Defining Moments and Other Deep Thoughts

Today is the release day for When a Man Loves a Weapon, by Toni McGee Causey. I personally can't wait to get my hands on it.
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A while back, I ran a contest about defining moments—those moments that lead you down a certain path. The entries I received were very inspiring and touching. One thing that was evident in most of the entries was that defining moments usually include some kind of a hurdle. Things you either have to overcome, let go of, deal with, or accept.

I’m sure this isn’t going to be a surprise to anyone out there, but life isn’t perfect. I think what defines us isn’t so much about our status in the “perfect” category, but it’s about how we deal with the imperfections, the mistakes, the uphill climbs, the downhill slopes, and the crap that life drops on us when we least expect it.

Some of the most successful people I know aren’t those who have had lives void of crappy issues. It’s not always the smartest, or the strongest who succeed. It’s the people who knew how to pull up their big girl panties. People who knew how to forgive themselves, and others, and keep moving toward a goal. If they slipped up, they picked themselves up and kept going. It was the people who accepted their weaknesses, while working on them, and people who used their strengths to make a difference.

Some of the most beautiful people I know, aren’t those who are thin, wrinkle free, or meet the traditional standards of beauty. They are the people who smile and laugh more, care more, and make time for the things that bring them and others happiness. Oddly enough, to me, the happy and well-rounded people tend to be the most beautiful people.

The happiest people aren’t those who necessarily have a stress-free or a perfect life. It’s the people who have learned to face change, even when change was hard, even when it scared the holy poop out of them. It’s the people who hold tighter to hope, and remain positive in the face of adversity and negativity. It’s the people who took a risk, a chance, and was willing to make their own happiness--even if that trek was slow going--and not depend on others to do it for them. Funny things is, the happiest people aren’t those living a perfect life, but those who are always working toward perfection.

The people I have learned to admire aren’t always the ones toting trophies, or wearing gold medals. It’s not always the people who achieved their goals; it’s the people working toward them. It’s the people who stand as a symbol of perseverance. People who didn’t give up, give in, or simply stay in that sweet little comfort zone where life was easier. It’s the people who have remained hopeful, who gave hope, and learned how to give themselves a break.

Today I hope all of you will find a way to become more successful, more beautiful, and happier. I hope you’ll find something to laugh at, to laugh hard at--a funny book, a joke, or a movie. I hope when you discover your defining moment that you will allow it to lead you on the right path.

Oh, and I hope you’ll share an inspiration saying, or some bit of wisdom you’ve learned on the wonderful, sometimes treacherous, path called life. Below is my winner and honorable mention winners for my contest. Their prizes have already been sent and I want to thank everyone who entered.



Roberta

My defining moment was when I realized I was starting to shake a couple of hours before getting ready to go to the bar. You see I was what I now consider a weekend alcoholic. However, it started on Thursday night. Since it was lady's night, I could get in the club for free. My drinking would start and not end til Sunday. I knew in my heart I should not be drinking considering I have alcoholics on both sides of my family. I mean I wasn't getting drunk to escape reality, I just liked the taste, right. In the middle of all of this, I found my partner for life. The thing is he was a bartender. We were both in need of a change for various reasons. So, we decided to move to his hometown. The reason I said yes, it is a dry county. Believe it or not, they do still exist in the US. It was perfect. We could each focus on our individual problems and get to know each other better. We have been in the state of Kentucky for the last 6 1/2 years and counting. I no longer drink except maybe on a special occasion, once every six months. I'm so glad I no longer depend on those drinks to get me through the weekend.
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Zita

When I was in university, a friend persuaded me to join the military reserves as an officer, as it would provide me with income throughout the year as well as a guaranteed job in the summer (crucial to a university student). This made sense to me, and, as I was in pre-law, I joined the military police reserve unit.In my first summer of training I was sent to CFB (Canadian Forces Base) Petawawa, an army based that trained non-combat arms officers, located just outside of Ottawa. There we underwent training just like any other soldier: up at 5:00 am to run, breakfast at 6:00, in the classroom until 9:00, out in the field for weapons training until noon, back to base for lunch. Back in the classroom until 2:00, then outside until 4:00 drilling (learning how to march), supper at 5:30, usually followed by a training film. That film was the worst, because we were tired and full from supper. No matter what they showed, be it demolitions or strategic maneuvers, we were all asleep within 5 minutes.One morning, after about 2 weeks of this, we were running (we never walked anywhere) to the firing range for weapons practice with sub- machine guns. All of a sudden I had a real defining moment. First of all, I wondered what the heck a nice, middle-class white girl was doing, running around the Ontario wilderness with a sub-machine gun, singing slightly risqué marching tunes. Secondly, I realized that practicing law was not what I wanted to do with my life. I enjoyed the action that the military supplied me, and I knew I'd never feel that again if I became a lawyer.When I returned to university in the fall I changed my courses from pre-law to law enforcement and continued with my position in the reserves. It was a good decision. Law enforcement suited me much better than the more scholarly pursuits of a career as a lawyer ever would have.


