Self Defense for Klutzes

Today my guest is author Sue Star. Sue writes mysteries about families in chaos. In real life, she teaches young adults, and in her leisure time, she enjoys hiking, skiing, martial arts, and hanging out with her family. Her novel, Murder in the Dojo, the first of the black belt mystery series, is newly released from D.M. Kreg Publishing.

And while Sue is here at Terry's Place, I'm a guest at Sarah Grimm's blog. And, on top of that, it's my day over at The Blood-Red Pencil where I'm talking about the apostrophe. Hope you'll pop over for a peek and say hello.

A word of warning! If you don’t have the proper training, then we recommend that you not try playing ninja at home. Some of the martial arts techniques we have to use are pretty darned complicated, and my fictional characters and I have been practicing them for years.

Aside from fancy techniques, here are four basic safety rules that everyone should follow. Yes, staying alert to basic safety is the real secret behind self defense.

First: Avoid trouble. This is the number one rule! Another way to put this, as my sensei would say: don’t be stupid. Stay away from dark alleys. If you have to walk in unlighted areas (as we’ve all been known to do from time to time), then walk in the middle of the sidewalk, not next to dark bushes or parked cars where thugs can hide.

And The Winner Is ...

The winner of Sarah Grimmm's book, NOT WITHOUT RISK, is ... KAREN!

Karen, email Sarah at Sarah (at) Sarahgrimm (dot) com to arrange to get your prize. Thanks to all who entered.

And don't forget, I'm running my monthly contest, and there are only a few days left to enter. Click the contest tab above for details.

The Voices in my Head

Today, I'm turning Terry's Place over to author Sarah Grimm. Hubster and I are off to Cripple Creek for a couple of days, but I know you're in good hands here today.

Sarah Grimm, writes romantic suspense and contemporary romance for The Wild Rose Press. As a young girl, Sarah always had a story to tell. At times they were funny, other times scary, but they were always happily-ever-after. Sarah is here today to tell us a little bit about the voices in her head.

Leave a comment today and Sarah will award one of you an electronic copy of her LASR Best Book of 2010 nominated romantic suspense, NOT WITHOUT RISK.

**Note: Blogger is having trouble accepting comments today--mine included--unless you log in with the name/url option. (The URL is optional). And we'll be accepting comments until Friday, with the winner announced this weekend, so if you're having problems, come back to this post and try again another time.



As an author I get asked all the time how I come up with my stories. This is a great question and applies to all creative people. How do we do what we do? For me, it has to do with the voices in my head. Yes, you read it correctly, the voices in my head. No, these voices don’t tell me to do things like hurt people. If they did, I’d have myself committed.

So what do I mean by the voices in my head? Simply this; at all times, in all situations, there is a character in my head talking to me, or more accurately, talking to another character. Sounds insane, I know, but it’s true.