July IWSG And I’m Still In France

 

Sooo, this happened. I contracted covid the last week of our trip, which means I didn’t go home. My husband did because his visa ran out and he didn’t get Covid. I’ll be here another 10 days and I must say, if one needs to be in quarantine there are worse places to be! My parents-in-law are amazingly wonderful and caring and they have nursed me back to health (with us following ALL Guidelines for their safety) with thoughtfulness and kindness. I am happy to report after 13 days of dealing with the symptoms I tested negative yesterday. I am still not up to speed, but knowing I’m no longer a danger to my beloved “beau-parents” is a huge relief. I hate to think how sick I might have been had I not been vaccinated, because this has been a long haul and I’m not yet my usual self. Experiencing this has not been fun and I hope that anyone else who has had it or has it now had or has had a mild case. 

See? Worse places to be. I hope all of you have a safe and enjoyable summer…

IWSG Question of the month: if you could live in a book world which one would it be?

PERN Anne McCaffery’s  world of dragons. I have been waiting soooo long for a movie to be made, but so far nothing has happened. If I were rich, I would produce a film and hire her son to write the screenplay. If you like sci-if/fantasy, PERN is a world worth visiting.

Speaking of visiting, please visit our IWSG co-hosts today and thank them for their care of us!

https://jlennidorner.blogspot.com/ https://janetalcorn.com/ http://www.pjcolando.com/ https://jennienzor.blogspot.com/ and http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/ 

Also, writing this on my IPad, so not great at fixing links. 

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

April Pulling Back The Curtain On Winter IWSG

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What more can we ask of April than the beauty we are beginning to see? We have pink trees, white trees, yellow daffodils, purple/white/yellow crocus's, and new green is shading everything. Lovely. Now children can play outside with gleeful abandon and teachers can get a much needed boost from watching and listening to their laughter, well at least most of the time. Another year is beginning with Covid, yet, if everyone will behave, we might actually have more of a "normal" life either by summer or (please) at least by fall. I feel hope again. Since I had my second vaccine (Pfizer) a mantel of fear has lifted from my burdened shoulders. Seriously. I don't really care if someone doesn't "believe" in Covid or the necessity of the vaccine or masks. What I care about is the burden on me is gone. I cried when my parents were vaccinated and I realized I had been SO worried about them dying from Covid. Yes, I know their time will come, as will mine, but at least not yet, not from this. I don't have much to convey on the writing front at the moment. Next month I will!

Please visit our wonderful co-hosts this month and thank them!

PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, Diane Burton!

IWSG optional monthly question is: 

Are you a risk taker when writing? Do you try something radical, different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

I see this as two questions and both I would answer yes. I feel I risk whenever I put something in a book someone might read and ask themselves, "Did that happen to this author? Is this a "memoir moment?" and so feel I am a risk taker. I imagine Oprah (yes, dream big, right?!), posing the question, "What made you write about this? Has it happened to you personally?"

The second part of the question is risking to a point but perhaps not as much as someone else might. I have a novel in mind that I have not written yet because for me it would be huge to put it out for other people to read. So I will wait and see what happens. In my novels I've written about abuse, murder, greed, love, killing sadness, lies that break families apart, all things that can be considered risky depending on how you deal with them.

Happy Easter! Happy spring! Enjoy today, it's the only one you have right NOW!

December 2020 Finally! & IWSG

 

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I am so darn happy December is here! (and not only for the snow!) I'm sorry I missed last month's post, and almost missed this one, but in November I was depressed, and, today is my son's birthday!

I feel a lot better this month. Last month I think because of Thanksgiving, I felt the absence of my family too keenly and couldn't write about it. We all made it through and for that I am more than grateful. I still miss the you-know-what out of my parents though. This is a looooong time to go without hugging/touching/seeing them. But I won't jeopardize them just because I miss them.

My son has been living with us all year because of a medical issue. He can't work and is not only in constant pain, but also depressed because of it. Finally, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. It will take more time and more physical therapy for him to get back to his former self, but it IS working! I/we have much to be grateful for. So, December has not come too soon for me. 

The young lad with his snowman "Churchill!"

