Unconditional Love ~ #MondayBlogs

Loving someone unconditionally does NOT mean loving them blindly. You need to really know a person in order to love them, faults and all. And it’s okay to not always LIKE them and still LOVE them.

Parents and offspring have been knocking heads together since Adam and Eve had their sons. Never, ever withhold love from a child. Never make them feel that you won’t love them anymore if they struggle in school. It’s alright to let your child know when you are not happy with his actions, that there are consequences for breaking the rules, but NEVER, ever make him feel that he has lost your love. Don’t crush her spirit, destroy his self-confidence, or make her feel alone. A child should always feel the security of her parent’s love.

There are many ways to love, family love between parents and children or siblings, love between friends, love between lovers or spouses, or even love for pets. Love can fill your heart with warmth and happiness; you care deeply about another living being. Love is not dependency although you can’t imagine a world without the one you love in it. Love is not a chore, although it is worth any work you put into it. Love is not a possession even though you want to claim it for your own.

When you love a person for who he or she really is, then you understand his faults and love him anyway. If you claim to love someone but won’t see who he really is, then you merely “love” a fantasy you created and loving only what you want to see. Love without conditions — without limits is a true love, it is deep and real.

Love is a wonder.

A Few of My Favorite Things

A Day to Be Grateful...

Traditionally Americans are coerced into reciting all of the things they are thankful for before feasting on gluttonous meals yearly on the fourth Thursday in November. Several other cultures celebrate similar days of thanks as well. Hopefully each one of us remembers to appreciate and be grateful for all that we have the other 364 days in the year.

Before I sit at my family's Thanksgiving table tomorrow, I wanted to take the time to thank all of my readers - blogs, books and articles - and all of my social network friends for allowing me room in their lives. My wish for each of you is to have many, many, MANY reasons to be grateful every day.

I feel the need to mention just some of the things I thank G-d for everyday: My husband, our children and their soul-mates, our combined siblings and their families, our cousins, extended family and mishpocha (relatives through blood & marriage), our cats and other family pets,the professionals I get to work with in a job I love, my publisher and fellow authors at VHP, the friendships I've made through work, a warm home, my needs being met and lots of hopes and dreams we are all working towards. I am thankful for so many of the people I've known in my life, even several who are no longer present, and the experiences and joys I've been allowed to see. I've been blessed to find some of my closest friends among the very people I call family, and friends who have become family. I can earnestly say It IS a Wonderful Life.

May you and yours enjoy all of the goodness 

and blessings of the day

 and forever have reason to be thankful! 

This is dedicated to the ones I love...

Ssh, Kitty Power Rules! (we took control of mom's blog)

Hi there, my name is Tigger, my mom is the author of Karma Visited.
Karma Visited is a paranormal suspense story by Chelle Cordero and published by Vanilla Heart Publishing; it will be out in mid-September, right after the "dog days" of summer...

My brothers (Mario & Luigi) and I were real excited to meet one of the characters from Karma Visited. Mom gave a character in one of her other books a childhood pet that still lived in her childhood home with her dad. But this is the first time that she gave a feline a real part in her book.

Anyway, we want to introduce Mauszer

                        ...and without further meowing

Tigger: Hi Mauszer, can you tell our readers what role you play in Karma Visited.

Mauszer: I live with Undersheriff Dave Turner. We met when I was house sitting at the house that he rented. Now he feeds me so that I take care of the house and watch it while he goes off to work everyday.

Mario: Ooh, ooh, what kind of food does he feed you? What do you do with the leftovers? Maybe I could come over and have dinner with you one day?

Tigger: Hey Mario, don't be a mooch.

Mauszer: Oh that's okay Tiggs. The food is pretty simple, Mario, canned stuff. Dave is a pretty simple guy, no gourmet stuff for either of us.

Luigi: Hey, can I ask a question? Please... Mauszer, what is Dave like as an owner? Does he pet you a lot? Does he play with you? What's it like? What's it like?

Mauszer: Luigi, Dave doesn't own me, we're really just roommates. We respect each other's space for the most part, but yeah, we have our moments when we just like to be together. 

Tigger: How does it feel to be the hero's side-kick?

Mauszer: I don't really look at it like being a side-kick, I feel really crucial to the story, sort of like Tonto to the Lone Ranger... and if you saw the movie then you know how Johnny "Tonto" Depp really WAS the movie.

Tigger: How do you feel about Annie?

Mauszer: She's okay. I'm willing to share my human with her so long as she accepts that I was here first. Dave seems happy when he gets to be with her... of course she's got to really be here. This holographic stuff really freaks me out.

Luigi: What did you think of Rose? I didn't like her. She;s not a nice lady. What did you think of her Mauszer?

Mauszer: I only met Dave's ex-wife one time. She really wasn't nice to me at all. She came to my home, uninvited, and really acted like she belonged there. I didn't like her and I don't think Dave wants her around either.

Tigger: Do you ever get to help Dave with his work?

Mauszer: Well I don't get to go to his office with him, but sometimes he does bring work home. And when he's sitting in his chair reading files, I let him use me like a sounding board and let him talk thinks out. And when he gets all moody because a case isn't going well I bump into him and make him pet me... you know of course that petting a pussycat can lower your blood pressure? Anyway, I try to help keep him focused.

Tigger: There's another cat that appears in the story, Whiskas? Did you get to meet him? Whiskas is named for another Whiskas who is actually our older brother, he passed away before we came home with mom and dad...

Mario: But I think he visits us every so often and tells us fun things we can do.

