Oprah's Last Show

For many years, I visited my mother at her senior citizen apartment. At 4:00 pm sharp, Mom would regularly say, “Put channel 4 on for Oprah.” Together, we watched and commented about Oprah’s clothes, jewelry, hairdo, shoes. We also discussed the show Oprah presented and Mom never failed to say, “You should send her your books. I’m sure she will love them.” Thanks Mom for your faith in me.

So on May 24, 2011, in memory of my Mom, who passed away a few months ago, I watched Oprah Winfrey deliver her last speech, an emotional goodbye.

I admired her pink dress and took note of her words.

“Start embracing your call, wherever you are, whatever your platform.

People blame everyone but themselves for their mistakes. Nobody but you are responsible for your life.

You’re responsible for the energy you create for yourself and for others. Take responsibility for what you bring into your space.

For every action, there is an equal reaction. Careful, all the energy you us to limit someone will turn around and slap you in the face. Drop the veil on all pretenses. Little by little people started releasing the shame and talked of their fears on the show.

Addiction often due to a feeling of unworthiness.

We often block our gifts and blessings because we don’t feel good enough. Make worthiness your birthright.

People want validation. Every person wants to be heard. Validate people you love. Tell them, I hear you, I see you, I like you, I want you.

God talks to us. At first His voice is a whisper, if you don’t listen, it hit harder and harder until you hear it and act upon it.

“For 25 years, Oprah said, “we hooted and hollered together, shared the ugly and the beautiful, we cried and laughed. Twenty-five years have come and gone. It’s time to turn the page, and do something new.”

For many years, I visited my mother at her senior citizen apartment. At 4:00 pm sharp, Mom would say, “Put channel 4 on for Oprah.” Together, we watched and commented about Oprah’s clothes, jewelry, hairdo, shoes. We also discussed the show Oprah presented. Mom never failed to say, “You should send her your books. I’m sure she will love them.” Thanks Mom for your faith in me.

So on May 24, 2011, in memory of my Mom, who passed away a few months ago, I watched Oprah Winfrey deliver her last speech, an emotional goodbye.

I admired her pink dress and took note of her words.

“Start embracing your call, wherever you are, whatever your platform.

People blame everyone but themselves for their mistakes. Nobody but you are responsible for your life.

You’re responsible for the energy you create for yourself and for others. Take responsibility for what you bring into your space.

For every action, there is an equal reaction. Careful, all the energy you us to limit someone will turn around and slap you in the face. Drop the veil on all pretenses. Little by little people started releasing the shame and talked of their fears on the show.

Addiction often due to a feeling of unworthiness.

We often block our gifts and blessings because we don’t feel good enough. Make worthiness your birthright.

People want validation. Every person wants to be heard. Validate people you love.
Tell them, I hear you, I see you, I like you, I want you.

God talks to us. At first His voice is a whisper, if you don’t listen, it hit harder and harder until you hear it and act upon it.

“For 25 years, Oprah said, “we hooted and hollered together, shared the ugly and the beautiful, we cried and laughed. Twenty-five years have come and gone. It’s time to turn the page, and do something new.”

Did you watch Oprah's last show?
What are your feelings about retirement and new beginning?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

Rx IN RUSSIAN at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-in-Russian-ebook/dp/B004VGU8CE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1304683753&sr=8-4

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.

Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON

All books available at amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mona+risk&sprefix=mona+risk

Osiris' Missing Part

So how do you like my coming book????

I won't say more right now.

Bhuddist Quotes

If you are right then there is no need to get angry

And if you are wrong then you don't have any right to get angry.

Patience with family is love,

Patience with others is respect,

Patience with self is confidence, and

Patience with GOD is faith.

Never Think Hard about PAST,

It brings Tears...

Don't Think more about FUTURE,

It brings Fears...

Live this Moment with a Smile,

It brings Cheers.!!!!

Every test in our life makes us bitter or better,

Every problem comes to make us or break us,

Choice is ours whether we become victim or victorious !!!

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat.

Rx IN RUSSIAN at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-in-Russian-ebook/dp/B004VGU8CE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1304683753&sr=8-4

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.
Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON

The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam

Two days ago I read a heart-wrenching book that my daughter insisted I should read. As a pediatrician and neonatologist, she’s very dedicated to children’s welfare and was revolted by the situation exposed in The Road of Lost Innocence— a riveting and beautiful memoir of tragedy and hope.

Somaly Mam lost her parents at a young age in a village deep in the Cambodian forest. Somaly means: the necklace of flowers lost in the virgin forest. Having no idea of what her name was or her age, the little girl grew up in war torn Cambodia as an ethnic minority. Because of her darker skin, she was taunted and reviled by people. Her grandmother wandered away from the village, never to return.