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Lauren

Most of who I am and what I do came from joining an online book club. Sounds crazy, right? Well, it's true. I joined the band Panic! At the Disco's online club when I was high school and my life completely changed. I found a lot of great friends all around the world, read new books and fell in love, started an online magazine with some members and have been doing it for two years now, started writing for online websites found through various means, started realizing what I wanted to do as a career (magazine writing or book publishing), was interviewed for a magazine for being the mod of the book club, and so much more. It changed my life...definitely for the better.
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Susan

I think my lifestyle was form right from the start and I never realized it before. I was abandoned at birth and raised by a great aunt who was much older than my parent. The beginning of my life gave me very little hope and for years I lived thinking about how I was not wanted as a baby. I grew up feeling for the underdog in people and would befriend those who seemed to be a bother to others. I really wanted to help the ones who needed that extra push in life and I feel I helped many in my years past. I also helped myself overcome that unwanted feeling and became a much better person because of it all. My life also consist of many people as I have one big hobby besides reading. I write to over 50 pen pals and have been doing this over 45 years..this is my style of writing I guess. I feel I have crossed paths with many and we remain friends after many years. I hope this shows some lifestyle I am proud to share.
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Jim

Freshman year of college, I endured one of those somewhat common, angst-filled time periods of depression which I suppose can be termed 'a crisis of faith.' One of those times when you are all philosophical about everything, the weight of the world is upon you, and the nothing in life makes much sense. What does it all mean? I actually read chunks of the encyclopedia of philosophy. I wanted to know why I was here. What was the meaning of life? Was there a god? Yes, I know, a bit saccharine but there you go. This gradually went downhill through the course of my freshman year. I spend a lot of time in bed not doing much of anything. What was the point? Nothing mattered. There was no god, no reason for anything. I failed out. I went to bed many nights thinking it would be ok if I never woke up. I floundered around for months afterward, aimless. Eventually though, I came out of it. I came to the realization that even if there was no god (still am an atheist), there was indeed one thing worth living for, that made everything ok in the world.Love. Love made everything worthwhile. I still hold to that belief. Love for my family, my wife, my kids. It's the one thing to hold on to no matter how crappy the world is around you or how meaningless a lot of things in life can seem. It makes the world go round, and is one of the defining traits of mankind. So as a 'moment' I don't guess it really is, but that timeframe in my life has probably defined me more than anything else in 40 odd years.
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Terri

I've had a few defining moments, but one I remember is the moment I realized my decision to get a divorce was the right one. For a year after I asked for the divorce, I struggled with the decision. As you know, you go through lots of things at that point. Lots of scary unknowns and everything image you had of your future changes.But one December night, when my ex came crying to my door because the young blond bimbo he'd cheated with and married had left him high and dry after only 5 weeks of marriage, something switched. I'll never forget the feeling of something lifting off my shoulders and I was positive I'd done the right thing.I sent him out to dinner with our daughter so I could wrap some presents, and I've never regretted or doubted my decision since. Nor do I feel a thing (except sever irritation, as is to be expected) since that moment. Total, instant liberation.
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Don't forget to share you own bit of wisdom today.

The Luck of the Scottish?

You always hear about the luck of the Irish. Well, I'm a prime example of the luck of the Scottish, the Irish's Gaelic kinsman, but who apparently don't carry the same affinity for lucky charms. It's not that horrible things happen to me all the time. It's just that I often experience what would be known as a comedy of errors.

I've gotten to the point where I just say "oh well" because it's become so common. Let me give you an example:

A couple of weeks ago, I got new reading glasses. Just a little over a week later, one of the little rubber thingies (technical term) on the nose piece popped off. Of course, I wasn't aware of the actual popping off moment so I didn't notice until I put the glasses on and they felt weird. So I decided that since I hadn't even had the things ten days and stuff was already popping off, I would take them to the place I bought them and ask them to fix them - and I didn't expect to be charged.

