Guest Author LINDA CRILL showcase & giveaway ENDED

Our good friend, Rebecca from The Cadence Group, is here to introduce us to another amazing author, Linda Crill.  Please help me in welcoming them to CMash Reads.  Friends……..Ms. Linda Crill

LINDA CRILL

Linda Crill is a sought-after executive, consultant, and speaker who has worked with Citigroup, Cadbury-Mott’s, Goldman Sachs, and Marriott International Inc., as well as many other Fortune 100 companies, universities, non-profits, and government departments and agencies. Crill lectures and writes on how to manage change and reinvent yourself, your life, and your business.

She is the mother of three grown women who whole-heartedly support her non-traditional path to rediscovering zest for life.

Crill lives in the Washington, DC, area, and travels regularly to Philadelphia, New York, Toronto, and San Diego.

Connect with Linda at these sites:

http://lindacrill.com/ https://www.facebook.com/LindaCrillEnterprises https://twitter.com/lindacrill

GUEST POST

We all have times in our life when the unknown, unwanted and undeserved happens. Blind Curves is a travel memoir about such a time in my life.

As a 57-year-old new widow, I followed one-size-fits-all advice from experts as I began to reframe my life. I exercised, read, made endless to-do lists, put others’ needs first and pampered myself. Eighteen months later, I was miserable and asking: “What now?”

Fed up with conventional wisdom that didn’t work, I threatened to do the most opposite thing I could imagine. In a moment of rebellion, I traded my corporate suits for motorcycle leathers and signed up for a 2,500-mile road trip on a Harley. The problem? I didn’t know how to ride and had only thirty days to learn.

Four short weeks later, I flew from Washington, DC, to Vancouver, Canada to join three others for a 10-day, white-knuckled and exhilarating road trip along America’s Pacific Northwest Coast from Victoria Island, Canada, to the wine country of Mendocino, California.

Blind Curves tells the story of how we encountered washed-out mountain roads, small-town hospitality, humming redwoods, and acceptance from gentle souls who happened to have tattoos and piercings.

This radical departure showed me how opening doors labeled “not me” is better than doing more of the same and hoping for different results. By erasing old boundaries formerly used to define myself and heading into the unknown—the blind curve—I discovered not only a broader horizon of possibilities to use in building the next phase of my life, but also the fuel to make it happen.

Blind Curves is the perfect book for readers looking for ways to reinvent themselves any one asking: “What now?”

ABOUT THE BOOK

Blind Curves tells the story of how we encountered washed-out mountain roads, small-town hospitality, humming redwoods, and acceptance from gentle souls who happened to have tattoos and piercings.

This radical departure showed me how opening doors labeled “not me” is better than doing more of the same and hoping for different results. By erasing old boundaries formerly used to define myself and heading into the unknown—the blind curve—I discovered not only a broader horizon of possibilities to use in building the next phase of my life, but also the fuel to make it happen.

Blind Curves is the perfect book for readers looking for ways to reinvent themselves any one asking: “What now?”

BOOK DETAILS:

Paperback: 266 pages
Publisher: Opus Intl. (March 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 098589850X
ISBN-13: 978-0985898502

PURCHASE LINKS:

           

READ AN EXCERPT

AFTER TWO DIFFICULT YEARS I was tired of sympathetic voices, puppy-dog looks and an environment filled with reminders to walk gently and pamper myself. Instead, I craved thundering noise, the thrill of speed. I wanted icy air whipping against my face, making me know I was alive. I wanted crescendo, vibrato, to drown my screams and tears behind the roar of a large powerful engine.Opening the heavy glass door and stepping into the Harley dealership, I entered an unexplored world. Confronted by hundreds of shiny motorcycles laden with chrome and leather, covered with colorful graphics and logos, I felt my courage falter. My light-hearted fantasy evaporated as the realities of my impulsive decision started to settle in.

Until a month ago I had never dreamed of riding a motorcycle. I didn’t have a husband, family or even friends who rode. At 57 I was at the age when many of my friends were scaling down their physical activities as they edged toward retirement. There are many acceptable activities for a widow, but learning to ride a motorcycle wasn’t on anyone’s list—even at the very bottom, if such a list exists.

Motorcycles are designed to appear fast, flashy and intimidating—and it was working. My normally rapid gait slowed and then faltered as I surveyed row after row of gleaming bodies clustered around the showroom floor. Viewed from inside my Dodge Caravan, motorcycles had always seemed more like overgrown bicycles or toys. Now, up close, they looked huge, expensive and complicated. The one elevated in the center of the floor—painted neon yellow with orange flames flaring from front to back—was loaded with a multitude of switches, indicators, dials, gears, buttons, lights, pedals, knobs and levers.

My stomach muscles tightened as a panicked voice inside cried: How am I supposed to learn to ride this in just three days? Wanting to divert my attention away from this emotional outburst, I glanced at my watch, reminding myself, Class starts in three minutes, and I don’t want to be late.

I had barely convinced myself to continue walking forward when I passed the clothing section stacked with helmets, boots, shirts, gloves, metal chains and racks of black leather. Nothing here looked like the Fonz’s simple leather jacket from the 1960s TV show. Nothing here remotely resembled anything I had hanging in my closets. I stared at a black T-shirt with a metallic skull laughing down at me. Another displayed the profile of a busty woman that would have made a Barbie doll blush.

What was I thinking? I could never wear a shirt mocking death and certainly I wasn’t ready to be a sex object. And what about all of my 1960s feminist protesting? Am I supposed to violate all of my values for this?

My attempts to slow down my racing heart were futile as I processed the sounds of engines revving, tools clanking and men shouting that emanated from the service shop in the back. All mixed with frenetic hard-rock music blaring from the speakers overhead. My heart pounded even louder wanting to be heard.

In two minutes, my rebellious plan—a delicious fantasy that I could use to shock others—shattered. Now I was the person being shocked.

THANKS TO REBECCA AT THE CADENCE GROUP,
I
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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
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12 thoughts on “Guest Author LINDA CRILL showcase & giveaway ENDED

  1. Oh yes, I’ve had lots of blind curves. Scary but you sure do learn a lot. Thanks for the giveaway.

  2. I have had plenty of blind curves in my life. But you just learn how to get through them.

  3. I think all of life is a Blind Curve, we never truly now what’s just around the bend good or bad.

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