Beneath the Satin Gloves – Now Available!

Several years of my adult life have passed; thousands of words have joined forces; blood, sweat, and tears (and, many more tears) have stained my laptop. Everything I have to offer—passion, commitment, relentlessness–have come to life in this little book.

To me, this is surreal and bittersweet.

I have neatly packaged up a piece of my soul in the form of an intangible e-book, so I could share a story with you, so I could entertain you, so I could hopefully whisk you away.

I am humbly proud to say my first attempt at a novel, Beneath the Satin Gloves, is now available.

A modern day woman, torn by her illusive dreams, awakens to a strange life in 1943, hurdled against the throes of destruction in wartime Berlin. Following a haphazard trail of clues, she discovers her new identity as Alina Feuer, code-named Sparrow, a famous entertainer, seducing a high-ranking SS officer to gather vital information for the Allies.

But, Alina is an amateur in these incessant spy games, relying solely on her wit and instinct to make her next move while frantically hiding her erratic behavior from the watchful eyes of her suspicious liaison/love interest and her pestering socialite gal pal along the way. A reluctant heroine, she must use charismatic glamour as her weapon of choice to fulfill her deadly mission before the week is through.

Discover Beneath the Satin Gloves on Amazon and Smashwords for $3.99.

I would like to thank ALL of you out there for your support! I would especially like to thank my husband, who I dedicated my book to…My beautiful paper weight. You kept me from blowing away. You loved me when I needed it most. Thank you.

Related blog posts…

Berlin: My Scarred Muse

Jiving in Another Time

Ooh, la la…more awards have arrived!

I’m blushing from head to toe. Really!

I received two more stellar awards from two stellar ladies. I am truly grateful to be honored with more love and encouragement from the blogging community.

The Sunshine Award

A big shout out to my radiant blogger Positive Boomer for honoring me with this award. To me, her blog is pure sunshine, so I am tickled that she considers me in the same cheerful company.

Some of you may have read Written by a 90 Year Old, which came from her blog. If you missed it, read it. You’ll love it!

To accept, I must answer 10 questions:

  1. Favorite color: Grey, Green
  2. Favorite animal: Cat, Cow (some of you met Ken during my last award post)
  3. Favorite number: 7
  4. Favorite drink: Water, Tea, Beer (converted after moving to Wisconsin, naturally)
  5. Favorite website: Yoga Journal (great tips for non-Yogis as well!)
  6. Passion: My beautiful husband, teaching movement, and it seems like I’m forgetting something…oh, that’s right! Writing.
  7. Prefer getting or giving presents: Don’t make me choose! Hey, I’m being real. I like presents!
  8. Favorite pattern:  Paisley (it’s all over my apartment)
  9. Favorite day of the week: Sunday
  10. Favorite flower: Cherry Blossoms

I must cheat a bit on all nominations as I am still new at blogging and cannot muster the required handful at the moment.

Here are two for the Sunshine Award:

  1. Live. Explore. Learn. Remember – Cool, fun couple living in S. Korea. They recently taught me about sock vending machines!
  2. Jessica Korteman – Another cool, fun couple. They live in Japan, and travel everywhere. Living the dream!

The Very Inspiring Blogger Award

A big shout out to my fellow blogger The Emerald Maiden for honoring me with this award. She has a really warm, down-to-earth blog that you should check out. It’s always a relief to find people keeping it real!

To accept, I must say 7 things about myself:

  1. I bite my nails.
  2. I think film noir is fantastic.
  3. Australian accents are my favorite. I wish I had one.
  4. I rarely use a handbag. I use pockets or my backpack.
  5. I know how to dance the Highland Fling.
  6. I want to see the entire world before I die. That’s right, all of it!
  7. Teaching kids has helped me to clean up my dirty mouth. I now say things like “Oh goodness!” and “Fiddlesticks!”.

I would like to nominate the following three bloggers for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

  1. Doree Weller – A fellow writer with a kindred spirit.
  2. Figments of a Dutchess – She’s Dutch. She’s sassy.
  3. The R Premises – Random, angsty, and refreshingly different.

Life: The Yellow Traffic Light Theory

We have two choices to make when we approach a yellow traffic light. We can floor it, and rush through as quickly as possible. Or we can ease up, and take a moment to pause. The yellow traffic light defines how we choose to navigate our very lives.

