Thank you all for voting and thank you to Lynn Pepper for this lovely review on The Lemonade Stand.

And thank you to Chele and all of the 'Pervs' for picking this story as one of the year's best. You can check out the review here.

Just dipping my toe in the pool...

...then falling in head first.

A little more about me…

I am a narrative scholar—I investigate the stories we tell about our lives, who we are, and how we connect with others. For most of my career, I have investigated bereavement and our stories of loss. Much of what I have learned can be found in SGMR.

I am taking a break from my regular research to study The Twilight / Robert Pattinson Fandom. Some things you should know:

1-My relationships in the fandom are authentic. I am not creating friendships for research purposes.

2-Our communication is private and not used for research purposes. If there is something I would like to use, I will first gain explicit permission from you. Everything will remain confidential and you can create a pseudonym for your pseudonym.

3-I might ask to interview you. You can decline w/o any hurt feelings.

4-I don’t foresee popular press publications, rather academic presentations and publications.

5-I, too, am a fan.

I hope you support me in this endeavor.

If you have any questions or concerns, please pm me.

Warm regards,

Liz x

Links for She Gives Me Religion

My nerdy interview with the wonderful Tanja from So You Think You Can Write?

Thank you to Midnight Cougar for her terrific review on Robattack.

Great thanks to Kat for her recommendation on @Cafemom and KitandKaboodle

Thank you, Brittany, aka @ Le_Crepuscule, for her lovely review on Twigirlsnextdoor.

Micki_Martini wrote a beautiful review of this story on her blog h00rsanonymous.

Thank you Honorella for your lovely review on Kassiah & Caren's incredible site, The Fictionators.

Thank you to Hoot, who made me this amazing banner.

Thank you to Elliedgasmswoon, for starting the She Gives Me Religion Twilighted Thread.

A million bits of gratitude to the goddesses at The Perv Pack's Smut Shack for selecting SGMR as their Perv Pack Pick(the review is at the bottom of the page... you have to see their pictures for this piece, talking about what they wrote just makes me blush)

Thank you to all of the Cherry Exchange organizers, judges, fellow writers, and reviewers. Entering the contest was an amazing experience.

Banner for She Gives Me Religion for winning the Best 1st Time Author Award for the Cherry Exchange, created by the lovely m81170, can be found at:

Chapter One:

Van Morrison Song, "She Gives Me Religion"

(Van live in Germany 1982. Lyrics and Music Exile)

The Doors, "Gloria"

(Lyrics ©EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.)

Chapter Two:

Four Seasons Seattle

Chapters Four and Five: (also mentioned in Chapter Four):

Video "Father and Daughter" by Paul Simon

(Live at the BBC, 2006)

Chapter Six:

Both of these bring me to tears:

Helplessly Hoping Video and Lyrics (Crosby, Sills, Nash, and Young)
(Lyrics ©EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC)

Pie Jesu
boy soprano: Franjo Bilic
piano: Eva Kirchmayer Bilic
June 2007. Zagreb, Croatia

Chapter Nine:

Edward's Condo here.

Jasper and Edward ate at The Volunteer Park Cafe.

Kells Irish Pub, where Edward and Bella are family.

Chapter Ten:

Only the Good Die Young
Live from Long Island

Chapter Eleven:

Though "For You" was recorded for the album, "Greetings from Asbury Park" with a driving rhythm, Bruce Springsteen often performs the song in concert with just a piano and a slowed tempo that matches the devastating lyrics. Here is one such live rendition.

Chapter Twelve:

Empire State of Mind

Agmen Pedestrian Bridge

Chapter Fifteen:

Bon Iver's Skinny Love

Chapter Seventeen:

Bella's Lasagna Recipe

Chapter Nineteen:

The Rolling Stones, "Gimme Shelter"

Chapters Twenty-four and twenty-five

Bella's date dress

Chapter Twenty-six

Al Pacino in Scarface

Bella's Disco Dress

Chic's, Le Freak

Gloria Gaynor's, I Will Survive

Donna Summer's, Love to Love You Baby

Donna Summer's, Last Dance

Jet's, Are You Gonna be My Girl

Chapter Twenty-seven

Patio Furniture

I am off my Saturday post schedule. Your best bet is to sign up for alerts or follow me on Twitter @LizLemonBennett

I am trying to post teasers in story form. It will allow me to post M-rated content and give folks the option of signing up for alerts. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this works.