Harley Q. Turner (Author)

I know I've posted about this before, but it can't be said enough. Music is everything to me. There are a couple songs out there that have literally saved my life. It's no secret that I was part of a majorly abusive relationship. Thankfully I got out of it when I did, because he is now sitting in prison for strangulation and false imprisonment on his most recent ex-girlfriend. Like many women in abusive relationships, I tried to justify it. "It won't happen if I stop making him mad," I told myself over and over again. Then I went to a concert. It was the first time I saw ANew Revolution. I had never heard of them, but they were opening for Tantric. I immediately fell in love with ANR. The lyrics to their song "Let Go" really hit home for me. I was even lucky enough to meet them after the show. Once Tantric hit the stage, I really listened to their lyrics, especially "Mourning." I knew I had to get out of the relationship. Life wen

With the lovely holiday season coming up (and sadly, I don't mean Halloween), I have to find more time for my craft projects. I am a part of several vendor events in the fall/winter months, and since I have been writing non-stop since January, there hasn't been much time for crafting. I have to change that. This blanket is the ONLY craft project I have done all year, and it's not even finished yet! I have a couple of people wanting blankets by Christmas, so I have to change my priorities a little bit. Don't worry, I will still be writing! I have about 3 chapters done for my fantasy novel so far. I think I will have an every other day schedule. One day will be writing. The next will be crafting. I still have to get Reopening Old Wounds completely edited before its release next month. Taking a week off of everything last week really put me behind schedule.

My normal schedule for blog posts has been altered lately to allow time for my grandma's funeral. I'm having a hard time moving on in my daily life. There are so many things that need to get done, I just don't want to do them. I try to write so I can escape this pain in my chest, but the words just don't seem right. All I kept hearing at the funeral is "I'll be okay if I can get through this funeral." I disagree. The funeral wasn't easy, but it is not the most difficult part. Moving on with day to day life as though nothing happened seems impossible at this point. I want nothing more than to disappear camping with my grandparents again. I was the constant fighting between family members to stop. I want everything to go back to the way it was before we got the cancer diagnosis. I know it's not possible, but that doesn't mean I can't want it that way. I keep trying to stay busy, but nothing holds my attention for long. I can't tackl

Okay the only thing worse than experiencing a death in the family is reading about it on facebook. My grandma passed away at 7 this morning. About 9:30, I read a post on facebook from my cousin. No one thought to call me. No, let's let everyone find out about it on facebook. Sounds like a great idea. Or not. Seriously, it's freaking bullshit. I'm pissed! This is the THIRD family member that I had to find out about the death ON FACEBOOK! Losing my grandma is bad enough. Finding out about it by reading words on a page that have already been read by hundreds of people BEFORE FAMILY WAS EVEN NOTIFIED is not the way to find out about it. I saw comments on numerous facebook pages saying "sorry for your loss" or along those lines before I finally got a hold of a cousin. This happened at 7! I found out at 9:30. It's almost 11 now and my own mother STILL hasn't said a word other than commenting on a picture asking if my kids were okay. Um. NO ONE IS OKAY. T

How do you say goodbye to the one person that has always been there for you? My grandmother is easily the best person I have ever met, and I'm not just saying that because she's my grandma. Anyone that knows her would say the same thing. Her cancer has been progressively getting worse over the last few weeks. Today, she was officially admitted to hospice. Less than eight hours later, we had to call 911. She's not expected to make it through the night. I can't imagine my life without her. Grandma has always been the only person I could count on. No matter what was going on in my life, she would always be there. I can't cope not having that. I haven't been able to write for a couple of weeks now. Not sure if the writer's block will ever really go away. I need to get passed it. I need to escape this hell that I'm living in. Writing was my escape when she received her diagnosis, and now I can't seem to do it. I can't cope without her.

Anyone who knows me or has seen my facebook in the last week or so knows that I am suffering from a major case of writer's block. I had tried everything, but in the last few days, I have thrown away well over 100 pages of work that I just didn't think was good enough. For the next week or so, I'm going to give up. No writing. (Other than the occasional blog post such as this.) Clearly my brain can't seem to work on the fantasy novel right now, so it is break time. I am going back to my other creative outlet: crafting. I have spent the last two days working on the first step of a blanket. I can't wait to see how it turns out! Follow my facebook to watch the progress!!

So today is the day. I have been talking about it for months. (Actually closer to a year because my e-cig was a birthday present last year) Today is the day that I am going to quit smoking. I already know it's going to be super difficult. I am already going a little crazy and it's only been less than 12 hours since my last cigarette, but I am going to do this. As I sit and type this, I want nothing more than a cigarette. I was going really good this morning until I started fighting with my son's father. Apparently it's not important to be on time for the first day of school. My 6 year was with his father last night. Well, his dad shipped him off to his sister's house and depended on her getting the kids to school on the first day. She has four kids of her own to get ready for school, what kind of person would add two more? My son as his younger brother showed up to school 15 minutes late. Of course I have a problem with this! It's his first day! So of