The other wonderful piece of news is that my book cover should be finished soon. The edits are finished. The formatting is happening as I write, and hopefully my next novel, "Rain" will be out before Christmas! (Hint, it would make a great present!) Shameless I am. But not about being happy! For the first time in a while, I do genuinely feel happy and hopeful for not only my future, but for our nation's future as well. The Covid vaccine should (hopefully) go a long way toward helping us all heal.

So I am not feeling too insecure today, even if I'm late to post. I feel optimistic and full of love for the world, and especially my son. He is a light in my life and has been since the day he was born 34 years ago. Though I'm sorry for the reason he is with us, I am not sorry he's here! I wish you all the best of the holidays, a Merry Christmas, whatever it is that you celebrate. I also wish us all the best in the new year to come. May we all be able to move on to a life that even though Covid will still be here, hopefully the new year will give us a chance to learn to live with it without fear. Blessings to you.

And before you stop reading, please stop by our wonderful co-hosts this month and thank them for being there for us! 

Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney,Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre!

October and The Air is Sweet IWSG

 

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Have you heard of the singer Jackson Browne? 

He sang a song when I was younger called "Running On Empty". 

That is how I feel today, as I send my thoughts out into this crazy sad changing world. I mean, I know the world is always in a state of flux. The world is not stagnate and that is a good thing. The changes happening right now however, feel more threatening than changes I've lived through before. I am concerned for my children, for whether they will even have their own children and that if they do, what will their lives be like? Not like mine, that is for sure. I understand people reminiscing for the "good ole days" now. For me, that is BC... Before Covid. I've been doing well I thought until now. I've been very busy finishing a novel, moving, creating a new garden/yard, building shelves, building a gardening shed, taking care of our son. Busy. And happy to feel blessed to be able to do all these things. Now I see autumn and the colors starting to appear outside and I know this part of my life is done. I put my lawn "to bed" yesterday, mowed and weeded for the last time till spring, and I felt like a chapter closed in the book of my life. What will winter bring with people having to stay indoors more than they had to during the summer? Will our country smarten up and make more of an effort to end this devastating virus in a united front? Will the ones who refuse to wear masks for others finally realize that we need to stick together on this? That we can beat it, or at least slow it down if we just do basic steps to help? I feel the only blessing is that the majority of the time when the virus hits, it does it gently, that the majority of people do not die or have horrible consequences. That is indeed a blessing I am thankful for. Still doesn't mean I want to get it!

Anyway, I'll stop now and think about the breeze carrying autumn that blew over my face yesterday while I worked outside. I'll think about the love of my family, and my friends. I will listen to a favorite song that seems to speak to my soul no matter where I am every time the seasons move from winter to spring or summer to fall, "The Southland In The Springtime". I wish you all peace, health and happiness...

The wonderful co-hosts of the IWSG this month of October are....

Jemima Pett, Beth Camp,Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner!

Please go visit their websites and thank them for being here for us all!

IWSG August- All About Positivity

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I want to write about something positive in the midst of all this chaos in the world right now. I know there is always chaos, just seems like more than usual this year. Yes, this YEAR! Seems it will never stop, so I want to write about, think about something positive.
For me that would be a few things I feel grateful for...
One, my husband and I celebrated (as best we could!) our 37th anniversary in July (which actually ended up being why I missed posting here that week!). We've been together 38 years, married 37. We're closing in fast on that 40 number, and it's strange to know that I've spent more of my life with this man than without. I love that. We've earned this. Fought for it at times. Not knowing what the future would hold, and still don't, but it's something to look back and see what we did to get where we are. I am proud of us.

Our wedding all those years ago...

This year turning "37"!

And two, we've been building a garden shed in our back yard. I absolutely love doing things like this with my hubby. Having something that we do together, especially after two years of him being in university and having almost no time at all doing things together. Again I am grateful.

Also, when it comes to writing, I am in the "reading it out loud" stage before I send my WIP to my editor for the final touches (fingers crossed!) I feel good it's almost there, and feel ready to start on a different project.

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and stay that way. I will say no more about C-19 because I'm trying to stay positive. I wish you all the best at the end of this strange summer and beginning of what is usually a new school year. What a school year it will be. One for the history books I'm sure, and I hope in a good way (fingers crossed again).

