki and since I was sitting right next to the hospital bed, it technically wasn’t really distance healing at all. Plus, given the monitors and IV lines and such, it probably was a better idea to heal from a distance after all.

I think when we’re doing reiki in a hospital setting, we should be aware of the western medicine all around us. There may be doctors or nurses who do not understand or who do not agree with reiki. And there may be things, such as IV lines or monitors that make it difficult to go through the traditional hand positions. That’s where we need to rely on the fact that reiki is smart energy. It works regardless of the circumstances.

My partner and I like to play Wii on our nights off. We’ve been doing the power cruising on the Wii Resort. Since we’re both big on plans and having goals, we’re working toward the stamp you get when you earn over 170 on all the levels. (I know some of you are going, “What? You don’t have that yet?” LOL!) Because of my fibromyalgia, I notice the pain in my hands and writs and sometimes the fibrofog make things interesting. They also tend to make me score lower than he does. It’s frustrating. Horribly so.

However last night, apparently my mojo was working because I kicked butt! He stepped outside and I ran through a couple of rounds and BAM! I upped my high score by about 15 points and hit that magic “170″ mark. (I scored 177.) I found the perfect synergy between speed and control.

Sadly, he apparently was channeling my bad mojo days because he could not work. But one thing I noticed, where I relaxed and had nothing invested in the outcome (Okay, my latent depression had me thinking I’d probably suck, so I was determined to enjoy it and not focus on the score.), he was completely, totally, wrapped up like a football fan watching his favorite team choke in the playoffs, wound up about his scores, or lack thereof. And the worse he did, the more frantic he got.

For my part, I was thinking that wii mirrors life. The more we wrap ourselves up in our problems, the more we get wound up by what’s happening around us, the worse it seems to get. (I also was very sympathetic to his plight, and he did end up getting back his mojo.) We need to relax, to breathe, and be invested, but not so much that it harms our peace of mind. It’s a good lesson to take forward.

Apparently the next time I need to find zen, I should play wii.

I’m of a generation where we’ve always grown up with the shuttle. I remember sitting in a fourth grade class room when Challenger exploded and the profound effect it had one me and my classmates. The continued successful missions even after the Columbia disaster, showcase the human spirit to strive and to succeed in the face of adversity. Now, the final shuttle has launched and many of us acutely feel the pain of its final mission. To think that it will be a while before we reach for the stars again as a human race makes us think of our own dreams, stalled, or even taken off the table, a program that has come to an end.

But we need to remember that like the space program, our dreams do not need to come to an end. While the shuttle will not be going into space, there are additional programs, some privately funded, others through various governments, to continue to go to the International Space Station and explore the worlds beyond our own. This is a transition in our reach for the stars, a movement of funding, and of efforts, but no less fervent and no less hopeful.

We should remember that there are times when our dreams seem to stall. They might have setbacks. Their focus might change, and sometimes, the entire shape and form of them will change, too. That’s okay. It’s a perfectly natural part of the process.

We shouldn’t be afraid to dream, to reach for something that seems to be so far above us, so distant from where we are now. One of the authors whose work I greatly enjoy, Marc Allen, often quotes Henry David Thoreau who said: “If you have built castles in the sky Let not your dreams go to waste; Just build the foundations under them.”

It makes sense. And it’s an inspiring quote.

Though the space shuttle will be in a museum instead of the launch pad, I’m sure the space program will go on. So, too, with our dreams. They may be transforming, taking shape and form beyond any that we’d initially imagined. But they are still there, and once we have the foundations built, we’ll find our castle is exactly as it was meant to be.

Keep dreaming! And keep looking up!

No big universal ideas for me today, just the simple pleasure of a thick, rich smoothie for breakfast. Because of the hours I work, I’m not a real breakfast eater. Usually I get up, drink my three cups of coffee, and work until my stomach tells me that I MUST EAT NOW! But smoothies are a great way for me to get some essential nutrients and have some “food” before I start the day.

Before I continue, let me give you my quintessential favorite smoothie recipe:

1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 c. kefir (or yogurt)
1 banana
5-6 frozen strawberries or 1/4 to 1/2 cup frozen berries

Blend and enjoy.

I’ve tweaked the recipe going forward and now I like to add 1 TB of borage and flax oil for Omega 3′s. And if I need to make it really hearty, I add 1 or 2 TB of rice protien powder. I’ve also been known to add 1 TB of ground flax seeds too.

