Raine Balkera - Romance Author

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Week 12 of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge . This Week's Topic is: My Contest Experiences (Win, Lose, Get Signed?) (queue the laugh track, please) (crickets?) Yeah, I have nothing to contribute to this week's challenge topic, sorry. I think we've gone over this before, but, I'm too sensitive and spineless to set myself up for anything that involves the possibility of failure or judgement via peer evaluation. I play the Lottery when their jackpots go sky-high, but even then I don't get anything in return. An old friend of mine took her little ones down to some zoo in Ohio, and they were having a raffle that particular day, and of the thousands who went to that zoo that day, SHE came home with a brand new Chrysler convertible. She told me she 'just had this feeling' she was going to win, and she did. There was the time, ages ago, when some fitness club phoned to say I'd won thei...

Quick Note: I want to address the following Bloggers: Taniya Deaton, Courtney Hunt, Leigh Anderson, Maureen Bonatch, Alina K. Field, and Natalia Prats. Last Week's Hop was messed up, I know, and this might have something to do with that, but when I clicked on your links, the following message appeared: I never know if it's a problem on my end, the internet in general, or an actual, real issue that needs resolving. Regardless, these types of warnings make me really nervous and scream VIRUS in my head, and as you can see, I had no other option but to click Back to Safety. I do apologize for not being able to see or read your content in order to comment and help your traffic numbers increase, and I do hope this week proves different for us all. Hello, again, and welcome back to the 2018 MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge. This is Week 9, and today's discussion topic is: What I Would Invent if I Were Stuck on an Island And, to your sur...

Hello, again! Before I delve into this week's Challenge Question, I'd like to share a little 'funny' with y'all, if you don't mind. It kind of falls in line with today's topic, I think. While subbing for a 5th grade class this afternoon (it's Thursday) I saw a Goes Home announcement on the teacher's desk. The school is having a Bagel Drive, and it read as follows: "All you have to do is (comma) bring in a dollar and turn it into your teacher." Welcome back for Week Eight of the MFRW Author Blog's 52-Week Blog Challenge . This week we are asked to discuss: The Worst Writing Advice I've Gotten And, like always, I have to remark on that word, Gotten . Blech. I gave it a better word in my Title, though. This week's Challenge Question is both great and evil for me, but I'll try very hard not to expound on the Evil (as in, I'll TRY). Just know I'm fully aware of the fact that I'm a ...

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to a late entry in the MFRW Author Blog 52-Week Blog Challenge. This is now Week Seven, and today's topic is: Top Five Things on My Bucket List Can't STAND the phrase Bucket List . The guy who coined it was referring to death that way, kicking the bucket, and I just think it sounds really stupid. Anyway, I apologize for the late entry this week, but I did spend a lot of time thinking about what to say and didn't really come up with anything spectacular. Realistically, I'm limited by lack of wealth in the Bucket List category of life, but that doesn't stop the imagination from creating one thought bubble after the other! I think we've done this list before, too. Here we go, and in no particular order, either. #1 I'd really like to be in NYC on New Year's Eve just once. Kid 101 Maybe not sandwiched among the throngs -- freezing my doopah off with them -- but in a swank hotel room with a perfe...

It amazes me how quickly time seems to fly, what with there being just THREE WEEKS left of 2017! And because of that, I'm participating in Week 50: My Biggest Accomplishments , even if I have no idea what to say. Like with a few other posts we've participated in, this question can be answered a few different ways. My children. My Survival Skills. Reaching obligatory or privileged milestones. But, since we're all writers here, I guess I'll say my biggest accomplishment would be my having the guts to publish my own work to the world. It is a huge accomplishment for me because even now, after several years have passed since that first novel went public, I am still very much afraid to promote it or send it off to popular book bloggers for fear of rejection and harsh criticism, BOTH of which would throw me off my game and cause me to not want to ever write again. Not having the confidence to write again scares me far more than hearing a lot of n...

Hi, everyone! Welcome back for another installment of the MFRW Author Blog 's 52-Week Blog Challenge. This is now Week 49 of the challenge, and today's topic is: A Favorite Recipe  Having not grown up in a Betty Crocker type environment, although my mother did use her cookbooks from time to time, she just wasn't of a mind to allow her two daughters to help out around the house... least of all in the kitchen. That's right, folks! Me and my older sister were responsible for our sides of a shared bedroom and that was it. Ma did all of the household chores because that was her way: HER way and no other way, in other words. When I left home, I did my fair share of cooking and turned out (if you don't mind my saying so) to be a rather decent cook. As for baking, well, the simple answer is no. Gas or electric stove, my cookie bottoms burn, my cakes sink, don't rise, or taste 'off' in some way. As for yum-yum's, I'll tell you tha...

Hi, everyone! This is now Week 48 of the MFRW Author Blog 52-Week Blog Challenge, and today's topic is: 5 Things on my Bucket List Starting with honesty (as usual), I don't particularly possess a Bucket List and I don't really care for the term Bucket List. It sounds ugly. I get what it means, though, but think it is a stupid choice of words is all. Now I need to keep thinking about what to say in 5 different ways to be able to participate. Outlandish 5. Winning the Lottery 4. Traveling the Globe 3. Owning my Own Island 2. Being a Best-Seller 1. Staying Healthy until at least 70 (so I can keep writing) Realistic 5. Being in Alaska on December 21 to see a 24 hour night and again in June for the 24 hour day 4. Publishing a Novel that a lot of People really enjoy Reading 3. Building my Dream Writing Space 2. Swimming in Lake Ontario (the only Great Lake I have yet to set foot in) 1. Spending New Years Eve in NYC Hope this wasn't too bor...

Hello minasan, and welcome back for another installment of the  MFRW 52-week Blog Challenge via #MFRWAuthor. It's Week 42 now, and the topic of discussion for today is MY FIRST LOVE Which I really don't want to discuss here, or ever again for that matter. Unrequited Love by KaidaYinThyme Along with a host of other issues dealing with my past, one of the HELP steps in recovering from said malady is to let it ALL go. Including any memories or mention of unrequited love. However, and to be fair to the rest of the participants in this week's Hop, I can touch on the fact that while it remains a painful and quite sad memory, it was also a bit of a catalyst for my writing career! Yes, I had a mad crush on a boy from the 7th grade straight through high school and almost a decade beyond that! Tall, dark, devastatingly handsome, thick, unruly black hair, tanned skin, dark eyes, sexy voice, and very impressively built due to his love of all things sports....

Hello, and welcome back for Week 39 of the Marketing for Romance Writers  52-Week Author blog challenge. This week, we are asked to talk about:  Words to Live By Well... this is a toughie, but for reasons you're probably not even assuming. When it comes to Pearls of Wisdom, I am on the BUNCO side. As a matter of fact, one of my future Vlog uploads will be covering this very topic. But, to play fair here, I'll start by offering up "Always Wear Clean Underwear" Honestly, you just never know, so play it safe and do the wise thing prior to leaving the house for any reason whatsoever. "A Stitch in Time Saves Nine" I have NO idea how to interpret this, I just like saying it and think it's funny, so hopefully, if you need to giggle a little, this might do the trick. "As You Think, So Shall You Become ~Bruce Lee" This most accurately proves why I am not a fan of Words of Wisdom, because if he's right, then I am con...