• Sunday Snippet: The How Is It Sunday Again and I’m Meandering Edition

    Holy cats, kids, it’s Sunday again! No idea how that happened. It’s been an eventful week here at casa Reinhardt, although as I look back on the last seven days, what sticks out most is work. I’ve been working a lot this month of June and now as July appears on the horizon, I find myself wondering what happened to the first third of summer. Does that ever happen to you? Time just sort of slipping away while you’re trying to plan your life? I keep thinking that one day I’ll be organized and I’ll get to sketching classes and lunch with friends, old and new and time with sister…

  • Sunday Snippet, Thanksgiving Version

    Are you finding it hard to be thankful this year? 2020 has been a royal b#*ch of year, hasn’t it? So many things to be unhappy about. So many things to whine about. So many things to be just plain mad about. I know. I feel you. I truly do. However, I’m going to focus on the stuff to be happy about, to rejoice about, to be glad for. Here, in no particular order, is my Thanksgiving 2020 Gratitude List. I hope you’ll share yours. Husband. That’s all, just Husband. I tell y’all constantly what a great guy he is, so no need to expound here. Son, DIL, and Grandboy,…

    Comments Off on Sunday Snippet, Thanksgiving Version
  • Sunday Snippet

    It’s been a crazy week… I’ve actually written quite a bit, but I also worked on three other editing gigs and did two days of virtual school with Grandboy. I’m in the home stretch with my newest WIP and getting perilously close to my deadline, but the last scenes are coming harder for some reason. No idea why. Virtual school with Grandboy usually goes pretty well–he’s willing and that’s the bulk of the battle right there. But some days are better than others and this week, he wasn’t feeling it. We forget, as adults, that kids have “off” days, too. Days when their focus isn’t going to come around or…

    Comments Off on Sunday Snippet
  • Days 12 & 13: Gratitude and Yes, I’m behind

    Do you remember me saying that I was determined to be grateful each day, even if the most I could say was that I was grateful the day was over? That’s where I was yesterday and instead of posting it, I let it slide. I’m glad I did because today is better and later last night, it was lovely because I got to put Grandboy to bed, read Dogman with him, and sing and cuddle until Mommy came home to tag-team with me. There is such joy in being with that kid–and don’t get me wrong, he can be a royal PIA and sometimes stubborn and sometimes a real pill.…

    Comments Off on Days 12 & 13: Gratitude and Yes, I’m behind
  • Once a Month Works…Right?

    Yeah, it’s been a month since my last post here. Frankly, it’s been a crazy month where life happened while I was making other plans. Mostly, I’ve been writing. I’m on a deadline and so that’s been where every writing moment has been spent. When I wasn’t writing my own book, I was editing someone else’s. Been a busy month for Editor Nan–good news because, you know, they’re paying me and there is that damn $1K/month health insurance bill that has to be paid. But between work and writing, I’ve pretty much been a hermit. I did get to meet up with my bestie/writing buddy and we had a writing…

  • 8-Sentence Sunday

    Can you believe it’s a new 8-Sentence Sunday? Where is the time going? I’m deep into Book 3 of the Women of Willow Bay series–Sarah’s as-yet untitled story. I’m open to suggestions by the way. Setup is the same as last week–Sarah is closing up La Belle Femme, the resale shop she manages at a women’s shelter in Chicago. A mysterious limo has been parked outside each evening for the past couple of days and she and Mack, the nightwatchman are wondering… “Yup,” Sarah returned the smile—Mack was a sweetheart. She switched off all the lights except the can lights over the front window and locked the register as he…

  • Grandboy!

    Grandboy, Son and DIL visited a week ago and spent five days at the lake with us. They all loved the lake—it was Grandboy’s first foray into lake life, DIL’s first time at a lake since she became an adult, and for Son, it was a visit back to his own childhood. He got to swim and fish and boat and generally re-live his days at this lake when he was a kid. It was glorious having them there, in spite of poor DIL popping her knee out of place. Son did the brave thing and popped it back in for her, but she had to be in a knee…

  • Overdrive…and Memos

    I feel like I”m in overdrive and actually, there’s no reason for me to be. I think it’s mostly left over from the chaos of having the renovation work done and then the kids coming right after and being on deadline for work projects and creating deadlines for my own books. I need to chill out. It’s summer, life is supposed to be slower. The lake calls and all I want to do is swim and boat and visit with my friends there. My editor keeps telling me, “You’re rushing. Just breathe…” and I think it may apply to more than writing my novels. I think I need to heed…