So I call in late because the place doesn't open until ten, and I go by with my glasses, and explain the problem to the tech. She immediately takes the glasses to fix them and assures me that isn't the norm and shouldn't happen again. Great, I think. A couple of minutes and I'm out of here, good as new.

Not quite.

Because you see, while the tech was fixing my glasses, she scratched the lens with her screwdriver. So now I have a new lens on order. Granted, I'm not paying for that either, but you see my point. That is just typical of the type of things that happen to me.

So what about you? Any black clouds following you around? Strange things that only seem to happen to you? Do you friends refuse to fly on the same airplane as you?

Deadly DeLeon

Count your blessings with author Jax Cassidy

And the absolutely picked at random winner of an ARC of Jax Cassidy’s Sunswept is… Toni Sue!! Toni Sue, email me for your prize: gemmahalliday@gmail.com


Happy weekend, everyone! Please join me in welcoming to Killer Fiction a lovely and talented author (and one of my very best friends!), Jax Cassidy! She writes multi-culture contemporary romance and, under the name Cassidy Kent, sensually sinful novellas and contemporary romance. So, take it away Jax...


I belong to about a dozen Yahoogroups, not including local and online chapters, and my inbox is usually stuffed with daily digests. You can learn a lot about an author by their responses and I have to admit that sometimes I cringe at what I discover. I may not be a Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon, JR Ward or Janet Evanovich but I count my blessings every day that I am published, that I am doing what I love most—and I even get paid for it! I am extremely grateful that I write for small press and ePublishers because it’s a great way to learn about the publishing industry while building my readership. It’s also preparing me for the intensity of what is in store for me when I finally sign those NY contracts. No matter where you’re published, it doesn’t get any easier and I treat my writing as a solid professional career with a desire to stay in the game for as long as possible.

Recently, I’ve noticed common mistakes made by some newly published authors and witnessed their lack of regard for professionalism. One thing I’ve learned about being an author is to stay humble, be appreciative for the opportunity, and hold your tongue when you’re compelled to lash out. Unfortunately, what I’ve seen is writers publicly voicing their displeasure about agents, editors, and the publishing industry via their writer’s loop, twitter, myspace or blog. This reactive response may come back to bite them in the butt. These days it’s easy to scream your injustices to the world but it takes a lot of professionalism to calm down and turn the other cheek. I’m not saying that authors shouldn’t stand up for themselves but there are other outlets to vent. In this close-knit industry word gets around pretty quickly and being overly vocal may become a permanent label. No one is going to work with a ‘difficult’ author and you may have just written yourself out of future contracts and new readership.

Here’s some advice I can offer new authors to help them start off on the right footing:

1. Always be professional. You never know who’s watching, or reading about you. How you act is representative of who you are and reflects your level of professionalism.

2. Count your blessings. There’s so much competition as it is, so being published in any form is a major accomplishment. Be grateful for the opportunities and by disrespecting the publisher you’re currently with won’t get you too far in this industry.

3. Do your research. Understand the guidelines, learn about the market, get feedback on publishers from other authors and never stop learning. As I mentioned before, first impressions always count!


~Jax Cassidy
http://www.jaxcassidy.com/

P.S. Jax will be giving away a free ebook ARC of her latest release, Sunswept, to one lucky poster drawn at random! So, share your thoughts...

Romance Reader Statistics

This week I’ve been pulling together my promotion efforts for my upcoming fall book, Scandal Sheet. And since this is the first book in a brand new series, I really wanted to make sure I’m doing the promo up right. To that end, I’ve been doing some research about where best to spend my promo dollars. Specifically, research about romance readers. Who are they, where are they, how do I find them? (Or, more accurately, how do I make sure they find my book?) I came across some really interesting statistics on the RWA (Romance Writer’s of America) website, that I thought I’d share here. RWA commissioned an independent analysis company to create, implement, and analyze a survey of romance readers in 2008, these are the results they came up with:

74.8 million people read at least one romance novel in 2008.

That’s roughly 1/4 of the entire population of the United States!

The core of the romance fiction market is 29 million regular readers.

That's a lot. A whole lot. Like the entire population of both the states of Texas and Louisiana combined.

The mean age of romance readers is 44.6, the median 44.9.



Impulse purchases outnumber planned romance novel purchases.

