I don’t know about you, but the world seems to be getting pretty (insert your favorite colorful word here) intense. While I like to stay informed, I also like to laugh to deal with stress. And, I need some chuckles these days.

Today, the wonderful Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue is here to help us laugh with an embarrassing story. Also, Nicole is giving away 1 ecopy of Beyond the Lights. Below the guest post, you’ll find more details about the giveaway.

Take it away, Nicole.

MULLET MAYHEM

I have always respected self-sufficient people, especially those that were able to do everything themselves. As a child, I read novels about people that were trapped in the woods and were able to build structures to house themselves and make their own fires. I also watched bits and pieces of westerns where the cowboys were able to travel anywhere and everywhere they wanted, still managing to capture their own food, find a place to relax, and create a spot to lay their heads down, so when I found myself in a city with limited resources around me, I decided to apply the skills that I had seen on television and read about in the novels to my own life.

At eighteen, I was ordered to work in New Mexico in a city that I had never been to before. I had no car, and though I did have food and a place to sleep, I did not know that many people. The position that I held required me to be properly groomed and looking my best, and without proper transportation that was difficult to do. Therefore, when I found myself in dire need of a haircut, I decided that the only resolve was to cut it myself.

Now, I had never cut hair in my life. I grew up with friends that were mostly male, and none of them had an interest in that kind of thing. However, inspired by the western movies that showed cowboys hanging mirrors on trees and grooming themselves, I figured that it could not be too hard. Cowboys never went to school to learn the skill. They just pulled out a razor or knife and trimmed themselves. Knowing this, I decided that I could do the same. I mean, how hard could it be to trim one’s hair? As long as I cut a little off at a time, I should be good right?

Wrong. First of all, I did not have scissors like most people that do home haircuts do, so instead, I decided to make a horrible mistake and use my dull pocketknife. I sat myself on the counter so that I could get a good view of my hair, and I started to hack away. Nevertheless, since the pocketknife was not that sharp, it took a lot more work to cut the dangling strands, resulting in crooked cuts that made my once straight hair look uneven. I continued to cut, trying to make everything uniform, but the more that I hacked away, the crazier it looked. I could not understand what I was doing wrong. It looked so easy in the movies, but after trying it myself, I realized that it was a lot more strenuous of a task than I had originally thought. I finally stopped and gave up on that learning lesson, realizing that I probably would have done a better job if I had put a bowl on my head and cut around that. The haircut that I had grown to love was now gone and replaced with a bangless mullet, and I knew that I would have to suffer the consequences of my actions the next day as I had to go to work.

Though I was embarrassed of my hair the next day, my coworkers were gracious in their response, and fortunately, I didn’t suffer as extreme consequences as I thought that I would, but now, every time that I see a western movie where a man is cutting his hair in the middle of nowhere, I remember that moment.

GIVEAWAY

BEYOND THE LIGHTS

by Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue

Available in Kindle Unlimited

Sawyer Johnson has spent her entire life in the same small town with the same people, and she has always imagined a life beyond the bright lights of the town. Autumn Thompson, her best friend is completely satisfied with their simple lifestyle and can’t imagine anything coming in between them. However, when Sawyer decides to go on a trip out of town in order to meet her celebrity crush, Autumn insists on going with her. Will Sawyer find happiness in a lifestyle framed around fame and fortune, or will Autumn finally convince her that the life that they had together was worth more than she thought?

MEET THE AUTHOR

Growing up in a small town, Nicole Higginbotham-Hogue spent a majority of her time reading and writing, so when she was granted the opportunity to write full-time, she did not have to think twice.

Since beginning her writing career, she has managed to pen several lesbian romances, while adding a little action and adventure to spice things up.

As a newly graduated MBA student, she plans to use her recently discovered free time to craft the art that she loves. For more information on Nicole’s new releases or to find out what she has been working on, sign-up for her newsletter at higginbothampublications.com.

CONNECT WITH NICOLE HIGGINBOTHAM-HOGUE

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Thanks so much for stopping by today.