Busy aagh!

Wow, things have heated up at The Barn and we are soooo busy.  I've been working so many days and trying to work on the sequel to Currents Deep and Deadly that I haven't been hitting the gym as I normally do.  Of course running up and down the stairs to help customers for 8 hours is exercise. 

I know I'm going to eat too much over the next couple of weeks but there is just no doubt that when it is over I'll be back with the regulars at Balance Fitness.  Then in January on my writing cruise to South America (complete with RCCL hosting a book signing) I'll utilize the gym just like the characters, Darcy and Mick, in my novel. 

What are you doing to stay healthy and sane during the holidays?  Do you have any REAL health resolutions and if so how will you keep them?

The Best Resolution -first posted a year ago

We had a conversation with the owner of our gym about the huge number of new members they always get in January. People have great intentions to turn over a new leaf and lose weight or just get healthier. Unfortunately, it is typical that most of these members fade out of the picture by Spring. Why? More than likely, these folks were not really committed to their self-improvement. It is one thing to know what we should do, and quite another to completely internalize it and make fitness our top priority FOR LIFE.


This seems surprising in a way, because the feeling--the high, if you will--that comes with being in shape, looking good, and knowing that for the most part we are putting healthy fuel into our bodies, is incomparable. So, what to do? Let us know your ideas for turning a fitness resolution into actual life change.

We also have to renew our committment each year as we look forward to, and prepare to embrace, the changes that will inevitably take place in our lives.

Back to basics for the holidays

Well, time has really gotten away from me and I know I'm not the only one. Book marketing is a whole new world and finding time to work on writing the sequel is difficult with everything else happening over the holidays. The Barn and Synergy are going along fine but the retail endeavor takes a lot of that energy and time that are so scarce.


So, again, now is the perfect time to take a deep belly breath and reaffirm a comittment to health and fitness. Just a few minutes a day to start with for some stretching, running in place, jogging up and down your stairs and starting the day with a wholesome substantial breakfast. Yes, that will go a long way and tomorrow and tomorrow and so on, it will be easier to expand to 20 minutes of exercise, 30, and so on. And don't forget it is all about water and fiber. Flatten your belly with those two elements in your diet. . . and of course, keep moving.

Things are heating up

Wow!  It turns out writing the book and even getting it published were only the beginning.  Marketing and advertising are crazy.  I'm forging relationships with independent bookstores who will carry Currents Deep and Deadly on consignment, including Tattered Cover in Denver and Boulder Bookstore.  Two booksignings and one book reviewer are set up.  Eventually I have to get back to the writing.  Self publishing is great in many ways and I have a beautiful book to sell but there isn't enough time to do everything....and guess what is suffering?  Of course the work out.  Gotta get back on track, even if it means letting my Barn home decor store go.  Health and fitness are the most important thing, cause without that you can't really optimize anything else.  Keep moving and eat your veggies!!

Facebook blog

Xlibris, my publisher, set up a blog on facebook.  aalleman80107.

Back to fitness....I hope

The past couple of months have been more than hectic with getting the book published and working in the shop.  I'm afraid the thing that suffered the most was getting to the gym.  No real harm done, though, and now getting back into the routine.  Of course, I'm writing the sequel to the first book and still have the shop but I know I just have to pace myself and remember what is most important.   If you're not healthy nothing else matters!

Exciting Book News

The book, Currents Deep and Deadly, is published.   I can't believe it.  The press release is out to the media and in December, the book will be featured in the NY Times Sunday Book Review Magazine and in Publishers Weekly.  We will have a book signing event at The Barn in October and I'll keep you posted about the details.  I'd love to get your reactions to the excerpts on the website at http://www.currentsdeepanddeadly,com/   and this blog set up by the publisher, Xlibris.  http://aalleman80107.wordpress.com/  

Wow! Has it really been that long?

I haven't been blogging, tweeting, or getting out much for the past six months, except to work on the shop and the book.  Well, yipee, the book went to the publisher.  It is called Currents Deep and Deadly and will eventually be offered for sale on on-line booksellers sites and my websight.  It's my first attempt at writing a novel but I'm already working on the sequel.  Just as a tease, here is a short description of the novel that will hopefully be out in September.

In three intertwining chronicles blended into one fast paced journey, Darcy Farthing offers tidbits of history and geography from her travel log of South American seaports, spins a tale of murder and madness aboard a cruise ship, and reveals her own devastating but enlightening personal crises.  Through a series of unbelievable coincidences, she meets the man who could be her soul mate, battles a psychotic shipboard killer, and runs headlong into her carefully hidden past.  The wondrous and terrifying events of this month long adventure meld together in ways that threaten to destroy her entire belief system...and her life.