'Fall' Guest Post by Author Kenya Carlton

Today's guest post comes from Kenya Carlton, author of Sweet as Sin and Jaded. It makes me think about my own childhood in the Midwest. What does fall mean to you?

Fall

Falls in the Midwest are beautiful. Colors bursting from the trees and weather that doesn’t choke you to death with its humidity is refreshing to say the least. When I was a kid, the fall only reminded me that school was starting again, which was never a good thing. It meant the demise of summer, getting up early in the morning, and worst of all homework. My feelings of fall equaling school lasted a very long time.

The only thing that could soothe me as a kid was the thought of Halloween. I went to Catholic school, and they would let us dress up for Halloween. Since my dad used to paint, he was creative as all hell, and I always had the greatest costumes. My favorite part was lots of candy, late night trick or treating for a bag full of loot. Once at home, instead of digging in, you had to study everything for hinky holes or loose wrappers and of course apples with razors. First off, no one wants a damn apple on Halloween, so that crap always had a permanent residence inside of a trash can right along with the raisins, for-realsies people, raisins!

Once high school came around, fall still meant school, uhhh! But the reasons for liking it changed. Football season brought the sounds of excited crowds, popcorn, and hotdogs. Homecoming festivities whether you joined in or not were sweetly infectious.

Well past high school age, the older I get, the more my priorities concerning this season has changed. Badass boots make me weak, cute jackets, and pretty fall hats now thrill me. The beautiful colors haven’t changed, but the sad state of Halloween has. Rules and curfews leave absolutely no chance for Mike Meyers to jump of the bushes in your neighborhood.

Kids think store bought costumes and face paint are creative which makes me wish they all had a Papa Robert in their lives. But mostly the fun free feeling that Halloween used to be for kids. Not for bar jumpers looking to satiate their need to be slutty for a night without judgment. I know some people don’t like to celebrate the holiday, insisting that it is devil worshipping, but Halloween stems from a day in the year where evil walked the earth. People who didn’t want to be recognized would wear mask to fool the evil, forcing them away. Whichever way you look at this holiday, one thing is for sure—kids just see the costumes and candy but adults see the season of fall.

Author Bio

Kenya has a B.A. in Mass communication, Television and Radio. She has fifteen years in production of television and film and five in television engineering. In 2009 Kenya Produced Dawn a short film and Executive Produced Destination Everywhere the pilot for a travel series through her production company Black R.O.K Productions established in 2008.

Sweet as Sin Blurb:

The rich and available Captain Drake Devilin had the biggest body count in World War I.  Injected with serum that turned him into something unnatural, Drake’s troop annihilated the enemy, but once his tour ended, Drake was plunged into a world of family tragedy and financial ruin.  

 Sienna Caldwell is stunning to even the biggest cynic; with her exotic looks and rich brown skin, the playboy wasn’t exempt from her charms.  Buckling under the pressure of his financially strapped inheritance, Drake makes a deal with the devil to marry the prosperous landowner in order to protect her.  

After one year, he can return the black beauty back to her island and collect on the fortune that will save his family’s reputation, but the task proves far easier said than done.   The war may have made Drake into something lethal, but he soon finds his new bride was born more powerful than he could ever imagine.  Not only does Drake have to figure out away to keep his hands off his alluring wife, but also he has to make sure she stays alive.

Buy links: Paperback | Kindle

Jaded Blurb:

War correspondent Mia James is back on US soil and ready to tackle a juicy political story that could make national headlines. A politician’s aid goes missing, and the son of the wealthiest family is the only suspect.

Determined to take down the mayor of the small seaside town, Mia comes up against an angry ghost with her own agenda.

Afraid she may be suffering from post traumatic stress Mia figures that she’s way over her head and enlists the help of resident black sheep Gabe Montgomery. Now, she must solve the mystery of her not so friendly ghost, stop herself from falling in love with the mysterious winery owner, all while making it out alive.

Buy links: Paperback | Kindle