2013 Phoenix Comicon- au revoir to this year and cheers to next!

Hello Gorgeous!
Phew! The 2013 Phoenix Comicon has ended and it was a worthwhile whirlwind of fun and some quasi-mayhem!
I really enjoyed it as did my son and I'm so glad to see he caliber of talent that turned out to be a part of the event. Here's a wee recap of the weekend:

I met Nadia Neuroleptic who works with Dr. Diabolical at the Midnight Movies and has a special screening coming up on June 21st at the Phoenix Filmbar.

My most favorite part of the Phoenix Comicon is the costumes. I'm so sad I didn't dress up! Not even my Vulcan ears were on! Here I am in between interviews with some characters from Halo. Game on!

I met the beautiful Ms Sharon Skinner, author of The Nelig Stones and The Healer's Legacy at the PUGS event on Thursday night and she was kind enough to grant an interview to talk about what's next for her books. Stay tuned for that later this week and in the meantime visit her page http://www.sharonskinner.com/



As I moved through the convention center floor I encountered this pretty young writer named Laura Knatt who has already completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the first edition printing of her first comic Taiki and now her second CMYK is about to go to production. Stay tuned for an interview with her later this week. See more of her work at her website www.lauraknatt.com

Fiddlehead written by Cherie Priest. Oh if only she was there at the table when I came by! I really wanted to talk to her about her writing and the design/artwork of her comics. Til next time Ms. Priest!

Remember: you are beautiful! Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!

8 Trendy Workouts Ranked on Our Sweat-O-Meter Scale

Find out which workouts will leave you drenched in sweat and which will keep that pricey blowout looking perfect

This is a TotalBeauty.com Fitness article It's important to fit that daily workout into your schedule, but when you're juggling so many appointments, dates, and commitments, it often gets moved around. Some days it makes sense to have a full-on sweat session, since you're headed back home to hit the shower, but on other nights, you need to skip washing and completely re-doing your hair in order to meet your friends for drinks in time. That's why we ranked the trendiest workouts by their sweat level, where one is barely a glisten and 10 is I-look-like-I-fell-in-a-pool drenched. Click ahead to see where these workouts fall on the sweat-o-meter scale! See workouts

Sharon Skinner at 2013 Phoenix Comicon with The Nelig Stones & The Healer's Legacy

Hello Gorgeous!
I'm at the 2013 Phoenix Comicon (#PhxCC) and the scenery has been amazing, the crowds are full of costumes and the talent lineup is a fast rival to the San Diego Comicon.

Today I had  the pleasure of talking with the author of both The Nelig Stones and The Healer's Legacy, Sharon Skinner.

We first met at the PUGS: Phoenix Ultimate Geek Smackdown event on the opening night of the Phoenix Comicon. Kismet we say!

Sharon Skinner writes young adult fiction and middle grade fiction with fantasy themes full of dragons and enchanted lands with strong heroine characters.

I asked her my favorite question, "if you could have anyone read your work, who would it be?".  She answered, "everyone!".

Sharon continued to share that when she began to write and craft her stories, trusting the process as she let the stories come forward that she wanted the writing to have an impact. Her initial focus was impacting a plugged in generation to escape in reading and let imagination play. Financial gain was the second goal and it has come to a reality for her with the success of both her books and the upcoming second installment of The Healer's Legacy.

When I asked Sharon about how the stories and characters come about for her, she said "it's the nags in my head that keep at me and I follow the sounds until I get the story. I have to trust the process of writing.".

I love that her books include local Arizona locations that you can actually read the book and then go visit the location that the story took place at like in The Nelig Stones which has a scene in the Papago Park area.

The Nelig Stones has a young heroine that has to choose a path to make it home again after being in trouble and part of the journey is finding 5 magic stones to light the way home.

The Healer's Legacy is about navigating a patriarchal society.  Both of these books are for young and old, are fun and entertaining to read and can help with kid and parent relationships.

Sounds to me like these two books are perfect summer reading for families!

Sharon Skinner received her masters in creative writing and is classically trained in writing.  She will be visiting the Mesa Public Libraries starting in September as an "Author of the Month". She will also be scheduling school visits.

The Nelig Stones and The Healer's Legacy are available at Brick Cave Books.

Sharon Skinner can be reached on her personal website www.sharonskinner.com.

Remember: you are beautiful! Thank you for visiting the blog and check back for promotions and beauty giveaways!

Our Favorite TSA-Approved Beauty Picks

There's no need to dread the 3.4oz liquid rule with these carry-on gems

This is a TotalBeauty.com makeup article Regardless of what class you're flying, check-in at the airport comes with its fair share of nuisances. There's rushing to cram everything into a plastic container and walking through the security line barefoot. But nothing compares to having to toss out your favorite perfume because it's over the 3.4 liquid limit. Nothing. To help you avoid holding up the line or tossing anything valuable, we ranked our top travel-friendly sized products so you can sail through security, worry free. Click ahead to see the top picks! See beauty picks