At the age of five, Somaly is left totally at the mercy of her wits. She eats where she can among families in the village and supplements her slim pickings with nuts, berries, ants and grasshoppers that she finds in the surrounding woods.

When she was about nine, a man claims to be her grandfather and takes her away. He treats her as an indentured servant and forces her to do his cooking and cleaning, and backbreaking work for other families in the village- hauling water and working in the rice fields to earn money to support him. The grandfather sells her virginity to a store owner who brutally rapes her. Later when she is twelve, the old man sells her into sexual slavery in order to pay off his debts.

Her life turns into a hellish nightmare as she is shuttled through the brothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia. For the next decade, she suffers horrendous rapes and unspeakable acts of brutality, and witnesses horrors that would haunt her for the rest of her life. When her closest friend is murdered in front of her, she finds a way to do the impossible and escapes her captors.

When Cambodia opens up to tourism, aid workers from Europe and the U.S. arrive in big numbers. Somaly, now in her early twenties, meets wealthier patrons who are able to provide her with some stepping stones out of sexual slavery.

Unable to forget the girls she left behind, Somaly becomes a tenacious and brave leader in the fight against human trafficking. Using the little money available to her she founds AFESIP (Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances) and dedicates her life to rescuing sex slaves–some as young as five and six–offering them shelter, rehabilitation, healing, and love and leading them into new life.

Somaly sees herself in each of the girls she encounters and while she can’t forget her pain or what she endured, she wants the girls to not feel ashamed of themselves and she teaches them how to make better lives for themselves.

Written in exquisite, spare, unflinching prose, The Road of Lost Innocence is a memoir that will leave you awestruck by the courage and strength of this extraordinary woman and will renew your faith in the power of an individual to bring about change.

Somaly Mam is now a renowned leader at the forefront of the anti-trafficking struggle. Universally recognized as a visionary for her courage, dignity, ingenuity, and resilience, Somaly was honored as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2009 and was featured as a CNN Hero. She is also the recipient of the Prince of Austria’s Award for International Cooperation, The World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child (WCPRC), Glamour Magazine’s 2006 Woman of the Year Award, and has won accolades from the US Department of Homeland Security.

The Somaly Mam Foundation is a charitable organization committed to ending human trafficking in North American and around the world. DO NOT, for one minute, think that this is a problem that only happens “over there.” Over two million women and girls as young as five and six are sold into slavery every year–and the business is growing because many Asian and African men affected by AIDS believe that intercourse with a little virgin can cure them.

The Somaly Mam Foundations works many paths: rescue and recovery, education, reintegration, voices for change, advocacy, and global awareness.

You can get involved from home and in the field. Make the buck stop here, and stand for the vision of the Somaly Mam Foundation and its heroic founder: A world where women and children are safe from slavery.

Somaly Mam: "I’ve saved 6000 girls, but I can’t do it alone. We are fighting organized crime. We need a political commitment to help. But it is a victory when I see girls take off their makeup and become children again. They go to school. Some are even going to college.

Each contribution means everything to the victims. Know that I will be forever grateful for those who help make such an important difference."

https://www.somaly.org/donate/make-a-donation

Susan Sarandon: "Please give unselfishly to this vital cause and take great pleasure in knowing that there is no more important mission that helping the victims forge a new life."

Every mother or grandmother, every reader or writer, every woman with a good heart can make a difference. Read the book and follow your heart.

Writing is my shelter

I always wanted to write. In the culture of achievement in which I was raised, writing novels constituted a nice hobby, but not a sustainable job and certainly not a career for an A student. Being a professor, a writer and a poet, my father published twenty literature and critique books and scrambled to survive until he finally became known.

Determined to spare me his difficult times, he gave me three choices for the three positions he held in high regard: be a doctor, a pharmacist or an engineer. I couldn’t stand the sight of blood, and math was not my forte. Joining the School of Pharmacy became the logical decision to make my parents proud of their daughter.

For thirty years I stood at benches testing samples, then sat at a desk writing contracts and traveled to foreign countries to refurbish laboratories. And finally I decided that enough was enough. Down with chemistry. I quit my job, abandoned my career and let the stories pour out. But it wasn’t as smple as that.

I had to learn how to write, punctuate, understand the shape of a story, and accept rejection. Workshops, mentors, critique partners, contests taught me to hone the difficult art of writing and find my voice.

The life of a writer is a lonely day-to-day battle waged against oneself, but we are lucky to build cyberspace friends on the many writers’ loops, and bond with others who understand our struggles, frustrations and joys.

Writing is my shelter. Hiding in my own world, I create people I love. With imagination and patience, I force them to overcome their inner conflicts, fight obstacles and make love triumph.

After two romantic suspense novels and three medical romance books published, and an Egyptian mythology paranormal story to be soon released, I can’t stop writing. My next book is set in France and has been submitted, and I’m finishing a foreign romance set in Greece.