I thought this was very interesting from a promotional standpoint. Apparently more people will buy my book because it looks pretty on the shelf as they pass by than they will because I sent them a postcard letting them know the book is out and available for purchase. I’ve always heard how romance readers will often take a list of book to the store with them, but I guess they are actually in the minority. Wadda ya’ know?

Most critical purchase influences:
Author
As a reader, I have to agree with this. I have my list of auto-buy authors.

Description of the book
Again, makes good sense. I always read back covers.

Word from friends/acquaintances
I’m actually surprised this one is further down the list than the description of the book. Another myth I’ve heard is that romance readers rely heavily on word of mouth. But, apparently, they’re browsing shelves, impulsively looking at back cover blurbs.




The most popular resource romance readers use to learn about new/upcoming romance titles is a romance novel. Readers learn about new romance titles most often by reading the advertisements for other books contained in the books they are currently reading.

Veeeery interesting. This is something I really hadn’t given much thought to. Generally, authors try to get their book reviewed in magazines, newspapers, websites thinking that puts the word out to readers. Or take out adds. Or do blog tours. But, it turns out, they’re mostly just reading the books. Huh. I’m suddenly twice as happy that Dorchester routinely puts info about their upcoming books in the back of their releases.

Type of Retailer Used Most to Acquire New (Not Used) Romance Novels

· Mass merchandiser: 50.1 percent
· Book superstore: 48.8 percent
· Freestanding, independent bookstore: 31.1 percent
· Online book merchant: 26.4 percent
· Grocery store: 24.3 percent
· Warehouse clubs: 21.7 percent
· Mall bookstore: 21.3 percent
· Drug store: 16.1 percent
· Book club: 12.4 percent
· Mail order: 10.5 percent
· Other online: 9.6 percent
· Airport bookstore: 9.4 percent
· Convenience store: 8.1 percent
· Department store: 7.7 percent
· Other: 13.9 percent

Now this I found particularly helpful from a promo standpoint, as I always like to send out something to bookstore owners. But… which bookstore owners? There are SO many it can be overwhelming. This was a really helpful tool in narrowing down which types of stores might be most helpful. Most surprising to me was how many readers got their books from independent bookstores.

29 percent of romance readers usually carry a romance novel with them.

Now I know what’s in all those big purses I see women carrying!

Romance readers typically begin and finish a romance novel within 7 days.

No wonder they are such prolific readers! Just from my own very unscientific polling of friends and family that are NOT romance readers, most other genre fans take much longer than this to finish a book.



Mass-market paperbacks are currently the most preferred romance novel format.

Well, if they’re carrying them around with them, I can totally see why. Though, I have a feeling that in the coming years, ebooks may start gaining in popularity for just this portable reason.

88 percent are open to trying new authors.

This statistic made my little heart happy. J As authors, we’re always thrilled to pick up new readers. And, it’s heartening to know that the majority of readers are thrilled to pick pup new authors as well.

So, what do you guys think? Agree with the statistics? Anything here surprise you? Any great promo tips you’d like to share?

~Trigger Happy Halliday

Rental Recommendations

I'm still scraping, caulking, priming, and painting here, guys. The weather has cooperated big time. We've only hit 90 degrees once during the entire month of July and today's high is expected to be in the mid-70s. In other words, perfect exterior painting weather. So far I'm liking the color although I gotta say 'herbal wash' isn't exactly something one can overlook as hair highlights but it's definitely better than the country brown.

Anyway, I've been doing double duty for like ever and haven't rented a DVD in ages. If it's been released in the last six months on DVD, I probably haven't seen it. So I decided that once I finish up my painting tasks for the day today, I'm going to order a pizza and rent a movie. Trouble is, I want a sure-fire entertaining one. I like romantic comedies and thrillers but have a low tolerance for 'dumb' movies (I hated Dumb and Dumber). So do me a favor and give me some suggestions on movies you've seen and liked so I can pick a winner when I make my selection.

Thanks folks!

Now back to painting...

Blah.

~Bullet Hole~

Shaving the Dog, Or Stupid Stuff I Thought I Could Do

"Have you ever shaved a dog?" I found myself asking a co-worker last week. As she scuttled away in the opposite direction, mumbling excuses for having to get back to work, it occured to me that 1) I don't work with any dog groomers and 2) I really should think before talking most days.

