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Monday, May 09, 2011

Charlene Sands: Going for Broke… Have you ever? And a giveaway!

Recently on The Biggest Loser, the contestants were flown to Auckland, New Zealand (the City of Sails) and aside from having to continue with their weight loss program, they were asked to so some amazing challenges, such as “base-jumping” from atop the Sky Tower, the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere and bungee jumping off Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown.

Now, I’ve never done either of those daring activities and if asked, or if paid a whole lot of money I would decline, shaking in fear and running for my life. I have no desire to scare myself to death. Yet, even the host of The Biggest Loser, Alison Sweeney, (and star of Days of Our Lives) decided to take the plunge and bungee jump. She’d never done it in her life and I held my breath for her as she jumped off that bridge strapped in a harness and bungee cord. I have to give her kudos for that. I was scared silly, for her. I guess you can tell I’m not a roller-coaster kind of girl.

My motto is that life poses enough challenges, without making up more as you go along!

For some, getting up in front of an audience to give a seminar might be a big challenge. Or speaking up in your own defense when you are falsely accused, might give you hives. For others, it might be driving the freeway (my mom’s biggest fear) or confronting your boss for a raise.

At any rate, I think all of us, in one way or another, have decided to go for broke at one time in our life. In my story Carrying the Rancher’s Heir, my heroine, does exactly that. Callie Sullivan has been in awe of hero, Taggart Worth, since childhood, but as fate would have it the entire Worth family had been forbidden to her since birth. She was never to go near any of the three Worth boys that were her neighbors and classmates. But all grown up now and a woman in her own right, Callie has a chance meeting with Tagg, in another town, and suddenly all the rules changed. Callie decided to finally go for broke, to just do it, to be brazen and bold for once in her life and finally satisfy her fondest desire.

I have to admit, that I wouldn’t have the courage to do what Callie did, to go up to the man you admire most in the world and lay your heart on the line. With no guarantees, no real assurances that she wouldn’t get rejected, or worse yet, have her heart broken.

So what have you done in your life that surprised you, yet made you proud? What have you accomplished that you thought you never would? Have you ever gone for broke, in even the smallest way, and did it make a difference in your life?

I’d love to give away an autographed copy of The Billionaire’s Baby Arrangement, a 2010 RT Top Pick or any one of my backlist titles, either Desire or Historical, to one commenter today.


Charlene Sands is a USA Today Bestselling author of Harlequin Desire and Historical. She’s the recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award, The Cataromance Reviewer’s Choice Award and double recipient of The Bookseller’s Best Award. Her May Harlequin Desire, Carrying The Rancher’s Heir, the first of her Red Ridge series, starring the Worth brothers, is available NOW in book stores and online outlets. Be sure to visit her WEBSITE for Grand Prizes “Worth”Winning where you could win one of 3 Amazon Gifts Cards.

16 comments:

Nas said...

Hi Charlene,

Congrats on the release of Carrying the Rancher's Heir!

desere_steenberg said...

Hi Charlene,

Congrats on the release ! The one thing that I have done in life that I truly surprized myself with and I still do on a everyday basis, is be a good mother, I know that sounds weird but I never thought myself the motherly time and I did not think I would be very good at it. But time and time again since becoming a mom 6 years ago, I surprize myself my succeeding in doing whatever I put my mind to with regards to my son.Like when he was really sick and in hospital they warned me that he might try to rip the drip out as many kids appartently do, and I did not think that I would manage to stay up all night but I did,or when he had a fever so bad I did not think that I was good enough to manage to break the fever but I did. So to me that is the one thing in life that I have truly managed to do that has surprized me and made me very proud because he is turning out to me a very adorable little boy so I quess I am doing it right!

Desere

Cynthia D'Alba said...

Congrats on the release. I love the Desire line...has become one of my favorite category lines.

What I did that surprised me...I had been "thinking" about getting my doctorate for a while. I hadn't told anyone. in 1997, I started work at a university that had a doctoral program that was interesting to me. I spoke with the program director but still hadn't made up my mind. The next day I ran into the program director on campus. He knew of some changes to the program that would probably effect me. He talked me into putting together my paperwork for admission consideration. Within a week, I found myself enrolled in a doctoral program. In 2001 I graduated with a doctoral in high education administration. I never thought I'd be able to that.

I am a fulltime writer now, not actively using my four college degrees. However, what I have shown to myself is that I can do anything I put my mind to. :)

Charlene Sands said...

Hi Nas -thanks for your support! It's good to see you here!!

Charlene Sands said...

Hi Desere - Being a mom is most wonderful, but it's the hardest job in the world. I wouldn't trade if for anything. Raising a good child is the best reward a mother can get...thanks for your post!

Charlene Sands said...

Oh Wow, Cynthia - This is amazing. Congrats on all your degrees and on perservering! I'm glad you love the Desire line!!

chey said...

Congrats on your new release!
I surprised myself when I moved to another country for my first job.

Jane said...

Congrats on the new release. I surprised myself by quitting my job before having another lined up, but I was so unhappy that I needed to take that step.

Charlene Sands said...

Hi Chey- Well that's really a big thing!! Are you still living there? Do you love it?

Charlene Sands said...

Hi Jane - Another big, scary move, I would say. Good for you!! Sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Laurie G said...

The biggest thing for me was going back to work after 25 years of raising my four children. Financially we needed the money but it was still scary.

I like my job, meeting people and working with people can be a challenge but overall it's been rewarding.

johnslake at usa dot com

Charlene Sands said...

The winner of my Going for Broke, blog is Laurie G!!

Thanks to everyone who posted today!!

And Laurie, be sure to contact me for your prize at charlenesands@hotmail.com

Jo's Daughter said...

Congrats on the book. I moved in with my grandmother when she was told she would die in 3 months max. I took leave, and spent my "holiday" looking after her. It wasn't something that surprised me, as I wanted to do it more than anything. She was an awesome lady who would have done the same for anyone. But it did made me feel proud that I hadn't left her alone & found the strength to keep it together.

Pat Cochran said...

I became a scripture reader & still am
a minister after 35 years. Headed up the
pastoral advisory group in our parish.
Volunteered for over 25 years in our
schools & was the 1st recipient of the
award which is now named for me. It was
literally a go for broke time for me
because I was always the shyest person
around.

Pat Cochran

Mary Preston said...

I learned to drive at 50+. Very scary & exhilarating.

marypres@gmail.com

Michele L. said...

What I did that surprised me is to get a BS degree in Construction. It was a long road to hoe but I did it! I worked at an architectural firm for 18 years. They had a layoff a while back but I eventually want to go back into architecture someday. Right now I work at an office/art supply store and love it!