by Belinda Mcbride
Today I want to share a little about my brother-in-law. Over the years we’ve had our ups and downs, for some good reasons I won’t go into. But mostly he’s a stand-up guy and I admire him a lot.
Last year about this time, he had a few major events transpire in his life. First, he won a couple massive lawsuits. (needless to say, he’s an attorney.) Both awards charted in the millions. In fact, one suit pitted him against a corporate team of about 40 attorneys and the award was one of the biggest in his state’s history. He was named the Trial Lawyer of the year for his accomplishments.
Two days after that announcement, a routine physical exam revealed that he had a highly aggressive form of prostate cancer. The cancer moved rapidly, quickly moving from its original site to his lymph nodes and though treatment was started immediately, his chances dropped from 50/50 to about 7% chance of survival. He went into chemo and radiation but his surgeon didn’t feel that surgery would help.
So he got a second opinion and a surgeon who was willing to work with him.
Through this entire ordeal he continued with his life and work as well as recreation. He’s an avid horseback rider and cyclist. Regardless of how he felt, he dragged himself up and fought. I know he got depressed, he must have. But he never surrendered to it and never wavered in his determination to keep fighting.
Yesterday, he showed up on our doorstep. He was competing in a 130 bicycle race and was taking a break to come visit KJ. (he’s her dad)
He’s also cancer free.
I know life sometimes gets rough. I go online and read about those of you who are battling illness. I’ve seen a couple people suffer mental illness, emotional breakdowns and a few of my friends have lost loved ones or have lost their own battles and left us.
Sometimes life is so hard it seems impossible to keep going. We all face dark days…sometimes stretching into weeks and months. Some of us face death; others struggle with the beast of depression and mental illness.
I don’t have any brilliant words of advice, but in the past year, I’ve been made aware of how we live in a community. It may be connected by our computers and books and shared interests, but we’re community and family.
This year, I’ve watched musher Lance Mackey get the restorative dental work he needed after his cancer battle. He had no insurance so the mushing community pulled together and helped fund it. I’ve watched as animal lovers united in a letter writing campaign to save an unfairly condemned dog in Colorado. Right now, a Mexican bariatric surgeon is encouraging his patients to each donate one dollar so a young American man can have life-saving surgery…in the US with an American doctor. And in Katy, Texas, a Wolf dog sanctuary ran short of meat to feed their animals, and people all over the world are sending money and food for the wolf dogs.
Yes, we all face tough times. A few years ago, I lost my beloved aunt to breast cancer. She’d been fighting for years, was cancer free for a long time and then on Think Pink day, she got the call that it had returned. Her battle was long and brutal, but she never complained. I asked her how she managed to stay so positive through it all.
She told me that without suffering, we don’t know how wonderful the good times are, and that she’d learned to savor happiness when it rolled back around. She told me the bad times are just temporary. She lived from goal to goal. She was semi-illiterate but since her kids loved Harry Potter so much, she learned to read by starting at book one and was determined to hang on till the next book was released, and the next, and the next. She missed the final book but her family read it for her. She hung on to see her only son get married, then she hung on for the birth of his first child.
Life is brilliant. Life is hard. Life is a series of good times and bad times and everything in between. There are days I think I can’t get out of bed, or that I’ll never write another word and that scares me. But I get up, turn on my computer and keep going. Because my brother-in-law kept getting on his bike. Lance Mackey posed for photos with fans, though he’d lost all his teeth. My aunt picked up a book she couldn’t read. And because people all around the world wrote letters to a judge in Colorado for the benefit of a dog.
Meet Belinda McBride:
Belinda is an award-winning, top selling author of erotic romance, speculative fiction and LGBTQ romance. She lives in far Northern California with her family and a pack of Siberian Huskies.
A graduate of CSU Chico, she managed to attend the notorious party school without once getting drunk, arrested or appearing in a “Girls Gone Wild” video. Her main focus of study was classical and archival history, cultural anthropology and
theatre arts.