Mauszer: Whiskas is a real nice cat. He plays the part of a cat who survives a tornado with his human, a little girl who seems to have lost everything except for him. It's really very emotional, but I am so glad that they have each other.

Tigger: Mauszer, I think I hear my mom coming down the hall so we really have to go. Thanks so much for taking the time to meow-chat with us today.

Mauszer: It was my pleasure.

Mario: We can't wait 'til Karma Visited is available in September. People are really going to enjoy getting to know you and everybody else.

Luigi: Yeah. I really hope you'll be our friend. I like you.

Tigger: Uh-oh, mom's here. Maybe we'll get to do this again sometime...

Tigger, Mario & Luigi: Bye all!

Mario  ~  Luigi  ~  Tigger

Previously Posted: An Interview With Tigger

I came across this post from January 31, 2010. It appeared on Pets and Their Authors: Get the lowdown on your favorite authors... straight from their pets' mouths! and hosted by Mayra Calvani. ...found this just as Tigger started nudging me for dinner, lol.

(BTW, I am putting a cat into my current WIP)

Interview with Tigger, proud owner of
Chelle Cordero

My guest today is a kitty
named Tigger. He shares
his home with romance
and suspense author
Chelle Cordero. Also with
two other cats (see below right).
Tigger is here today to spill the beans on Chelle...

Tell us, Tigger. How did you come to live with Chelle?

My mom, Chelle arrived at the Animal Shelter in Pomona, NY one
day in September 2008 where I had just been dropped off a few
days earlier. She had some 2-legged family members with her and
they were quite noisy coming into the room where I was sleeping –
actually I was imprisoned behind bars!
I heard them come in and began waving frantically for rescue.
Chelle heard me and saw my paw signaling to her. I heard her talk
with Mark (my dad) about my age, I was three years old then, and
they said I needed “saving”.

I was really thankful and made sure
to cozy up to them in the 
“acquaintance room”. They started
the paperwork to adopt me… but
before I could get them to make our
great escape, they picked out two
kittens to come home with us as well.
(Actually I’ve grown pretty close to
my new brothers.)

Why did she name you Tigger? Is she a Winnie de Pooh fan?

Tigger was the name on the cage where they found me – the people I
lived with before had called me that. I was told they had to give me up
because of allergies, it was a bummer. But good things came out of it
and I am very happy being here.

What's it like living with Chelle?

I think it’s pretty great living here. Chelle is “My person” and I’ve made 
that pretty clear to my brothers, Mario and Luigi, and the other two-
legged residents here.

Mom and Dad have always had feline family members and I’ve seen
lots of pictures of my past brothers and sisters – the house is fairly well
broken in for comfort. We get served our meals twice a day but there’s
always water and crunchies if we feel like snacking ‘round the clock. And
we have our own bathroom downstairs with two litter boxes so we never
have to wait. They also buy us toys and play with us a lot.

I hear she writes books...
Tell us about them.

She writes a lot! Sometimes she gets
so busy and I try to help her, but I get
a lot of typos on the keyboard. I do
send a lot of her emails though, that’s
easy, I just hit the mouse on her desk
for her – unfortunately I don’t always
wait for her to finish typing her email.

She writes mostly romantic suspense –
quite steamy! (I’m neutered so I don’t  really understand about all that)
I’ve heard that the love stories are very deep and a lot of people enjoy
reading them. Let me see if I can remember all of the titles –
Bartlett’s Rule, Forgotten, Within the Law, Courage of the Heart,
Final Sin, Hostage Heart and her most recent A Chaunce of Riches. Final Sin is a murder mystery.

Of all her books, which one is your favorite? Why?

I would feel better about her books if she had a nice cat or two in them…

I’ve changed my favorites a few times with some of her newer books.
Right now I think I am partial to Hostage Heart. The hero, Ryan, is not
the man that the heroine, Deanna, thinks he is, and that really makes
the story interesting. Also Hostage Heart is post Katrina and Ike and
Chelle did a lot of research into that since much of the action takes place
down south. Just reading it really makes me want to meow with a
southern drawl. Just recently author and editor Carolyn Howard-Johnson
named Bartlett’s Rule by Chelle to her Top Ten Reads list of 2009! It’s a
really good book with a story that is well worth telling.

Authors are pretty busy... does she have time for you?

She always manages to make time although sometimes I want more.
I think Chelle originated the attack-hug and she even purrs at me.
I like it when she scratches my ears.

Since she has a home office, I try to “go to work” with her every day.
Sometimes it’s a very long day and we are both so tired at the end
of the day. I love the commute though!

Are you allowed to sit on her lap while she writes?

I let her type at my desk. Actually it started out as hers but I sort of
took it over. I have this one favorite spot to curl up right under her
desk lamp so I feel all warm and relaxed. Chelle keeps a small bowl
on the desk and a bottle of water so when I get thirsty I can have a
drink of water – it helps me think when we are trying to work out a
story plot.

Does she have a website and blog?

Yes, yes and yes. Chelle has a very nice website at http://ChelleCordero.com and she has an author blog at http://ChelleCordero.blogspot.com. Everyone can read
about her books and all of the other websites she is involved with.
They also can see how to connect with her on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.

Chelle also offers a weekly online writing course available with a Kindle
subscription called Living, Breathing, Writing (http://bit.ly/Wmg8W).
She gets down to the nitty-gritty of writing and being a professional writing.
Her weekly articles are full of great tips and she always offers writing prompts and exercises – I love it when she lets me try out a writing prompt or two.

Thanks so much for letting me talk about my mom, author Chelle Cordero. I think she’s kind of purr-fect.

Thank you for spilling the beans, Tigger!