Rx IN RUSSIAN

An American Pediatrician / A Russian Surgeon

A woman who lost a son and her illusions about marriage and family.

A man with four adorable sons who badly need a mother

Can attraction and love overcome guilt, duty, and a clash of cultures?

“Mona Risk writes heroes with heart, heroines with spunk in stories and settings that are simply unforgettable!" -- Roxanne St. Claire, Killer Curves, National Bestseller.

Buy links:

Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-in-Russian-ebook/dp/B004VGU8CE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1304683753&sr=8-4

TWRP:

http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=4451

Mother's Day

You brought out the sun

Through a cloudy sky

At this time in spring

It's our chance to say

As the bluejays sing

Happy Mother's Day

by

Anthony Antaki 

One of Mom's last pictures

with her great-grandson

pulling her wheelchair.

Facebook Messages from Fans

About Prescription in Russian:
Mona, I just wanted to let you know I finished reading Prescription in Russian after I saw the review you posted from the woman who stayed up all night to read it. I can certainly see why she did! I, too, stayed up very late reading it. You handled the delicate issue of losing a child so beautifully and realistically. And I adored Fyodor's family. Such a poignant and intelligent romance with strong characters set against an incredible backdrop. I really enjoyed it!~Alyson Reuben

~Oh boy!!!! I started Rx in Russian last night around 10pm and didn’t go to bed until 4am. Woke up at 7am took my kids to school and finished the book. I love medical romances. Maybe because I'm in medical field myself? Anyways my theory is: if the book keeps you awake at night, there are no words to describe how good it is. I enjoyed it very much. Thank you Mona, but I was hoping to read an epilogue maybe 5 years or so later, but still the book was lovely and I enjoyed every sentence of it.~

Usually when I like a book it’s from the first sentence, and so far Mona, your books and some other author’s books hooked me like a fish on a hook. Your books are like drugs. Now I know what an addiction is. :)~Ashley Eskidjian on Facebook


Blurb for Rx IN RUSSIAN:
An American Pediatrician / A Russian Surgeon
A woman who lost a son and frantically avoids marriage and family
A man with four adorable sons who badly need a mother
Can attraction and love overcome guilt, duty, and a clash of cultures?

If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.
Rx in RUSSIAN: click to buy at     TWRP and Amazon.com

All my books available at                amazon.com/MonaRisk

***** Review for Rx IN RUSSIAN

Fyodor is the perfect prescription for Jillian!, April 30, 2011

By Steph "Author of "The Giving Meadow"" (California) - See all my reviewsAmazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Prescription in Russian (Kindle Edition)

Dr. Jillian Burton is a dedicated pediatrician sent on assignment to Belarus. Jillian is calm under pressure and used to working in third world conditions. She finds there's much to be done in Belarus, but she's never been attracted to a man like she is to Dr. Fyodor Vassilov, the director of the Minsk Solitary Hospital. Can Jillian finally find a family and love in Fyodor's arms?

Set in Minsk, Belarus, Jillian Burton works for the American Health Delegation. Her assignment is to help modernize the Solidarity Hospital, but she doesn't expect the director to be so charming or attractive.

On her first day, Jillian helps Fyodor deliver a baby. They learn the young mother is destitute and her family has disowned her. To Jillian's shock, the mother leaves a note giving Jillian custody of the baby.

Fyodor offers to help Jillian care for the child until she can arrange for an adoption. Jillian soon learns Fyodor is a widower with four sons. While Jillian loves working with children, she doubts herself when it comes to motherhood. And that's the crux of her problem. The chemistry between her and Fyodor is combustible, but Fyodor also comes with four children. As Jillian assignment comes to its end, she has to confront her demons and make some tough choices. Will Jillian choose Fyodor or run away to her next assignment?

Risk does a wonderful job establishing the setting by sharing the customs, food, and climate of Belarus with the reader. Her rich details bring a wonderful authenticity to the story.

Risk's writing is crisp and easy to read, engaging the reader on the first page.

What makes "Prescription in Russian" shine is the rich characterization. Fyodor is handsome, honest, and noble. He knows what he wants - and he wants Jillian, only he has to confront the ghost of his dead wife in order to open up his heart to love again.

Jillian is dedicated with a soft spot for children, but she's forever tortured by a dark secret that has hardened her heart toward love and motherhood. In order to give Fyodor her love, she has to find a way to let the ghosts of her past go.

The supporting cast is wonderful and so deliciously human. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what would happen to Lisa and Bashir.

The story is sophisticated for romance readers and the love scene is tasteful, evoking a rich, sensual chemistry that Jillian and Fyodor share.

"Prescription in Russian" is a lush, international contemporary romance you can't put down.

Thank you Steph for this wonderful review. I am so glad you enjoyed my book.