Musings

  • Sunday Snippet: The I’m Really Tired Edition

    I am… it’s been a very trying week. Some of the reasons are personal and I won’t go into them here, but ending the week with the SCOTUS overthrowing Roe v. Wade was pretty much the capper on a completely shit week. That said, I’m not going to get all preachy here, I’m just too tired… Instead, how about a real snippet from the next book that is releasing in October–The Fireman’s Christmas Wish. It’s Becker Lange’s book and honestly, Beck just melts my heart. I wasn’t sure how putting this grumpy divorced firefighter with chipper, sweet nursery school teacher, Harley Cole, was going to work, but wow, these two…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Snoozy and Anticipation Edition

    I’m at the lake this weekend, sleeping. Seriously…it’s as if someone has drugged my beverages. All I want to do is sleep. We’re both in that mode. I think it could be both of actually relaxing for the first time in months, but we’re going to bed early-ish, waking up late-ish, and taking little catnaps throughout the day. We should be getting some things done here at the cottage–window washing, floors need to be scrubbed, and we need to trim around the edges of the yard. The boat is finally in the water, and I did vacuum it really well yesterday before we launched, but the seats need to be…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Am I Irrelevant Edition

    So, I’m thinking today about how much of the world I am not a part of anymore–specifically, pop culture. Liz and I talk frequently about how we are aging out of many things. She wonders if she’s aging out of romance novels–reading and writing them. I sometimes wonder if I’m aging out of being able to keep my plate as full as I do with editing gigs and writing deadlines and book promotion because stuff falls off sometimes, and more often than I like, it’s fun stuff like time with family and friends. Every now and again, I watch younger writers who go after their lives with fervor and energy…

  • Sunday Snippet: The It’s a Snippet Edition

    Beth R, you are the winner of a free e-book! I’ll be in touch! Good Sunday morning to y’all. The sun is supposed to be shining here at the lake after a few days of gloomy skies and rain, rain, rain. However, no sign of sun yet, it’s rather cloudy and foggy… I imagine the sun will be along at some point. I’m working quite a bit right now and trying hard to get writing done on the second book in the Weaver Sisters trilogy. I’m also pushing like mad to get promotion set up for Falling for the Doctor. To that end, here’s a quick snippet from the second…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Procrastination Edition

    I’ve been procrastinating…okay, no big news, right? I am a world-class procrastinator. I passed amateur status years ago and have gone into full-time professional procrastination. Nobody wastes time as well as I do. And honestly, it doesn’t even have to be time spent scrolling around the Web. I can put off doing anything that needs to be done with something as basic as folding laundry—oh, excuse me for a minute, I do have to get some stuff out of the dryer… brb… Fifteen minutes later…I’m back, clothes folded and put away, next load is in the washing machine, and while I was in there, I scrubbed the sink and the…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Rethinking My Energy Edition

    This week I had a long conversation/catch-up with my dear friend and former editor, Lani Diane Rich. She is an amazing writer, teacher, editor, person, who always inspires me to be better. We’d lost touch for a while and seeing her face again warmed my heart and restored my soul. Writer friends, if you haven’t gotten into Lani’s How Story Works podcasts or the book, I highly recommend both or either. You will rethink how you tell your stories, I promise. Among the many things that Lani and I talked about for almost two hours was how we spend our energy–are we truly spending energy on what we value or are…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Lefty Edition

    No, I’m not talking politics, I’m talking literally from the left side. That’s how I see life because I’m a lefty. And not just left-handed, but extremely left-handed. Don’t ask me to do much of anything with my right—it simply ain’t gonna happen. It’s not always easy being a lefty in a right-handed world. I grew up during the time when old-fashioned school teachers thought that being a lefty was a bad thing. My first grade teacher thought it was just plain wrong, so she made me sit on my left hand and write with my right as I learned to form the alphabet. I did it. I was six…

  • SundaySnippet: The Spring Fever and a Real Snippet Edition

    THE WINNER OF THE E-BOOK ARC IS SHARI! I EMAILED YOU, SHARI! THANKS EVERYONE FOR STOPPING BY AND FOR COMMENTING!! Yeah, I’ve got it bad, kids. Spring fever has struck here at our little brick house in the city with all the usual symptoms. I’m staring longingly out at the gray rainy days, wishing the sun would come out so I could wander the ‘hood with friend Mary. We stop along the way to admire the tulips and hyacinths and daffodils that are popping up in neighbors’ yards. Last year at this time our peach tree was blooming (too early, I might add), a late frost hit it, and we…

  • Sunday Snippet: The Hey, It’s Just Me Edition

    Yeah, sometimes a blog post is nothing more than “hey, it’s me!” Today is one of those Sundays, mostly because I have very little to say. I’m writing, I’m editing, I’m taking walks and swimming, and doing the usual stuff. Authors may have wonderful fantasy lives, but our regular lives are pretty ordinary. Even my news is sorta meh–I got new glasses and new contacts. The dentist decided not to do a root canal on my aching tooth, and instead is having me use a mouth guard at night, so I have one–it makes me sound funny, but since I wear it at night, who really cares? We have a…

  • Sunday Snippet: The QOTD and a Snippet Edition

    Yeah, again, I’ve got nothing. Writer bestie Liz says when you have nothing, make a list. I thought about a list, but then I remembered that I have a list–“A Year of Journal Prompts.” Why wouldn’t that work for a blog, too? So I dug it out and found the one for March 27. “Pick a movie character you identify with.” Really? Argh! I was going to skip that, but then I thought–you know, this could be a good exercise. A movie character I identify with… the one I truly identify with, not the one I’d like to be. I think my answer would have to be Jo March in…