Barbara Ellen Brink

National Get the Stress Out Month!

November 11, 2012 By Barbara Leave a Comment

This month has been hectic so far. The holidays are not here yet and I’m already stressed. First of all, I’m trying to finish the 3^rd book of my Amish Bloodsuckers Trilogy while maintaining some semblance of order around my hearth and home. (Okay, I don’t really have a hearth, so it should be pretty easy with just a home, but still…)

With my self-imposed deadline looming, I find my mind wandering more than usual. Stress does that to me. The more I feel pressed and fearful that I won’t get something done in time, the more I procrastinate and daydream. Seems normal, right?

So, here I am this evening thinking about important stuff like what is happening on Revenge, cause I skipped watching it so I could write.

I also wonder why Chipotle Chedder cheese is for a limited time only but Jalapeno Jack cheese is available every day of the week. That right there proves life is not fair!

Speaking of dairy products, why do different brands of milk taste different? After all, they all come from cows! Except for Goat milk which – obviously – doesn’t.

Have you ever wondered why dog treats smell just as bad as dog food, but dogs act like they’re getting something really special? That’s like my daughter getting excited about Sponge Bob shaped macaroni and cheese. It tastes exactly the same as regular macaroni but the noodles are square instead of round. I haven’t actually eaten them, so that is total supposition.

I also wonder how we as a society can accept the wasteful use of billions of dollars for political advertisements during this last campaign when our elected officials are supposedly working to fix the economy, create jobs, feed hungry children, and save wild horses from being turned into dog treats. (Okay, I made that last one up, but you get my drift.)

So, here I am writing down my thoughts for the day instead of writing my book. I guess everyone needs a break once in a while. Now I’ve had mine, so off I go to finish that Amish Bloodsucker Trilogy. I did leave you all hanging at the end of SHUNNED…

Barbara

An Amish Bloodsucker Announcement!

October 10, 2012 By Barbara Leave a Comment

The first book in my new young adult series was released just a few days ago and I wanted to make a huge announcement so everyone would know…but Oprah informed me that she doesn’t read vampire stories, and besides, nobody watches her new channel cause it sucks. (most of that is true)

So here is my huge announcement without the endorsement of any important people other than myself:

CHOSEN (Book One)

A little taste to whet your appetite:

With tongue firmly in cheek and genuine Amish-made stakes at hand, The Amish Bloodsucker Trilogy sets off like a bat in a belfry. Jael the vampire slayer is ready to kick some serious bloodsucker butt. Seriously.

Move over Buffy – there’s a new slayer in town! Raised in the desert of Nevada, and destined for the Minnesota Loon Lake Amish Community, Jael Shetler is the Chosen One.

Trained by her uncle and father in twenty-one different forms of hand-to-hand combat – she also throws a knife with the speed of a bullet, and is accurate to within two centimeters of a cold, dead heart with her crossbow – she is a bloodsucker’s worst nightmare.

Her parents, forced to leave their plain and simple upbringing to escape the clutches of the new Bishop – an ancient and powerful vampire with plans to use the Amish Community as his own personal Jamba Juice – raise and train their daughter to continue the fight begun thousands of years earlier by another Jael, and to fulfill the prophecy in the Book of the Shunned.

Soon Jael is turning sweet sixteen and then … all hell will break loose.

Jael now has her own website! Amish Vampire Slayer

There is cover art to peruse, as well as up to date information on Jael. Leave a question on the comment page and Jael will answer it on her blog. Keep checking back for new updates and announcements of upcoming releases!

CHOSEN is available on kindle right now but in the coming days it will be made available in paperback and other formats.

Barbara

authorphoto1 — Barbara is the author of 6 novels. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and two lovable mutts.

Rescue Me!

July 16, 2012 By Barbara 1 Comment

This topic has been on my mind ever since I went to the store and found myself stuck in neutral in an aisle with around four billion (give or take) choices of skincare products.

If you have a nose and find it itching often, it isn’t hard to choose unscented over floral, ocean breeze, sport, powder fresh, or citrusy. Although, I am very intrigued by the smell of “sport.” Would that be sweat with a lemon tang, the smell of a soccer ball, or the odor of da’feet?

Anyway…besides all the scented selections, you have to decide on how moist you want your skin to be. I know some people, myself included, really don’t like the word moist. I don’t know why. It just sort of creeps me out. So, I would like to use the word, rescued. How rescued do you want your skin to be?

The brand that starts with a V has a line of lotions that begins with “regular” and ends somewhere around “intensive.”

Years ago they only had one product. It was just called – lotion. Now they have a whole selection of different color bottles, and different degrees of rescue.

Repairing moisture boasts that it boosts moisture levels by 300 percent. I don’t know how you measure that, but at my age “repair” sounds good so I threw it in the cart.

There is also a lotion “with benefits.” (not those kind) Aloe Fresh says it sooths your skin with aloe and cucumber. Well, sometimes my skin feels pretty tense and unhappy with the years I’ve put on it, so I tossed one of them in the cart too.

Cocoa Radiance evens skin tone and leaves it smooth & supple. Definitely need some of that.

Men’s Cooling Hydration. Packaged just for men, it has a “cool,” dark blue, manly container that men should find more appealing than cucumber. Now if they just combined it with sport scent I’m sure it would be a best seller. Men love the smell of locker rooms at half-time. But I don’t, so I passed.

Trying to rescue my skin is turning out to be quite an investment. If I’d known in my twenties what I know now I would have started a rehydration savings account.

Barbara

Barbara Ellen Brink

Barbara lives in MN, and is the author of Entangled, Crushed, Split Sense (2011 Grace Award Winner), Alias Black Raven, and Running Home.

Independent & Proud of It!