You guys have seen my new dog, Muppet. A small, four lb. mix with long, fine hair. Hair that drags in brambles, twigs, leaves, and the occaisional stray hobo from the yard. I'd had a dog like that when I was a kid. I remember we got her shaved every summer. I also remember that she cowered in humiliation under my bed for days afterward, but the idea was there and it was taking root.

Problem is, I've done nearly everything you can do to a dog (don't ask) except shave one.

"How hard can it be?" I asked a friend. She laughed hysterically and backed away, muttering something about how she had to lance a boil or something.

I went to Walgreens and asked the clerk about electric clippers.

"For your hair or personal grooming?"

"Personal grooming?" I asked too quickly.

"You know, like for nostril and ear hair." The man said as if I asked where the milk was.

"Oh. For hair. I need to shave my dog."

He blinked at me for about two minutes. Eventually, he managed to get past his immediate concern for my dog and sold me a nice set of clippers.

I asked my friends online. Nikki said she shaved her collie once. "Just be sure you use a guard so you don't shave her bald," she said.

"I can do that?"

"Oh yeah. You don't want a bald dog," she assures me. "They get sunburned."

Armed with all this sage advice, I took my new clippers home and put the dog on the table. Jack, my nine-year old offered to help me. This lasted all of four minutes because Jack decided that it hurt HIM every time I trimmed some hair.

After realizing that it would be easier to shave the dog once I used scissors to shorten her hair, I managed to make some progress. She looked like she'd been groomed by a near-sighted heroin addict.

I brought on the clippers. I did a little better with those. And by that I mean that I didn't kill her. Although it might be possible for her to die of embarrasment. I did make her a promise that I wouldn't show her photo here and that I would never, ever try this again.

In the end, it turned out okay. Her hair is technically shorter. She doesn't drag in foliage, brush or the homeless anymore. She just looks like she lives with a demented person who doesn't know how to shave a dog.

I can live with that.

The Assassin

Are You a Hugger?

Are you a hugger? Do you embrace embracing? I’ll admit it, I’m a full-fledged hugger. Not that I don’t occasionally find myself in awkward hugging situations. And yes, I suppose I, like most people, have my own set of hugging rules. For example, I don’t hug strangers. Well, unless we’ve somehow made an emotional connection, and then a handshake just doesn’t feel right, and a hug is just . . . well, perfect.

I don’t have a timer that beeps aloud when the appropriate amount of hugging time passes, but I do seem to have one internally. And when a person is a hanger-on’er hugger,(meaning the hug hangs on too long) I suddenly start feeling the need to pull away.

I have come in contact with over-eager huggers, people who seem to just want to hug everyone and most of the time they are also the hanger-on’ers and the too-tight-squeezers and the gotcha huggers. Gotcha huggers are the people who didn’t give you a pre-hug warning and then bam--there you are, with your body pressed tightly against someone, and if you’re really unfortunate, you’re wondering who they are, and why their hands are moving toward your ass.

Yup, especially in my younger days, I’ve come across quite a few opportunist huggers. Most opportunist huggers are of the male variety, and right after their arms wrap around you, you sense they are simply using the hug as a guise to cop a feel.

Unfortunately, when you open yourself up to the wonderful pleasure of hugging, you are prime bait for dirty ol’ men, or dirty young men. But I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s still worth the risk. Nevertheless, I’ve often found myself wishing I could call the hugging police.

Needless to say, I’ve never come across the huggers’ handbook, dictating the hugging etiquette, or the number to the hugging police.

Frankly, after enduring the smothering hugs of one of my great aunts as a child, it’s amazing I didn’t grow up to be an anti-hugger.

This aunt had boobs, huge boobs, and when she pulled me to her, I would somehow always get caught between Lucy and Ethel, and let me tell you, breathing while buried between Lucy and Ethel was not easy. Death seemed imminent. Now some men will tell you that’s the way to go. I’m not a man and I totally disagreed. To make the situation worse, the aunt was a hanger-on’er hugger and a squeezer. So whenever I’d see her coming, I’d always take a deep breath as if I was about to swim across the pool underwater, because once you found yourself between Lucy and Ethel, there was no telling when you’d come up for air.

Ahh, but even those oxygen-deprived hugs didn’t deter me from becoming a hugger. There is just something so comforting to wrap your arms around someone and squeeze. You are giving, you are taking, you are sharing.

Now I will have to tell you that like my aunt, I’ve been cursed with my own Lucy and Ethel pair. However, because I’m so short, few people are going without oxygen due to a hug from yours truly.

