Showing posts with label Happy. Show all posts

#Merry Christmas!





I want to wish everyone a Merry & Happy Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful day and you get to eat yummy food.

So what are your plans today?

It’s just me, Kevin, and my male fat cat Church.


I’m going to make a holiday ham. Other than that, we’re chillin' the whole day. I plan on doing some writing and reading. I have to clean my house, but it’s Christmas, so the mundane things can wait, right? I have tomorrow off, so I can clean my house then.

I bought myself a Kindle 7 inch HDX last night on Amazon. I suck at technology, but my friends tell me it’s super easy to use, and I’ll love it. I mainly got it so I can sit on the couch and hop on the internet. I prefer to read a paperback book over reading it on a device. However, it’ll be nice to have the Kindle, just in case I have to read a book on it. A good friend of mine in England bought me a case for it for Christmas, so I’m all hooked up J


Anyway, have a good one.


Cheers!  

My Week

Last weekend we got 18 inches of snow. On Monday, I got a snow day, which was awesome. I took that as a sign to upload and publish Dark Spirits to Kindle and B&N. But then the following days it snowed again and again and again. I just shook my head and said, “Really?” And it’s supposed to snow again today and this weekend.

Stop already!

I like snow, but honestly, I’m beyond tired of it. I’m also tired of being crazy busy all the frickin’ time. I think there is a rubber room with my name on it. LOL.

Our backyard is covered with snow, which I’m sure is waist deep on me. Our heating runs on propane. Well, our tank is in our backyard–buried. On Monday I was going to shovel a path on the north side of the tank so my driver (I work for a propane company) could get to the tank. Right when I was headed out the door, I saw our neighbor’s son-in-law was in his pay loader, shoveling their backyard snow. He pushed it against our tank and left before I could get a chance to talk to him. And then (I’m not through yet) the plow went down our alley and created a wall of snow in our back driveway. I told the owner where I work about it, and he told me not to worry. He has a Bobcat and said he would dig the snow out of our backyard for us.

Yeah, he’s a sweetheart.

Thursday afternoon I was talking to a customer on the phone, taking a credit card payment. As I was talking to her, I sucked in some spit and went into a five minute coughing fit. I had to lay the phone down and thought it was quite possible I might choke to death. I got back on the phone, eyes and nose running, and through short, scratchy breaths, I tried to talk to her. I apologized for the interruption, which in turn she asked me if I was okay. I was so embarrassed.

Thursday night, I planted myself on the couch to watch The Vampire Diaries. This show is basically the only show I watch because I spend a majority of my spare time on my writing and reading stuff. Kevin turned the station on for me and guess what? The-frickin’-station-was-blank!

WTF!?

So I waited, thinking maybe it would come on after a few minutes.

Nope!

I went on Twitter to see if anybody else was experiencing the same problem. Apparently, I was the only one not allowed to watch it because people were tweeting about how awesome the show was.

Thanks Universe. You're a real gem.

On Monday I heard from a writer who writes for a magazine called Today’s Pulse. She wanted to interview me. So of course, I said yes. It’ll be published in two weeks.

Yay!

On Tuesday, I received a signed copy of a middle grade book called The Tree of Mindala by author Elle Jacklee. Inside was a wonderful and touching note by her to me. I’m looking forward to reading and reviewing it in the near future. And I love the cover of this book.

On Wednesday, I received the paperback proof copy of Dark Spirits, and the cover looks awesome! I’m very pleased with it and soon it will be published in paperback form.

Yay!

On Thursday, I received rack cards of the cover of Dark Spirits on one side and Beyond the Eyes on the other side. It looks awesome except for the huge white gaps on the top and bottom of the cards, so I wasn’t happy. I also received a mouse pad with a picture of the cover of Dark Spirits on it. I was happy with that.

I have five people right now reading Dark Spirits, and to be honest, I’m nervous as hell.

What if they don’t like it?

I started to think about the scenes I wrote. I love the scenes but . . .

Were some of them too rushed?

I told Kevin, and he screwed his face up and said, “Your editor didn’t seem to think so.” He then reminded me I went through the same feelings with my first book.

Yeah, I know, all authors go through this.

It’s still scary though.

