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Saturday Snippet
The new novel is coming along. In fact, I finally feel as though I know these characters, which is a lovely experience. They’re talking in my head more and more–that’s a great signal. It’s been a good writing week and I’m hoping that this getting up early every day to commit at least an hour to the WIP will get me to “The End” pretty quickly now. Ryker Lange and his brother Becker and Max don’t have the same cozy, intimate relationship that the Flaherty boys have. They were raised differently and I was having a hard time acknowledging that as I wrote. I wanted the Langes to be all…
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Saturday Snippet (Okay, Sunday…)
Yesterday was a bit more zoo-y than I expected as we got Son and DIL’s cottage closed up for the summer and his boat pulled and winterized for storage, so I didn’t get to my Saturday post. It was a fun day with Son, though, and I got to take a final ride for the season in his fishing boat, which was a treat. Hardly anyone was on the lake, but man the shad were firing like crazy. It was kind of a crappy year for fishing (no crappie pun intended), but there are years like that. Husband and I were remembering the second or third year we had our…
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Saturday Snippet
…is just musing today because it’s my birthday and I’m feeling, well, musie. For so many years, I worried–I mean I seriously feared–that I would die at age 60 like my mother. I’m like her in a lot of ways, but thankfully not that one, because today I’m turning 67. I never imagined that I’d get to 60, let alone pass it with another seven years, so each year is a precious gift. Even in the year 2020, which has been a truly crap year on so many levels. I’m alive, I’m strong, I’m healthy, my family is healthy, I have a safe warm house, and lots of wonderful friends.…
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Focused on Writing
I’m in a weird place with this new work-in-progress. I like the story, I like the characters, but somehow I’m having a problem getting them to move along. I have more notes about this story, this new series, than I did starting out the Four Irish Brothers Winery series, mostly because I’m coming off those stories with this series, so character lists, place descriptions, etc. are already created, I’m just adding to them. But I also have more word notes, more conversation notes, more scene notes than any book I’ve ever written. It’s almost as if I’m writing the book in my notes, but when I get to the computer,…
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Celebrating Mom’s Way
I was just in the kitchen putting baked beans together and it occurred to me how much of my Mom’s way of doing things I’ve brought to my own adulthood. Like, for instance, baked beans. Mother was always horrified at the idea of dumping a can of baked beans into a pot and warming it up right from the can. Instead, she drained the beans, put them in a casserole dish, added barbecue sauce, mustard, a chopped onion, and brown sugar. Then she placed two strips of bacon across the top in an X and put them in the oven. She baked them until they were dry enough that when…
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The Famous Sister
I love that I’m currently ranked #33 among all of Amazon’s Best-Selling Contemporary Romance Authors–what a wonderful feeling that is! My sister, PJ, teasingly refers to me as “my famous sister,” which I find delightful and hilarious because although I treasure her pride in my writing, I’m hardly famous. I’m simply a midlist romance author, although I do have a small cadre of loyal readers to whom I owe any success I can lay claim to. My publisher, Tule Publishing, has added to that group and I’m ever always grateful to the team there who work so hard on my behalf. But I have to tell you honestly, as I…
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Hunkering Down…Really?
Right off, this is not news for me–I’m a freelance editor. Lock-down has basically been my life since 1996. I work from home, I write at home, I’m pretty much at home about 70% of the time. However, the whole idea that I have to stay at home is new to me and frankly, it’s kinda bugging me. I keep thinking of reasons I need to get in the car and go somewhere. If this self-quarantine thing wasn’t happening, I’d be merrily working away, needing nothing. Go figure. Here’s the thing, though; this isn’t really terrifying me. We needed a reset in this country, maybe this is the start of…
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Happy New Year…
…and may 2020 bring all of you joy and peace and happiness. I know so many folks are doing a word for the year or making resolutions. I’m not. I’m simply going to make an effort to move forward and enjoy the journey. I am making some commitments. Not resolutions or huge lifestyle changes, but rather commitments to myself. One to take better care of me in all ways, but mostly by being more mindful each day. A commitment to finishing a book and getting a new series started. That means I need to step away from social media for a bit. I’m not going full-on hiatus, but I am…
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New Week; Big Gratitude
This is the start of a brand new week and although I haven’t done my gratitude days for a while, I have a really good reason for my absence, which will be revealed here one week from today. In the meantime, let’s talk about…whatever. Right off, what the heck happened to fall? I mean, the leaves started changing, we had a few brisk days and suddenly, oh my gosh! It’s winter–like below freezing temps and snow! Now, I’ll grant you, the snow didn’t stick, but the temperatures in the 20s and teens sure did! Leaves are falling off the trees like crazy up here at the lake and poor old…
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Day 9: Gratitude and Happy Birthday to Tule!
It’s my publisher’s 6th birthday! Tule Publishing has officially released 600 books and been in business for six years! Here’s to many more years of publishing wonderful stories by lots of great authors (me, too!) and to me having a long career with Tule! Well, no new houses to see, although our portal keeps getting new ones posted. Just not our house. We looked at two that were not our house, so I’ve decided to try to adopt a zen attitude–if it’s the right house, we will know it when we see it. I just can’t spend too much more time with a house-hunting knot in my stomach. Edits on…