-
Sunday Snippet: The Time to Breathe Edition
Good morning, mes amies! It’s been a week, kids, it’s really been a week! Release week is always kinda crazy, and this one has been particularly wild because I’ve been all over the Web, including being chosen as a Fresh Pick on Fresh Fiction yesterday–totally awesome!! Check it out! Heart Update: Tuesday, I had an echocardiogram, expecting to hear that my heart had improved slightly on the 4-drug protocol, but wowee! My Ejection Fraction went from 37 to 50 (normal is 55-70), so those pricey meds are truly working! I am feeling better, stronger than I have in probably five years, so yup–taking a handful of meds twice a day…
-
Sunday Snippet: The What the Heck Happened to Summer? Edition
Seriously… how is it already August 6? I mean, wasn’t it just May and Husband and I were looking forward to our 50th anniversary trip to Oregon and I was busy making plans with my writer pal Carol Light for our trip to San Juan Capistrano and the Tule Author Retreat and checking with my sibs for a visit to my brother’s in Woodland Hills? I’m sure that was just a week ago… Yikes! Oregon is a fond, wistful memory now. The Tule Author Retreat remains ingrained in my heart and mind as a wondrous time with fellow authors and editors and the Tule team, as well as a fun…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Mom Edition
It’s Mother’s Day and although I sometimes have trouble with whole concept, which I once was convinced came about because a greeting card company needed sales. Turns out my cynicism button had been pushed because that’s not how it came about at all. A woman named Anna Jarvis spearheaded the celebration of Mother’s Day because she wanted to honor her mother who’d passed three years earlier. She ushered in the first Mother’s Day with a church celebration in West Virginia. And on May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson designated the second Sunday in May as national Mother’s Day and asked Americans to give a public thank you to all their…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Heart Update Edition, Rev. 2
I think this is update 2, but if it’s number 3, well, sorry about that, and thank you for being patient with me processing this whole thing with y’all. I won’t update you every time I go to the cardiologist because that would be major TMI for you guys. That said, you’re kind to come along and I always appreciate all the good wishes. Right off, the good news is things are improving. I’m way less tired and can pretty much make it through a whole day and not lose steam. I still get breathless when I walk too fast or uphill or exercise too strenuously, but my cardiologist, Dr.…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Hello, Gorgeous Edition
“Suddenly, I thought, This is my body. I live in it. I play in it. I can’t deny it anymore. This is my fat body. I’m standing at the corner of Life and You Better Get Going. I stepped off the curb and I never looked back.” ~~Camryn Manheim, actor “Hello, gorgeous!” That is what I’m practicing in my mirror every time I pass it. “Hello, gorgeous!” This whole I’m old, I’m fat, I hate my body, I need to lose weight thing has become a common topic of conversation among me and my friends, in women’s groups on FB–just everywhere women of a certain age gather. And I think…
-
Sunday Snippet: The How Is It Possibly 2023? Edition
Good morning! I actually know the answer to this one–days pass, time goes on, life continues whether we are prepared for it to do that or not. I’m not going to set intentions or goals or resolutions or even find a word for the year. Neither am I going to reflect back on 2022. Y’all were there. No need to rehash what turned out to be a difficult year for me. I am, however going to name the things for which I am thankful from 2022 because gratitude is key to everything else in life. If we aren’t grateful for what we have– the ups and the downs–how can we…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Oh, My Heart Edition
I have always determined to be very honest here, but at the same time, try not to give y’all TMI. This may fall under that heading, but I gave you part of this story earlier, and I feel I owe you the rest, such as it is. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I said that if the cardiologist told me my heart issues are because I’m fat and post-menopausal, I was going to kick him? His shins were saved because that’s not even close to what his diagnosis was. I sorta wish now that it had been–it would be beat the actual facts all to hell and back.…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Other-Worldly Edition
So the scene is this: I’m writing this on Saturday mid-morning at the breakfast table, and I’m gazing out the windows that look out on the leaf-covered back yard. After several warm and sunny days–unusual for the first of November in my part of the world–we have dreary gray skies and rain. I should go walk on the treadmill, but instead, I’m having a second cup of coffee. Besides, going back to the treadmill means that I’d actually have to rise from my chair and I’m disinclined. I’ve been a weird state of mind since Liz and I got back from writing retreat, and I’m not sure why. I think…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Chasing Summer Edition
It’s October 30 and it’s chilly and a little breezy here at the lake—crisp autumn chilly. The sun has been shining all weekend, until today. Clouds are rolling in and I think we’re due some rain. We raked leaves yesterday and hauled 10 golf-cart loads to the detritus pile up on the hill. It’s truly fall… and now I’m wondering what the hell happened to summer? I know summer was here—after all the cottage is still open (although we’re closing up soon). I vaguely remember a boat ride or two, several swims in the lake, although not nearly as many as previous years, and a lot of editing work, and…
-
Sunday Snippet: The Gone Fishin’ Edition
Yup… I really had nothing for today. My brain is exhausted and empty from finishing up the second book in the Weaver Sisters trilogy for Tule Publishing. I’ll be sending it off to my editor tomorrow and I’ll be on pins and needles until I hear from her. I’m never sure if I’ve hit the mark or not–sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t, but with the help of my editor, the awesome and brilliant Sinclair Sawney, it will turn into what it should be. So, this morning, when I was lying awake in bed, wondering what I was going to write about in the Sunday Snippet, Son texted, “Anybody awake?”…