I’m also wondering if it’s going to be harder to market because it’s a second book in a series. So I’m at a toss up on what to do. I am doing a blog tour for Dark Spirits next month, but I’m wondering if I should spend more time on writing The Devil’s Third than worrying about marketing DS.

So that was my week, and I’d like to end this post with something Kevin told me about a half hour ago . . .

“I was thinking earlier today about the life I was born into. My crazy mom who always told us her kids would never be better than her and all the step-dads I had to deal with. I thought about this couple who was on vacation, came home and discovered they won two different lotteries. I imagined the Universe pointing down at me saying ‘You’ll never get a break. This is your lot in life. Deal with it.’ But then I thought, wait a minute . . . I do have it better than anybody.” He paused, pointed at me and said, “Because I have you.”




Fun, Happy, Memories.

I thought I’d take a break from blogging about my book and post about some of my early, fun, happy, childhood memories. Every time I think of the following stuff, it always puts a smile on my face . . .
 
 
 
 
I loved, loved, loved, my big wheel. I miss my big wheel. Back then, we didn’t have to wear a helmet or knee pads. Sure, we got banged up a little from doing death-defying stunts like skidding across the road and going down steep hills, but we’re still alive. We might have battle scars from those stunts, but so what. Those scars have a cool ass big wheel story behind them. It reminds us of a much better time when kids would play outside until the street lamps came on and we weren’t so restricted like we are now.
 
 
 
 
When Star Wars came out, I was four-years-old. My dad took me and my sister to see it, and like the rest of the world, I was in total awe. For Christmas, I got a bunch of Star Wars toys, which included the Death Star Space Station. My dad still has it, along with the Star Wars case and figures. I remember playing with my Star Wars stuff for hours because I thought it was so cool. And guess what? I still do.
 

 
I loved Burger Chef and always got a happy meal. It came with a toy and had cool stuff on the box. So heck, yeah, I'd get a happy meal. Oh, and yes, I’m a Star Wars fan. However, I’m a fan of the original one. I didn’t care for the prequels.
 
 

 
My dad used to take my sister and me to Friendly’s. I loved Friendly’s. The only thing I didn't like was afterwards, my dad would pull his handkerchief out of his pocket, spit on it, and then wipe the ice cream off my face.

Yuck!

*makes a face*

Did your dad ever do that to you?

As you can probably tell, all these fond memories are with my dad, but that's because. . . Well, he's a big kid (maybe that's why I'm like that too and write YA books), and he's fun to be around.

So there you have it, some of my early, fun, happy, childhood memories. When I think about that time, it always puts a smile on my face: toys, cool movies, yummy food and ice cream. Yup, I think those things would put a smile on anybody’s face. :)

My Happy Place

I believe everybody has a happy place, a place that gives them peace and joy. I believe everybody has more than one, like a place where you can go right before you fall asleep, being in the arms of your true love, getting lost in a book, playing with your cat or dog . . .

You get the idea.

On Saturday, I revisited one of my happy places–I wrote chapter twenty to The Devil’s Third.

Lately, I’ve been balled up in a knot over everything. So much so, I’ve been nit picking everything. That’s totally not me, and I didn’t realize it until Kevin mentioned it.

Thank God for Kevin’s honesty.

So on Friday after my wonderful critique partner asked me when I’d be sending her my next chapter to The Devil’s Third because she was dying to read it, I decided I’d spend Saturday writing it.

So I did and found my happy place. :)

I found my peace.

The tightness in my chest loosened, and my whole body sighed with relief. I decided right there, regardless of having to keep marketing, Beyond the Eyes to spread the word about it, I must make time to write my stories. I have to trust things will work out, and if I’m lucky, maybe one day I’ll be able to spend my days writing my stories and sharing them with the world.

That my friend, is one of my happy places. :)

Anyway, I did another interview and it’ll be posted this Wednesday. I’ll post the web address here Tuesday night or Wednesday morning before I go to work. I also should be getting my books this week. I wish I can show you how awesome my book looks, but my stupid camera won’t transfer the pictures onto my computer. I just spent almost an hour trying to figure out why, and I still don’t know what the deal is.

Grrrrrr!

I’ll be doing a book signing in my town soon. I haven’t set a date yet because I need to visit with the owner, but that’ll be an experience I’ll have to share with you.

Well, I must be off. I hope all of you are well and happy. :)