Celebrating Your Birthday by Being Thankful

About six years ago I had the pleasure of meeting author Libby Heily when we were both participants in the 2010 Kennedy Center Playwriting Intensive, which was an incredibly inspirational and motivating experience. I was delighted to learn that Libby was having a novel published with Fire & Ice YA, which published my debut novel SWIMMING ALONE. WELCOME TO SORTILEGE FALLS will be out soon.  Today, Libby  shares a wonderful and moving post about birthdays to help celebrate this BLOG’S BIRTHDAY MONTH. Be sure to also read the excerpt from her novel!

CELEBRATING YOUR BIRTHDAY BY BEING THANKFUL

By Libby Heily

Thanks for having me over Nina! Happy Birthday to your blog!!

Birthdays have always been special for me. I was born the day before my mother’s birthday and one month exactly after my father’s. My mother said that I was her special gift, which was wonderful since I’m the youngest of six kids and it was easy to get lost in the shuffle. We celebrated our birthdays together throughout my childhood. Now that my mother has passed, our shared birthdays are a reminder of all the good times we had.  I don’t cry on my mom’s birthday. I think of her fondly and remind myself that now I’m living for two.

My personal philosophy is that your birthday is the one day a year you get to celebrate your life. Okay, I guess technically you can do it any day, but it’s easier if it’s concentrated on one occasion. Birthdays are like the Thanksgiving for your soul, maybe minus the giant feast, or not. Hey, it’s your birthday, I’m not here to judge.

I spend the morning of my birthday going over all the reasons I’m lucky and it puts me in a great mood for the rest of the day. I think about friends, family, the hubby, writing, health, etc. I also go over all the ways I have almost died: my stomach grew together in the womb and I had a life saving operation as a newborn, I nearly drowned as a kid–twice, I almost got ran over one year, and I fell out of a canoe right next to an alligator who surfaced as I went into the water. So, yeah, I could’ve easily died several times, and those are only the ones that I know about. 🙂

Once I’ve rehashed all that, I like to think about how my life is now and how it’s different than I thought it would be. I never would have guessed I would have found such a loving and wonderful husband. Nor would I have imagined that I’d get to be a published author or that I would get to perform improv several times a month. Spending my time entertaining people is a pretty huge gift in my life and I’m incredibly grateful for it.

Then I knock it off with all the deep thoughts and enjoy my day. I’m a January baby so I can’t do too much outside, but I can usually depend on a good time with friends and the hubby and lots of chocolate. Don’t judge. Chocolate makes me happy!

Wishing you all a very Happy Birthday this year!!!!

LIBBY HEILY

I was born during a blizzard.  I’m told it was pretty cool but I have no memory of that time. I grew up in two tiny towns in Virginia and spent most of my twenties moving around the US. I’ve lived in Virginia, Florida, Missouri, and Washington. I’ve settled down, for now, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

I’m a writer and improviser. I studied acting in college but spent more time rewriting lines than memorizing them. My first play, Fourth Wall, was produced my junior year. Since then, I’ve written several full length plays, one acts, and screenplays. I started writing fiction in my late twenties. Now, I focus mainly on novels but still dabble in theater.

Fun facts about me: There are none. I’m sorry to disappoint you so soon. But, I do love to read, write, and run. My hubby is my favorite person on earth. Dogs are my second favorite. All dogs. Know that. I love orange juice, especially when it’s mixed with club soda. Carbonation is better than alcohol. Jaws is my favorite movie. Everything I’ve said so far is true.

You can connect with Libby Heily on her WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and TWITTER, AMAZON and GOODREADS.

WELCOME TO SORTILEGE FALLS by Libby Heily

Sixteen-year-old Grape Merriweather has just moved to Sortilege Falls and already she knows something isn’t right. A small pack of teenage models, too beautiful for words, holds the town in their sway. The models have no plans on making Grape’s life easy. But no matter how cruel they are to Grape and the other “Normals”, no one can stay angry with them for long.

Grape’s life changes for the better, or so she thinks, when Mandy, the only “nice” model, befriends her. But that’s when the trouble truly begins. Mandy’s friendship places Grape smack in the middle of a medical mystery that has the entire town on edge. One by one, the models fall ill from an incurable disease. Grape quickly realizes that the models’ parents are hiding a secret, even as they watch their children die. To save her only friend, Grape will have to find the truth–and that means putting her life in danger.

EXCERPT from WELCOME TO SORTILEGE FALLS

Grape’s entire body stiffened as she looked up from her phone. Five of the most beautiful people to ever walk the earth stood scattered around two Porsches. Did I walk into a photo shoot?

“I mean, gross.”

The words came from an impossibly beautiful girl. Loose, raven- black locks fell over her shoulders, the tips lingering above her full bosom. Grape could almost hear the sizzle and static of her electric blue eyes. The sun had kissed the girl’s skin lightly, leaving a glow that made the air around her shimmer. Her pouty, pink, full lips begged to be kissed, though the guy standing behind her, his arm draped over her shoulder protectively, warned off all who would be so bold.

The boy behind her, if anything, was even more handsome than she was beautiful. Muscle stacked upon muscle until his clothes had no choice but to hug every inch of his body. His dark eyebrows and strong jaw lent him a tough look, one that was backed up by the playful anger in his eyes.

The raven-haired goddess turned and embraced her beau, her face tucked away into the heat of his chest. He sat propped up on the hood of a yellow Porsche, the sleek lines of the car offset by the disdain on his face. They were so incredibly, delightfully gorgeous that even though he looked as if he had seen a cockroach instead of a human being, Grape’s heart still melted at the sight of them.

“I think she’s in love.”

Grape snapped her gaze away from the Adonis with the nasty temperament and turned toward the twin boys standing in front of a black Porsche. Her eyes bounced between the two, taking in every perfect feature. Flawless, rich, dark brown skin. Sparkling hazel eyes. Muscles so tight that you could bounce a quarter off their abs, or arms, or anywhere on their bodies, really. They looked as perfectly engineered as the cars they stood by. But it was their lusciously long eyelashes that sent Grape swooning. Men were not meant to be this pretty.

“Leave her alone, guys.”

Grape’s head spun. Each person she saw was more beautiful than the last, and the redheaded girl standing off to the side was no exception. The baggy jeans and generic T-shirt she wore did not detract from her creamy skin and full lips. Her large brown eyes fascinated Grape—red flakes glimmered from inside each caramel-colored orb.

The air felt charged with a million volts. Her thinking grew cloudy. Were these angels? Was she daydreaming? How did anyone get to be this beautiful? She could sense their hostility, but something inside her felt warm and gooey. Snap to, Grape, she told herself. They want to hurt you.