Belinda has won the EPIC Award in Paranormal Romance with Blacque/Bleu, and in Science Fiction Romance with The Bacchi. She won RWA’s Passionate Plume in Science Fiction Romance with An Uncommon Whore. In addition, she’s had numerous wins and placements in these and other juried competitions. She is the co-creator and author of the wildly popular Doms of Dark Haven series, with Cherise Sinclair and Sierra Cartwright.
Belinda’s books are available at all the typical distributors as well as on the publisher’s homepages. Be sure to watch for her newest book An Uncommon Whore 3: Prince of Faith, released October 21, 2014.
Belinda McBride’s Web Tracks:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Pinterest | Loose Id Profile
Belinda McBride on All The Things Inbetween:
Makin’ The Love Monday – Toxic by Belinda McBride
Belinda McBride Books:
An Uncommon Whore Synopsis:
Genre: LGBT Science Fiction/Space Opera
“As a general rule, you won’t find the love of your life while you’re on your knees under a table.” — Helios Dayspring
Pasha is a slave, whoring for travelers at the most dangerous bar on Warlan. He has no memory, no future of his own, yet deep inside Pasha knows that that he is meant for better things. The day that Pasha spots the dangerous pirate in the bar, he knows that he mustn’t let the stranger slip away, regardless of what he must do to attract his attention.
Captain Griffin Hawke spent the greater part of a decade searching for his lost king, only to find Helios Dayspring crouched between his knees, swathed in the robes and shackles of a whore. Though he is appalled by the downfall of his king, the hardened officer finds himself falling for the allure of the sensual creature who has taken his place. Returning Helios to his position on the throne is the only right thing to do, yet Griffin knows that in doing so, he risks losing his lover forever.
“A whore is a whore is a whore, unless he’s something else completely. I guess I must be an uncommon whore.” — Helios Dayspring
Purchase An Uncommon Whore:
Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Loose Id
When I Fall Synopsis:
“Sometimes revenge is a kinder fate than justice.” – Helios Dayspring
As king, Helios Dayspring is desperate to secure the future of his people and their new homeworld. His memories are slowly returning, bringing with them danger and betrayal.
As the king’s consort, Griffin Hawke wrestles with growing isolation from his lover. As Helios’ secrets begin to come to light, he finds that he barely recognizes his lover anymore. Griffin is also haunted by his own secrets, as nightmares bring torture and death to his sleep.
When Helios and Griffin undertake a dangerous journey on behalf of their people, everything they fought for could be lost. Surrounded by enemies and allies, seductive aliens and dangerous operatives, Helios and Griffin find themselves tested to their physical and moral limits. Not knowing who to trust, they can only turn to each other.
Will you be there to catch me when I fall?
Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual situations, graphic language, and material that some readers may find objectionable: male/male sexual practices, violence.
Purchase When I Fall:
Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Loose Id
Prince of Faith Synopsis:
Held captive in a whorehouse, Markus Dayspring wakes every morning with a thirst for revenge, and collapses every night with a prayer for strength. He lives on in spite of deadly addictions and a crippling, shameful secret. When he’s rescued by a man from his past, his reawakened love threatens to crush his damaged soul.
Caius also has a secret, one that could ultimately kill him. But his vow to rescue Markus is stronger than guilt, fear and even his loyalty to King Helios. Too many have died because of Caius and rescuing the missing prince might allow him to sleep without nightmares.
Old habits are hard to break and new pain threatens their growing love. Yet one gleaming ray of hope continues to guide them to safety, even in the face of an unexpected violation of trust. With the stakes growing higher by the hour, Markus and Caius must learn to have faith before they can heal and face the future together.
Purchase Prince of Faith:
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Loose Id
Help me celebrate Belinda’s new release and thank her for sharing her story and enter this giveaway for a copy of her newest Uncommon Whore novel, Prince of Faith!
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