But the “super power” referenced in the subject line comes from the kefir. For those unfamiliar with the drink, kefir is a fermented milk drink. The kefir “grains” are mixed with the milk and it is left to stand usually about twenty-four hours and forms a tangy drink that with the consistency of yogurt can be made into cheese, cottage cheese, drank raw (or mixed with fruit juice) or used in smoothies, which is my favorite way to use it.

Kefir has many health benefits. A quick search shows the pro-biotic benefits being one of the primary ones mentioned. There are others, some extraordinary, some not so, but for me, using kefir instead of yogurt in my smoothies is a little shot of health that I know my body is getting good stuff first thing in the morning.

You can either make kefir on your own by purchasing some grains, or you can buy it pre-made and in different flavors through your grocery store. The Lifeway brand is the one I use.

Since my novel The Black Bridge, the first book in my new young adult urban fantasy series The Dark Lines, released a week ago today, I’ve decided to share an excerpt from it. Hope you enjoy!

By the time Gage, Darin, and I reached the bridge, the party had already started. Music blasted from three
or four radios, and people passed around bottles, some of which actually contained the soda and energy drinks
the labels claimed. I saw no sign of Luke or Linnette. “Where are they?” Darin looked around. “I don’t want to be
here all night. I hate these parties.”
“Cool it,” Gage said. Then he looked across the river. “There they are.”
Linnette had parked in the parking lot beside my building, and she and Luke were on their way across the
bridge. Dragging Darin with us, Gage and I moved to the back of the crowd, where we hoped we wouldn’t be
seen. When they reached the middle of the bridge Linnette stopped. Luke continued across. He spotted us right
away and came over to us. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Heard about this at school,” Gage replied. “You know, the place where you didn’t show up today?”
“Linnette and I…” He stopped. “I just didn’t feel like going. Topher, I thought you planned on taking Callie
out for her birthday.”
“I’m surprised you remember it’s her birthday,” I snapped.
He started to answer. Suddenly, everything went quiet. At the center of the bridge, Linnette stared at the
river. The blackness that surrounded her was met by a darker aura that seemed to come from the bridge itself.
“Luke!” she called. “Come here!”
He started toward the bridge and Gage and I grabbed his arms. “Don’t, Luke,” I said. “You don’t have to go
just because she’s calling.”
“Yeah, I do,” he said in a monotone.
Shaking free, he went to Linnette. The darkness shrouded them both, and I could barely see them. I looked
at Gage. “I see it, too,” he said. “I think this time everyone does.”
Everyone stared at the bridge as the darkness grew. We had only one chance to pull Luke away from it.
Before Gage could stop me, I ran toward the center of the bridge—
And was stopped as forcefully as though I’d hit a wall. “Luke!” I shouted.
He didn’t seem to hear me. Linnette did. Smiling a horrible smile, she turned to me. “Nice of you to stop by,
Topher,” she snapped. “Now go away.”
For a moment, the blackness grew so deep I couldn’t see at all. Then I heard a scream, and my sight
cleared…
In time to see Luke fall to the river below.

First off, my apologies for messing up the week last week. I had it in my head that I was supposed to post here on the *third* Thursday of the month; turns out it’s the *fourth* Thursday. Oops…

So, now that I have my weeks straightened out and hopefully know where I am, on to this week’s topic. Auras.

Auras are the colored outlines that some people can see around other people. In the Reality Shift books, Shanna, who can occasionally see auras (even if she doesn’t believe it) establishes that the aura is the second layer of the energy field that all people have surrounding them. In The Dark Lines, one of Topher James’s abilities is seeing auras; he sees them all the time, but has learned to ignore them unless he has a reason to want to see someone’s.

The color of an aura can vary according to the person, their mood, what’s going on around them, and so on. And each color has a meaning. When I was working on The Dark Lines, I had to research those meanings, because I knew that Topher was the type of character who would want to know what those colors meant. I was kind of surprised to find several sources that all assigned the same meanings to the colors, because often, there’s disagreement among sources about that kind of thing. Below are a few colors and their meanings; if you’re interested in learning more, you can find information online.

Black- hatred, negativity, depression; if it’s a dull black, closer to dark grey, it can mean impending death.
Dark Blue- leads others to a spiritual path
Medium Blue- is on a spiritual path
Light Blue- beginning a spiritual quest
Light Brown- confusion
Light Green or Yellow-Green- illness
Medium Green- Healing or one who is a healer
Bright Red- Fear
Dull Red- Anger
White- Purity, goodness, protection

There are other colors and other meanings, but these are the ones that are most mentioned in The Dark Lines.