Saturday, March 16, 2024

Greetings From South Carolina!

As I type this, I'm sitting in my oldest son's home visiting him, his wife, and two perfect grandchildren.  Don and I will be here a few days spoiling aforementioned grandchildren and enjoying time with their parents.

I plan to keep my streak going while I'm here.  It may be slow, but I will get words in.  I already know my upcoming column will be about this trip, so that makes planning easier.

I have a few projects in various stages, but nothing coming out before April or May.  Will let you know more about them as those dates get closer.

In the meantime, I will take time to enjoy a break from the routine.


Monday, March 4, 2024

Hello, Unwelcome Life Roll...

 The past week has been a difficult one.  I don't want to go into gory details, but I will assure you my marriage and health are okay.  But what's happening in my life right now has affected me on numerous levels, and I have been sad a good part of the week.

Fellow writers and I talk about "life rolls."  There are events, good or bad, that seriously impact one's life.  Some life rolls are minor - a cold, or maybe you had a tiff with your spouse.  Some are gigantic - a death in the family, a move, a change in employment.  

My particular life roll isn't minor, but it's not gigantic.  However, it's big enough to have an impact in almost every area in my life.

Including the writing.

For me, writing can be a refuge from bad stuff.  Since the end of June, 2020, I've managed to write at least a few words every day up till now.  At times it has been something to keep me sane in an insane world.  Other times it was something I could fall back on, even when I was grieving or angry.

This time, the writing has been hard.  This particular life roll has taken a lot of space in my brain, and crowded out the words.

I had to put down a project I'd been working on because I just couldn't get into it.  I also need to finish my research for it, and I've struggled to do that as well.

Instead, I'm writing what I'm calling a "therapy story."  The circumstances in the story aren't quite like what I'm going through, but there are similarities.  I'm hoping getting some of the emotions out through my fingertips will help me process them better.

This life roll will eventually sort itself out.  There will be a point I can move past the worst of it and get my focus back.

Until then, I will try to take it one day and one word at a time.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Hello, mid-February...

 January really took it out of me - I had a hard time bouncing back from back-to-back trips.  It took several days, including one where I pretty much slept away the morning.  I'm feeling more normal now and trying to see what needs to be done in the upcoming days (one thing on the list is - ugh - taxes).

Right now I am also a part of two Kickstarters.  One is year two of Thrill Ride, a thriller magazine I had stories in last year and have one included in 2024. The other, called HERitage, is an alternate history anthology of how things might have improved for women if history had changed.  My contribution concerns Princess Diana - what if she and Charles remained married, and she became Queen of England?

You can get the details of both Kickstarters in my newsletter.  Not signed up?  Look on the left side of this webpage for instructions.  I promise not to spam you or sell your information.  

I hope February has been good to you.  Talk to you again in March.

Monday, January 22, 2024

January has been insane...

 ...on so may levels.

First, my husband Don went out of town for a few days.  He arrived home the day before I was scheduled to fly out to Las Vegas for a writing workshop.  We spent less than 24 hours together before he dropped me off at the Orlando airport for a late flight.

The workshop was fabulous, as I knew it would be.  It was a great opportunity to connect with other writers and learn about writing science fiction mystery stories.  I read a lot and wrote a lot and also walked a lot (the hotel complex was HUGE).

On Friday, I flew back to Orlando, where Don met me later that day.  No, I didn't return to Sebring.  After spending the night in a hotel, I went BACK to the airport to catch a flight to South Carolina, where my mazing daughter-in-law was recovering from rotator cuff surgery.  I am currently at her home, helping out where I can for a few days before finally flying home on Thursday.

So there's been a lot of travel and doing stuff and not as much sleep   But it's all good.  I'm still writing every day to keep up my streak and watching what I eat to keep down my weight.  

All in all, I'm looking forward to no travel for a few weeks.

So how are things with you?

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Preparing for the Holidays

 As I type this,  there are six days until Christmas.  Am I ready?  Cue hysterical laughter here.

I did manage to get Christmas cards out yesterday, which is too late to arrive on time, but my family is accustomed to my being fashionably late for the holidays.

I'm trying not to stress out about it.  I'm dealing with some deadlines that are coming up, and I'm trying not to stress out about that either.  

My goal for the rest of the year is to get as much writing and reading done as possible.  I'm 22,000 words away from hitting 200,000 words for the year.  Can I write 22k words between now and January 1st?  I'm about to find out.

Hoping you aren't stressing out this holiday season.  And that if you have goals for the end of the year, you meet them.

Thursday, December 7, 2023

A Quick Update

 I meant to post here last week, but I've been dealing with some minor health issues that have made it harder to get things done.  I'm hoping for a resolution soon.

I also want to take this opportunity to let you know that I will be on the "D&D Live" radio show tomorrow (12/8) at 8:30 am (EST).  If you live in Highlands county, you can listen on am 730 am or 95.3 fm.  If you don't live there, you can still listen online at https://www.newstalk730am.com/.  I'll be talking about the latest column collection and whatever else comes to mind.  

Hope December is treating you well and you are finishing out the year strong.  I'll talk to you again soon.

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Happy Thanksgiving!

 Just a short note to wish all my readers a most wonderful Thanksgiving.  If you don't celebrate, I hope you have a great Thursday.

I am thankful to you for your reading and support.  I'm having a delightful time at my oldest son's house with his family, our youngest son, and my daughter-in-law's younger brother.  I hope you are having a great time with people you love today.