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Cold As Ice

There will always be people in this world who will try to steal your joy, rob you of happiness and make you feel less than good enough.  Don't empower them with your tears.  They aren't worth the emotion.  When someone hurts you, say "ouch," give them a chance to right the wrong, and if they make an effort, forgive them.  BUT, if when you say "ouch," they ignore you, turn a cold shoulder, act aloof toward you and refuse to explain why they have grown annoyed by your presence, then pick yourself up and walk away with a clear conscience and a peaceful heart.  For they don't deserve you... and you certainly deserve better.  ~

I was going to add to this...but I think it says exactly what needs to be said.  ~

Annoyed and Aloof

I’ve never been so annoyed with anyone that I turned aloof toward them.  I find this behavior inexcusable and downright heartless.  I’ve been angry, enraged, pissed off, held a grudge, scowled, said mean things and lashed out at people in my life…thankfully not often…but I’ve never once turned a cold shoulder, ignored them or treated them as if they were meaningless to me.  I can’t imagine hating someone to the degree that I blow them off in a purposeful manner to make them feel disregarded and utterly used.  What kind of cold heart exists inside the people that behave this way?  I find it inconceivable to even ponder.  Is it that they are so calloused over by their own emptiness that they don’t realize what their aloof attitude does to others?  It is no wonder they have few friendships and even fewer meaningful relationships.  For how does one befriend a person who turns icy and aloof at the onset of annoyance?  How does one communicate with someone who refuses to respond and, when they do, it is only to point fingers and shift blame?  I’ve pondered this and the only answer I can come up with is the sad fact that you cannot befriend them….at least not for long.  They will turn cold and banish you from their world.  It is only a matter of time.  They’ll tell you that the more you annoy them the more aloof they’ll become, thereby leaving you no other option but to disappear from their life.  They’ll assume no responsibility for their own hurtful actions and they’ll act surprised when they push your buttons to the point where you explode in anger.  These people are manipulative and mean-spirited to the core, thriving on the rejection they make you feel and then telling you not to wallow in the drama of it all.  You can’t fix it and you can’t change them, even if you care about them.  See, the bottom line is they have to care back in order to treat you the way you deserve to be treated…and these people are incapable of caring for anyone but themselves.  They don’t understand that friendship isn’t always blissful and happy.  Friendship, like any relationship, can be rocky and hard at times.  Friends fight and make up.  Friends make mistakes and forgive.  Friends scream at each other and hug.  Friends get annoyed but they respond with love.  Friends stomp away in anger but they always return.  True friendship is filled with ups and downs and twists and turns and repeated apologies and I love you’s. Friends are never aloof, never close a blind eye or turn a cold shoulder.  If you find yourself in one of these one-sided “friendships,” where you’re doing all the reaching out and they’re blowing you off … run. 

One Simple Touch

Isn't it strange how life can take an unexpected turn and you find yourself suddenly graced with a brand new perspective?  How in a stranger's face you can find a truth you didn't even know you sought... How some friendships go deeper than others, and that depth isn't necessarily based on longevity...  How even though you don't understand at the time, things really do happen for a reason....How there could be a greater purpose at work in us and around us at every second.  Isn't it strange?  And to realize that there is beauty in the touch of the unknown, doesn't make the known beauty any less important...but gives you insight to relish in gratefulness for both. Isn't it strange how both can be needed despite the fact that you never knew a need existed?   For it takes all ages in all stages of life to collectively connect and reach around the world; and it often begins with one simple touch. 

Interview

Below is an interview with S.R.Claridge, author of mystery and romantic suspense novels, published by Vanilla Heart Publishing.  Susan, thank you for joining me today.

What are you currently working on?

I just finished my first short story, entitled Petals of Blood, which came out in February.  Right now I am working on the fourth book in the Just Call Me Angel series (due out in May) and an independent mystery/suspense novel that I hope to wrap up by the end of the year.

Do you have a favorite character from one of your novels?

Yes.  I like Olga and Chase from the Just Call Me Angel series.  I also like Braznovich from No Easy Way.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.  Who is S.R.Claridge?

I hate this question.  It’s like Where’s Waldo?  Okay, let’s see…Who am I?  Hmmmmm.  I’m your average forty-one year old wife of 19 years and mother of two grade-school age children.  I spend most of my time playing chauffer to my kids.  I sleep very little.  I don’t text while I drive.  I have a personal policy to at least acknowledge every email I receive.  I love Mexican food and homemade Italian food.  I can’t sew, but I’m really good with duct tape.  I love shooting a 357 magnum…it makes me feel like a Charlie’s Angel.  I prefer nighttime over day time, moonlight over sunlight and candles over lamps.  I like music and movies… and I love the stage.   I hate documentaries, unless they’re about my favorite actors.  My favorite time of year is fall.  I love costume parties, Grey Goose martinis with bleu cheese olives, spicy bloody marys and non-sweet margaritas; and nobody makes a better whiskey sour than my dad.  J     I love Jesus and I know that anything good in me comes from God.  I believe in the freedom of forgiveness, the power of prayer and that people can change.  I’m a writer who is constantly inspired by the world around me.  Mostly, I’m thankful for every blessing in my life.

What’s the best thing you ever did?

Birthed my daughter and my son.

Aside from your children, what’s the best thing you ever did?

Best thing, like married my husband, or best thing like an act of kindness????  I once wrestled a stranger to the ground and sat on him so he couldn’t jump from the freeway overpass and kill himself.  I guess that was a good thing.  And I pulled a little boy out of the pool before he drowned.   Oh, I pulled a newborn llama out of its mother, and cleaned the slime off its hooves and nose, though it would have probably come out by itself eventually. I don't know if that counts. 

What’s the worst thing you did?

I’ve made too many mistakes to list.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I had my nose reconstructed in 1999.  I smoked for four years.   I was a vegetarian for four years, ironically it was the same four years I smoked.  I had my appendix out at the age of 15, my ACL repaired at the age of 29 and two c-sections.

Why do you write Mafia books?

Because I love anything Italian.  Baddah Bing, Baddah Boom.

What is your advice for aspiring authors?

My advice for aspiring anybody's is don't ever quit and always, always try to think outside the box.

List your books:

No Easy Way

Petals of Blood

The Just Call Me Angel Series:

Tetterbaum’s Truth

Traitors Among Us

Russian Uprising

Death Trap  (coming out in May 2012)

Is there a website where readers can find out more about you:

www.AuthorSRClaridge.com    You can also find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Xanga, Blogger, Pinterest, Goodreads and various other writer sites.

A Question of Instinct

Have you ever done something, almost out of instinct, without forethought... and then looked back and wondered what possessed you to do it? Was it a suppressed need? Was it a craving? Or was it merely an instinctual reaction driven by an unexplainable feeling of comfort? Was it a desire that you, yourself, never knew you had? Was it wrong?  Was it right?

Tell me your story:  authorsrclaridge@gmail.com