July 3, 2012 By Barbara Leave a Comment

This summer is popping by like a string of firecrackers, the days hot and quickly gone. I don’t know what happened to June. The last thing I remember was thinking I would get a lot of writing done… More thinking got done than writing, but I’m sure July will be more productive. At least, that’s my hope.

Tomorrow is the country’s big day. Independence Day, or the Fourth of July as most people think of it these days, is usually filled with grilling, picnicking, parades, and watching fireworks explode in the night sky. It’s a celebration commemorating the Declaration of Independence from the tyranny of Great Britian. Take that – you red-coated English poppycocks!

We have other forms of tyranny to contend with in this decade, but Americans are still much the same. Independent. We don’t like anyone telling us what to do, how to think, what to eat, what to believe, or where our money should go.

In fact, I don’t even like the dentist telling me I should floss daily. Sometimes in defiance, I only do it once or twice a week.

We certainly don’t like anyone forcing us to drink tea. Americans are tougher than that. We drink coffee…black and strong. And if anyone says any differently, they can just go to London!

Americans shoot off fireworks because…well, we really like explosions. I’m pretty sure Hollywood has some kind of clause in their movie contracts that say, “there must be at least four explosions in every theatrical release to keep the film from being a complete bomb.” And yet…many are still bombs. Go figure.

Actually there are other reasons for shooting off fireworks on the 4th but the younger generation might not remember them. I didn’t actually live back in the day when we fought for independence from the King of England (shocking, isn’t it) but I often get a little choked up singing, “The Star Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key in 1814. I also think it’s pretty funny that they set his words to a popular British tune. Kind of like thumbing our noses at the King every time we sing it.

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,

 What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, 

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

 O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? 

And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air, 

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; 

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,

 O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?  

It gives you a little tingle up the spine, doesn’t it?

Happy 4^th of July! See you at the local fireworks show!

Barbara

Barbara Ellen Brink, Novelist

Author of: Entangled, Crushed, Split Sense, Running Home & Alias Black Raven

Photo purchased at Fotolia.cm

Lights, Wipers, and Smart Glasses

June 27, 2012 By Barbara Leave a Comment

I was driving home from Nebraska the other night when suddenly the skies grew dark and rain began to pour down. I flipped on the wipers and continued on my way, hoping to avoid an incident of hail damage to my fairly new car. There was no hail, but the rain grew heavier and heavier and pretty soon visibility shortened considerably.

Traffic that had been traveling at the brisk pace of 70mph or so, quickly slowed to under 40mph. Still determined to reach home within my normal six-hour time frame, I pressed on. But as the weather grew wilder, fellow drivers grew stupider.

Apparently, they didn’t have on their smart glasses like I did, because as I tried to pass in the “passing lane” (the left lane, for those unfamiliar with the term) other drivers began to hug the center line and even embrace it in a full straddle as though their car might at any minute be swept from the highway and thrown into the sea.

Point of fact: As many of you know, Minnesota is no where near the coast.

Other drivers refused to leave the passing lane and move to the “slow lane” (right lane reserved for those going slower than other traffic and/or under the speed limit), even though they were blocking traffic and potentially in a position to be rear-ended due to lack of visibility, and the fact that many failed to put their lights on.

In the past I’ve actually been in worse weather on my motorcycle. Not something I’d like to relive, but I did survive. Hands down it was much wetter and more uncomfortable than riding in an air-conditioned vehicle with radio, cell phone, and seat warmers at hand. Even riding motorcycles with 60 mile an hour gusts nearly blowing us over, we managed to stay in our own lane. So I kind of, sort of, expected the same from big, heavy, rain-protected cars that aren’t blown about quite so easily.

Finding that many drivers who were not adhering to customary rules of driving etiquette, and afraid that they would at any second stop abruptly in front of me, I decided to get off and sit for a while. I pulled off on an exit with a McDonald’s and sat in the parking lot watching dozens of cars pass through the fast food drive-through like squirrels stocking up for winter–or Noah stocking up for the flood.

Before I left, an ambulance showed up for someone. I wasn’t sure if the stress of driving in the storm caught up with them or a chicken McNugget was somehow the culprit, but when I continued on toward home I passed another McDonald’s and there was another ambulance with lights flashing.

So now we know. Avoid the big M when traveling. And if you can’t drive in the rain… move to Nevada. It’s closer to the ocean.

Barbara

Barbara Ellen Brink, Novelist

Author of: Entangled, Crushed, Split Sense, Running Home & Alias Black Raven

Peek at Split Sense

June 20, 2012 By Barbara Leave a Comment

Click the cover to purchase Split Sense for $3.99 for your Kindle.

(Taken from Chapter 1)

1995

Darla stumbled through the busy lunch crowd on the Nicollet Mall. Sweat dripped from under her bangs and trickled down the sides of her face. She tugged at the hem of her top, a flaming orange knit; the thin fabric stretched insufficiently over her pregnant belly. The baggy denim skirt she wore restricted movement, wrapping around her legs at every step. She stopped to catch her breath, sucking air like an out -of -shape marathon runner, and glanced back.

Her gaze pinpointed on a man in the shadow of the bank building. No. . .she wouldn’t let him take her. . .the babies. . .

“You can’t have them!” she screamed.

Want to buy my books? You have options:

Is Amazon your favorite online bookstore? Order HERE

If you prefer Barnes & Noble, you can order HERE

Or, you can visit my CreateSpace paperback stores and shop by clicking on these links:

Entangled: https://www.createspace.com/3483348

Crushed: https://www.createspace.com/3580992

Split Sense: https://www.createspace.com/3731423

Running Home: https://www.createspace.com/3771258

Alias Raven Black: https://www.createspace.com/3787506

Thanks,