Guest Blog with Diana Duncan

Today, I’m featuring romance author Diana Duncan. Her piece is really moving and can make you think. She gives the best advice I’ve heard in a while and I for one believe I’ll be following it. Hope you enjoy. Don’t forget to comment.

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The Good Stuff

Starting out as a newbie writer, I gleaned my most  valuable piece of advice from an online “how to” article. I wish I could  remember who the author was, but I’ll never forget what she said: “Don’t hoard  the good stuff.”

Taking that to heart, I have poured every emotion,  every twist, every creative fiber of my being into every single story…as if it  were my only book. My final book.

Because you just never  know.

When my best friend’s mother-in-law “Mary” died several  years ago, it fell to my friend to clean out Mary’s house. What she found was  shocking, and horribly sad. Literally hundreds of Christmas, birthday and  Mother’s Day gifts – brand new appliances, brightly-colored quilts, beautiful  warm sweaters…all sitting, untouched, in boxes. For decades, Mary had been “making do,” using stained, faded bedding and tablecloths, and half-broken  appliances, and wearing ragged clothing marred by  holes.

She’d been hoarding the good  stuff.

And after Mary died, all her lovely things were given  away to others to use.

That was a huge wake-up call for me. Because while I  never hesitated to pour my very best into my writing, I’d been short-changing  myself in so many other ways. Waiting for “someday.”

My mom’s emergency open-heart surgery the following  summer hammered home the point. It was a scary, stressful time and we nearly  lost her, but thanks to God’s grace and an amazing surgical team, she pulled  through.

And I was totally done waiting for “someday.”

I now use my best dishes, tablecloths and flatware any  old time I feel like it, even if we’re just having mac & cheese. I scrunch  up “decorative” pillows and toss ‘em on the floor and lay on ‘em to play video  games with my daughter. I wear the prettiest outfits from my closet to the  grocery store if I want. I try not to worry about how much I weigh, instead  focusing on health and a positive mental image. I crank up the music and dance  in the middle of the day. Vacuuming can wait another few hours until I finish  the new bestseller I’ve been looking forward to reading for  months.

But more than that, I now tell my mom that I love her  every day. And my step-dad, daughters, son-in-law and husband. I call my sisters  more often. I tell my best friend how smart and talented she is and how much I  admire her. I stop writing and go out to lunch with my husband on his day off,  pause while cooking dinner to give my kids random hugs or kiss my hubby. I  strive to be slow to take offense and quick to  forgive.

I wasn’t holding back any of the good stuff, in any  area of my life. Not anymore.

Then I got the phone call from the Emergency Room that  nobody ever wants to receive. The car that my husband and daughter were riding  in was slammed – hard – by a drunk driver. Again, thanks be to God, they’re both  okay. Even thinking about the horrible realization that I could have lost them  both still makes me physically sick.

But I also had the peace of knowing, deep down, that  I’d freely given them everything in my heart. I wouldn’t have regrets about love  left unsaid, hugs not given, forgiveness not  granted.

What’s hidden in the back of your closet, tucked away,  carefully wrapped in tissue? What are you saving for “someday?”

What are you depriving yourself of – special things you  could be using, wonderful feelings you could be experiencing, right here, right  now?

Fling open that door! Liberate your dreams, your hopes,  your love, and yeah, even your grudges and your fears. Make today your own  personal Independence Day.

Get out your good stuff. Live every moment. And enjoy  it to the fullest.

Which is why I recently wrote “Deal with the  Devil,” the first book in my “Devilish Devlins”  series featuring a family of wonderfully wicked Irish  heroes. Times are hard right now, and I wanted something that would make readers laugh. Something that would make them  forget the all the bad for a while and just enjoy  themselves.

The idea came to me years  ago when my daughter was three. She was quite a “handful,” and from the moment  she could talk, always spoke her mind. We were in the park signing up for swim  lessons, and as we finally reached the registration table—with a long, long line  behind us—she took one look at the bald man sitting there, and announced clearly  and loudly to the entire crowd. “Some men don’t wear  hair.”

Luckily, he had a great  sense of humor, and just chuckled.

I went home, took three  Ibuprofen, then called my mom and groaned, “Thank God she isn’t twins.”

Deal with the Devil by Diana Duncan

But what if she had been? My imagination took off from there, and  created a fun, sexy, contemporary romance featuring a smoking hot Irish hero, an  introverted heroine who doesn’t want children…and the naughty twins  who coax her out of her shell and teach her that life is incomplete without  love and laughter.

Visit Diana Duncan at her website: http://www.dianaduncan.com where she features hunks in kilts and other fun  stuff.

Join her on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/dianaduncan1#!/dianaduncan1

“Sword of the Raven” Diana’s  contemporary Celtic paranormal romance will be released at the end of  October.

“Devil May Care,” the second book in  the “Devilish Devlins” series will be released at the end of  November.

Author Bio:

When her dreams of becoming a ballerina were quashed by  early-onset klutziness, Diana Duncan took up the safer vocation of writing. Her  first thrilling masterpiece—written in orange crayon—was titled “Perky the Kitten,” and became an  instant bestseller with her grandparents.

Her childhood growing up as a military brat gave her  ability to leap into a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime…and she  always discovers a new friend in the process. This gift of gab perfectly  equipped her for a career that involves making stuff  up.

Di is famous for using seven words when one will do.  She wields smart-assery like a samurai sword, and will be the first to volunteer  in a catastrophe. Of course, she was probably the one who caused the catastrophe. She’s fiercely  loyal to her friends and family…but in the event of the upcoming zombie  apocalypse, she won’t hesitate to use them as human  shields.

She loves her job as an author, and claims writing is  the most fun she’s ever had while wearing her sock monkey pajamas. She also  enjoys gardening, cooking, and adopting abandoned curbside furniture to  refurbish into treasures.

Diana published six books for Silhouette Romantic  Suspense before recently going rogue with indie publishing.

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