Retirement leads to a rejuvenation

 Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted anything on my blog. What can I say? Life got in the way.  I actually retired in May of 2020 and thought that would free up time to start doing things for me, but alas, it seems I just got busier.

With additional time comes the difficult problem of narrowing down what I want to work on. As an artist, I have way too many loves. I love babysitting my granddaughter, gardening, sewing, painting, being involved in community, reading and writing. Wanting to do them all sorta freezes me from doing any of them so I'm trying to create a schedule of sorts.

Today, I'm writing! I've been writing since my last book came out in 2015, but never consistently. I have five stories started, all around 40,000 words so far. Well, I decided I needed to quit bouncing between book drafts so I am concentrating my efforts on finishing one of the stories. It will be a shorter book I think, but still full of twists and a heartwarming HAE. 

In the meantime, I still have to figure out how to balance all my wants. That said, this is my attempt at holding myself accountable. My first goal is to write every day even if it's only one sentence.

Lots Going on including forensic art

Yep, still alive. This has been a special Thanksgiving break as hubby and I spend it together in our new home. The house isn't quite finished; lots of little things left to do but for the most part, we're moved in. The weather has been outrageously pleasant, like a mild fall day, which is fine by me as I'm not particularly fond of the cold. Today I spent much of it burning wood as our wood pile is overflowing.





Family and friends gathered on Thursday for a non-traditional meal. Hubby grilled steel head trout and with it, I served rice pilaf, squash casserole, steamed spinach and a cranberry salad my mom made. We did this because my son and his beautiful lady were going to have a traditional meal with her folks the next day. So, Saturday, I made a traditional meal for just hubby and me. Yep, we'll be eating turkey for a week.

As for other news in my world, I'm still not settled into writing yet but the office is set up, my files are accessible and all my research books are within reach. So I'm hopeful by this summer, I'll be cranking out the stories again. Oh how I miss writing! As for my art side, I signed up to take a forensic art course with Lois Gibson. I'm very excited about this one. It's a way I can use my talents to help others so we'll see how good I am at drawing portraits after April arrives. It's a week long course but I've already bought both work books for it.

Life in the country and Susan Horsnell's new release

I feel as if I've been gone forever but alas, moving and building is a slow process. In addition, Internet connections just aren't as reliable as when we were in town. At present, I'm waiting for yahoo to fully load and it's already been ten minutes. But I think the end is in sight. Hubby is trying like mad to get all the shelving completed and my son has helped move big furniture items into the new home for the past three weekends. The storage shed is now completely empty. I'm about to dismantle my computer from the small cabin I've housed it in to the new office area. Crossing fingers everything still works once that's done. 

Needless to say, I owe my writing buddy, Susan Horsnell an apology. I was supposed to announce her new release again yesterday but alas, blogger wasn't playing nice for me. I tried to email her and yahoo wasn't playing nice either. Perhaps today is a better day anyway. Please check out her new work along with her coauthors.

Amazon US https://amzn.com/B01LWRVOP9 

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LWRVOP9

Amazon CA  https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01LWRVOP9

Amazon AU http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01LWRVOP9

 

Goodreads

Facebook Fan Club

Check out this interactive #western!



Amazon US https://amzn.com/B01LWRVOP9 

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LWRVOP9

Amazon CA  https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01LWRVOP9

Amazon AU http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01LWRVOP9

 

Goodreads

Facebook Fan Club

 

A bank robbery happens at the busiest time of the week in Beltane. How will the people caught in the bank deal with the future?

 

One beginning, five endings. Which character path will you follow?

 

It's up to you!  Available now.

 

 

My LASR guest post #LASR_Anniv

My post for the LASR Anniversary is scheduled and should be live today. You can access my post here.

 

Hope you'll join me. They are planning all sorts of prizes. Should be fun. 

#SundaySnippet from A Noble Sacrifice

Thought I'd revisit one of my older books. It's Eppie time and I won the Eppie for the 2008 Science Fiction Futuristic Romance section with this story.  A Noble Sacrifice.

“You lie.” Joyelle held the controller higher. “You’d serve your

brother’s clan before you serve mine.”

Tared didn’t understand her illogical reasoning. She didn’t want

to give him up, yet she still professed a fear of the physical side of a
relationship. Had she finally accepted Fate’s plan for them? Surely, she
didn’t expect their relationship to remain the same.

“Should you wish it, I will claim you for mate before all these

witnesses.” He nodded toward his brethren.

“No!” A panicked expression fell across her features. “You’re my

slave. Nothing more.”

It dawned on him then what motivated her reasoning. She

didn’t want to be alone. She wanted a man by her side, but one with
no sexual claim upon her body. As slave, he would be with her always,
but on her terms. His brows creased, and he took a step toward her.

“’Tis time you learned I’m more than a slave.”

“Not another step.” The controller trembled between her

fingers. She steadied it by wrapping both hands about the small box
and pointing it at his neck. “Please. I don’t want to hurt you in front of
your clan.”

He ignored her order and took another step. Perhaps it was

best he show the Verside the spark that flowed between them. In this
manner, he would make his claim. She would forgive his
highhandedness once she learned not to fear him.

“No!” She pushed the button on the controller.

So Frustrated with #Google and #Blogger right now.

This is me venting.

Google just made me so frustrated I could spit nails.  Really? What's up with blogger forcing me to get them a telephone number. I hate giving my number to anyone that I don't know and especially a huge entity like Google or Blogger. Anyone else have issues with getting into blogger?

Seriously frustrated. It took me 2 hours. Here's the scenario.

"There something wrong with the way you've logged in. We need to verify you. Please enter a telephone number so we can text."

Because I'm stubborn, I elected to punch the button that said "ask a different question" which then prompted the question on what month and what date I started my blog. Well, sorry for not remember dates for something like that. Seriously, who remembers that kind of info? So I punched the button that said I could request help from Google which then asked for the password I last remembered which I put in and then the email associated with the account. I plug that in and it says I've received a verification code to use. I check my email, use the code and plug it in only to get a message that says something like, "Nope, sorry, we can't verify it's you right now".

So then I go to Blogger help. There's no contact info anywhere for getting any serious help. Instead, it asks me the problem and gives me a few choices which includes can't get into my blog. Then leads me to a page that starts the whole process over again. I repeat the steps I did previously with the same message.

So then I go to the forum only it won't let me post my query because ------ yep, I'm not logged into Google. Oh right, I can't be verified. So why offer the option if you aren't going to allow it to work. Yep, not a happy Google/Blogger user right now.

So yeah, now Google has my number. I better not see an increase in spam calls. I get about 1 a week but that's plenty for me.