Live to Love on the Edge Blog

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Tuesday Tip – Eye Health

This Tuesday it’s something new, but which I hope you’ll find helpful. I recently went to the eye doctor and decided to have the test for macular degeneration. Imagine my surprise when the doctor told me that my macular pigment was low and that I needed to boost it!

So what does one do to promote macular health? One thing is to take vitamins which are high in lutein and zeaxanthin. You can find such vitamins at your eye doctor or health food store. But while such supplements are helpful, nothing is better than getting those vitamins from natural sources.

So hubby and I have been busy chomping down on an assortment of vegetables which will help replace that declining macular pigment. That’s the good news – it is possible to reverse certain kinds of degeneration.

What foods will help you rebuild that macular pigment?

Foods high in lutein and zeaxanthin are dark leafy vegetables, such as kale, turnip greens, collard greens, swiss chard, and Brussels sprouts. Other good sources are romaine lettuce, broccoli, zucchini, kiwifruit, corn, peas, eggs, spinach and goji berries. Paprika, olives, rhubarb, citrus, berries, corn and peppers are also high in zeaxanthin.

What’s scary is that my hubby and I regularly eat a lot of the above foods, but I guess we just have to eat more of them.

One other hint: It’s also better to eat your vegetables raw or lightly steamed. Prolonged cooking will lower lutein levels.

I hope you’ve found this helpful! If you haven’t had a test yet, ask your eye doctor if it’s time to get your macular pigment checked.

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Guilty Pleasures Monday – Lights Out!

What can I say? I love ruggedly handsome men and stories about underdog boxers. Entering the ring this morning is Holt McCallany who I first saw ages ago on a short-lived science fiction show titled FREEDOM. Holt played a soldier in that show, another of my favorites – military men.

Now Holt is playing the role of an ex-boxer trying to make a comeback in the new FX series LIGHTS OUT. It has tried and true hooks that many people love a la Rocky Balboa – an underdog trying to right a wrong (a controversial split decision) and support his family.

I know I’ll be recording the premiere tomorrow when it airs on FX. If you watch the show live, let me know how you liked it!

Here’s a little trailer for the show with the very manly and rugged Holt.

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Not So Fun Battle of the Bulge!

Well, yesterday you read about one of those changes I want to make for the New Year and some of you may possibly have the same goal – to lose weight.

My friends and I at the Liberty States Fiction Writers have even set up a loop for members to share ideas on how to lose weight and also, to encourage each other so we will feel fabulous for our March 19th conference! That’s one of the things I love about this group – that everyone is willing to be supportive of one another, whether with respect to writing, losing weight, sharing sorrow or savoring success. They are there for each other. LSF Writers, you rock!

But back to the weight loss. Here are some free sites that you can use to help you keep track of your goals, plan menus, etc.

Lose It!
Livestrong The Daily Plate

Here’s a good resource for recipes and other suggestions:

Kraft Healthy Living

Hope you find these sites helpful as well! Have a great weekend.

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Thoughtful Thursday – The New Year

The New Year has come roaring in and I’m trying hard not to make resolutions. I guess because I always think that it’s more than about just making a promise for the short term, it’s about making a long term change for the better.

Despite that, I can’t help getting caught up in the New Year’s frenzy of promises, so here are a few things I’m going to try to do for myself and others.

1. Lose weight. A continuous battle for me.

2. Be more patient. I am so not patient at times.

3. Work harder. Seems impossible and yet I truly believe in the American Dream that all things are possible thanks to the fruit of hard labor.

4. Rethink promo. Been there done that so many times and all for naught. There has got to be a better way.

5. Play more. All work and no play makes Caridad a grumpy girl.

What are your New Year’s resolutions? Any fun things you’ve got planned for the coming year?

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Wicked Wednesday – Sexy Excerpt from AZTEC GOLD

AZTEC GOLD paranormal romanceIt’s wicked cold here in the Northeast, so I figured it’s time to offer up a sexy hot excerpt from AZTEC GOLD, my new release from Carina Press. I love that I had the opportunity to create a different kind of story, kind of like Indiana Jones meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer if I had to give you the two second elevator pitch. I hope you’ll like it as well.

The reviews are starting to come in for this novella and I’ve included them in this excerpt as well for you! If you can’t see the excerpt below, you can click on this link to read it.

AZTEC GOLD Paranormal Romance Excerpt

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Increasing Backlinks to Increase Website Traffic

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) experts will tell you that one of the most important things you can do to increase website traffic and improve search engine listings is to increase the number of backlinks to your website.

What is a backlink? Backlinks are incoming links to a website. Backlinks are also one way that Google determines PageRank in order to assess the popularity of a website. (Did you know Page is actually the name of Larry Page, the inventor of the ranking algorithm?)

Wondering how your website ranks and how many backlinks there are to it? Click here for a nice backlink checker that also provides a ton of other info.

So how can you boost backlinks?

1. Exchange links to your website with others. List them on your links page in exchange for them linking to you. If you’ve got a book/author/writing related website to share, leave a comment with it and I’ll add you if you’ll add me!

2. Article submissions. Writing articles in your area of expertise or about topics of interest are a great way to create backlinks. E-zine Articles is a great way to do this. You can check out some of my articles by clicking here.

3. Social sites (Facebook, Twitter and Myspace) and social bookmarking are also great ways to create backlinks and it doesn’t have to be time-consuming. Applications like Hootsuite and sites like Ping.fm allow you to propogate multiple sites. Make sure to bookmark important pages on your site to Digg, Delicious and Stumbleupon, but also remember that “social” bookmarking is about being “social”. Share fun and interesting links as well via these sites.

4. Video submission sites are another manner in which to generate backlinks to your site and your uploaded videos.

5. Get listed at the various search directories like dmoz.org, Alexa, Google, Bing and Yahoo. This will assist in making sure that these search engines spider your site. This will help boost where you appear in their listings.

6. Guest blogs and comments on blogs also help create backlinks to your site. While every blog/website has a different method for leaving comments, try to use choose the method that allows you to leave your name and URL.

I will leave you with those tips for now, but I also invite you to drop by later today and visit with me at the Carina Press blog where I will be chatting about AZTEC GOLD and what inspired the story, including my own personal fear which influenced the herione’s character.

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Guilty Pleasure Monday and a Happy Release Day!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I want to wish you all the very best for 2011 and hope you had a great holiday season.

We’re starting off the New Year with one of my favorite cuties: Bobby Cannavale! If I had to picture who would play Rafael Santiago from AZTEC GOLD, Bobby would be the man. I first saw Bobbie on THIRD WATCH where he played one of the paramedics and since then, he’s been in a number of other movies and television programs. Bobbie has that little boy charm in a wonderful man’s body! If you want to see him in a really cute role, check him out in SHALL WE DANCE with Richard Gere.

Hope you enjoyed today’s Guilty Pleasure, but here’s another special little thing for you today! It’s release day today for AZTEC GOLD, my new paranormal novella from Carina Press! I’ll be visiting a number of blogs during the month to celebrate and will also have a fun contest coming up for you.

To also celebrate the release of AZTEC GOLD, I’ve done a little video trailer for you! If you can’t see the video below, you can click here to see the video.

Bobby Cannavale Photo Credit: Tony Shek@en.wikipedia.com

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