For a long time, I floored it. I’m an overachieving go-getter, the epitome of Type A, trying to do everything at once and trying to do it perfectly. We have taken life and turned it into the Autobahn, evolving into thinking more and faster will give us the satisfaction we crave. Most of the time we find ourselves frustrated, stuck in traffic.

Where does all of this rushing lead?

The Red Light: How to run it
Multi-tasking is designed to be a shining quality in the workplace. It is recommended as the surefire answer to impress during an interview, and used as the determining factor for a lukewarm promotion.

But, multi-tasking also drives stress into our personal lives, crashing right into our precious free time. Evenings, weekends, even vacations have become taxing, because we’re over-compensating, pouring distractions and obligations right into the tank, and running on empty because of it.

The Yellow Light: How to slow down
Now I’m easing up. And, easing up is certainly not easy for me. I have to work hard at it every day, concentrating fully on every traffic light that I encounter.

Here are a few personal traffic laws I’ve been doing my best to obey…

  1. STOP saying yes to everything   We’re afraid if we say no to people, they simply won’t like us anymore. At work, we might be looked at unfavorably, jeopardizing our job security. But, this goes for personal time as well. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a social life. Just don’t cram too much fun into your free time. Otherwise, it becomes work.
  2. STOP distracting yourself   The world is full of sneaky, little distractions, masquerading as entertainment. Computers, televisions, phones—and even though I’m a writer and I shouldn’t say this—books fall right alongside these other culprits. During your free time, turn everything off. You might feel bored at first, but over time you’ll start to feel more comfortable doing absolutely nothing. Believe it or not, we can entertain ourselves.
  3. STOP not taking care of yourself   A lot of us feel like we don’t have time to fully take care of ourselves. But, if you obey laws #1 and #2 above, you’ll have some bonus free time in your life. No more excuses! Exercise on your days off, because you probably don’t have much time otherwise. Then take a 30-60 minute nap, because naps aren’t just for kiddos and old folks. Slow down and enjoy your food. Food is one of the finest pleasures in life—it nourishes us, providing the energy we need to function. When it’s time to eat, don’t do anything else. You should be tasting your food, savoring every last bite. So, no more eating at your desk! Get up and go outside for once.

The Green Light: How to cruise
Sometimes we need to stop in order to slow down. If you find yourself rushing all the time, stop. Then you can take a more leisurely spin through life.

It’s OK to be a Sunday driver.

Let’s Get Physical

“Let’s get physical” is a very thought-provoking expression in my humble opinion. Automatically I think of Olivia Newton-John with her sweatband and leotard, because that’s the kind of silly, random thought that takes precedence in my head more often than not.

Physical is vague, yet meaningful, encompassing the body, the senses, activity, material things, and science. So, what is this blog, a physical perspective, going to cover anyway?

You might be asking yourself if you need to be good at math or wear slouchy legwarmers. Well, I’m terrible at math, so you can forget that. And, if you want to wear legwarmers while you read…go right ahead! As a dancer, I’ve spent most of my life wearing them and I think they’re great.

I’m Britt Skrabanek…I write, I dance, I live.

I am a life enthusiast, meaning I am a stalker fan of the breathtaking world we are privileged to have and I simply don’t have an off switch, because I don’t want one. I like to experience and share, sometimes in the physicality of words, sometimes in the physicality of movement.

My blog, a physical perspective, will be a bouquet of sporadic thoughts including:

  • tips on loving life
  • healthy ways to get through the day
  • how movement keeps you alive
  • why your bike should never have any cobwebs on it
  • and a bit about my new adventure as an indie author, trying to make it in the impossible field of writing.
  • And much, much, more!

I hope you’ll consider following this crazy little blog each week, so we can use it as a quaint, virtual cafe to share a delicious, steaming cup of life together. I would love to hear what’s on your mind in the form of comments and questions at any time, so feel free to speak up and speak often.

Lastly, I’ll leave you all with a little treat for your physical senses.

Even though I’ve heard the song “Let’s Get Physical” a million times, I just discovered the music video today and couldn’t resist adding it to this post. I am personally stamping this with a speedo alert, so be warned and enjoy!