Nevertheless, the girls often do get in the way of hugging. Which can and has at times made hugging an awkward experience.

For people who know me, they mostly ignore my dynamic duo pair, but for those people who know me well enough that a handshake no longer fits the bill, but the relationship is new to the hugging stage, they tend to worry about bumping into the girls.

In addition to the boob issue, I’m short and that too can create awkward hugging if someone doesn’t want to lean down. I mean, my tiptoes only go up so high. Oh, and I often find myself with another hugging handicap. My hat.

You see, I wear hats at almost every writing conference, where I meet a lot of friends and therefore do a lot of hugging, and it almost never fails that when hugging I’ll get my hat knocked off. Ahh, but believe me, a good hug is always worth the scoop down to pick up the hat. And I always hope the lean down to hug my neck for my tall friends is worth the effort.

Now, while I totally believe in hugs, I know a lot of people who are simply hugging impaired or anti-huggers. I try not to judge these people. I even try not to push my hugs on them, because well, my hubby is one of them.

Hubby will never turn down a hug from me or the kids, but let anyone else open up their arms and come at him and he goes on all-panic mode. He becomes stiff, chest pulled in, butt out, and he stops breathing—and he’s not even worried about get stuck between Lucy and Ethel. It’s just down right terror of the impending hug.

I’ve only seen him turn down a few hugs, but watching him receive one from someone is downright comical because he comes off as about as warm as a concrete post in the Antarctic during a cold spell. And unfortunate for hubby, I’m not the only one who finds his awkward hugging skills funny.

We, hubby, daughter and I, were going out of town for a getaway weekend with my husband’s boss and his wife. When we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was packed with what appeared to be bikers--long haired, bearded, tattooed individuals. And oddly enough, they were all running around hugging each other. Not just one or two of them, but dozens of hugging bikers. Now there’s nothing wrong with this, but I’ll admit it looked rather odd. My hubby and his boss, whom I assume was also an anti-hugger, were more than perplexed. They even asked the hotel clerk what was up with the huggers. We were informed that a conference, “Hugs Not Drugs” was happening at the hotel.

Anyway, we get our hotel keys, get in the elevator and our daughter, only six at the time, leans up against the jeaned leg of what she thought was her daddy and . . . hugs it. Only problem was she was hugging the wrong jeans-covered leg. The biker dude just smiled down at our daughter. She looked up, and the man said, “Hi, I’m Steve.”

Embarrassed, she pulled away and then looked at her daddy and said, “He’s Steve, too.”

Hubby, being polite, held out his hand to introduce himself. The man, with a beard down to his chest and a snake tattoo on his forearms, looked at my husband’s outstretched hand, bypassed it, and gave him a big, an all encompassing bear hug. And you should know the guy was a hanger-on’er hugger and a squeezer, too. So there my hubby was, frozen with panic, butt held out, chest caved in, while being embraced tightly in an elevator in front of his boss. Hubby’s boss started coughing to cover his heehaws of laughter and even I had to bite back my giggles.

Poor hubby, not just because we laughed at him, but because he just doesn’t know what he’s missing. Below are some facts I found on the internet about hugging.



Hug for a healthy heart~ Hugging increases Oxytocin (a heart healthy hormone) and decreases the stress hormone Cortisol (the hormone that leads to high blood pressure and heart disease).

Hugs lead to a lowered heart rate~ Hugs also provide a calming effect. Those hugged are shown to have heartbeats five to ten beats slower per minute than those who are not hugging.

Hugs are good for blood pressure~ Hugging reduces blood pressure (good news for those with hypertension).

Full body hugs stimulate the nervous system~ Full body hugs have been shown to increase nervous system stimulation. This has been used as a physical therapy technique by some professionals.

Hugs release beneficial natural chemicals~ Who needs an artificial high when a hug has been shown to release dopamine—a natural “feel good” brain chemical.

In addition to the physiological benefits of hugs, hugs are purported to lessen loneliness, combat fear, increase self-esteem (Someone wants to hug me!), affirm relationships, diffuse tension, and convey appreciation.

So there are my thoughts, and my story on hugging. Are you a hugger? Do you have hugging rules? Have you hugged anyone lately? If not, do yourself a favor and go find someone to hug. It feels so good. And if you don’t have anyone around, consider yourself cyber hugged by me. Oh, and don’t worry about the girls.
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