Don't forget to visit our wonderful ISWG co-hosts this month! 

Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey!

June and I'm Late! IWSG

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Welcome to June. Already. Not fair! And because of the crazy of life and country right now, I missed posting last week (not to mention moving).  Being that I'm recovering from an operation (last Tuesday), I've had a little time to read between news check ups. I have finished Trevor Noah's "Born A Crime" and it feels particularly relevant right now. Reading it is like listening to him talk. Like you're watching his show. He writes the way he talks, and he does both very well.

A Boss To Work For

One thing he wrote that felt appropriate for our times goes something like this. Taking from the adage "Give a man a fish you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." Trevor added: "But if you don't give him a fishing rod, he can't fish no matter what he knows." He was talking about South Africa, but it resonates here and everywhere in the world where there is inequality. He is saying that educating everyone is good, but that if poor people don't have the same access to good and steady education/home life/tools, etc. as "well off/rich" folks do, it doesn't matter what you teach him if he has no means to use that education. This is where our society breaks down. At this moment in time, I hope we as a nation and a planet can finally move beyond the social structures we have put up with for so long. As a woman I feel this acutely, and I live in one of the better countries of the world for women to live in.

So, this is my post for IWSG June, for the insecurity of our changing (hopefully for the better) world. May a treatment, then vaccine finally be found swiftly for C-19. May people of color be accepted into the world that has barred them/made it difficult to enter with grace and compassion. May our country re-learn what empathy, and compassion, is and put it/them to good use. These are my thoughts half way through 2020.
Peace, health and harmony to you all. (And read Trevor's book!)

IWSG "Washing" Away March, LOL

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Aside from my joking title, I am not going to write about C-19. Instead, I'm going to give you access to another friend's new release, that I, for one, can't wait to read! Then I will go on to my IWSG post...

“King has gifted us an immersive world, filled with memorable characters. What an adventure! All fantasy novels should have this kind of momentum.”

                               - Carrie Butler, author of the award-winning Mark of Nexus series 

COMING TODAY, APRIL FIRST! NO JOKE!

 AMAZON  

AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE 

GOODREADS

A princess. A dragon. Their quest.

Terrible things happen whenever Princess Celesia falls in love—she blacks out and attacks her suitors, which makes an alliance with a more powerful nation impossible. Believing that she’s cursed, Celesia is given two choices: marry without love, or be responsible for her kingdom’s demise. Instead, she sneaks off in search of a remedy.

She doesn’t make it far when she encounters a dragon who bears a curse of his own—he is a prince, desperate to reclaim his humanity before the dragon takes over. He's heard of a stone that can lift both of their curses, but neither of them can find it alone, and they’re not the only ones after it. An evil alchemist is intent on using it to steal the land’s magic and dominate the realm. Only together, with the help of an even greater magic, can Celesia and the dragon stop this evil, or be bound forever by their curses.

David was born in beautiful downtown Burbank, California where his love for film inspired him to write. His works include the internationally published YA Fantasy Woven and The Undead Road: My Zombie Summer. An avid fan of science fiction and fantasy, David also has a soft spot for zombies and the paranormal. He now lives in the mountain West with his wife and four children.

DAVID'S BLOG 

DAVID'S TWITTER 

Now, on to my insecure post, which will be short again, I hope. First, here is the important information about IWSG...

Our Twitter handle is: @TheIWSG

Our hashtag is: #IWSG

Our wonderful co-hosts this month are: 

Diane Burton, JH Moncrieff, Anna@Emaginett, 

Karen@Reprobate Typewriter, Erika Beebe , and Lisa Buie-Collard !

Please feel free to visit their blogs and thank them for co-hosting this month!

Also, if you'd like, take advantage of the (first idea) April 1st question here below. You could make it a doozy since it is, after all April Fool's Day!

Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share?

Or, and this isn't as funny, or maybe you can make it funny, the second idea question is: How are you doing in lock-down-mode/cloistering/sequestering/being alone/not being alone?!

I don't have any real rituals so I'll go straight to the craziness of life at the moment and how I want it to affect my writing. Since I am "stuck" at home, I can't see a good, logical reason for not writing. So, I'm setting a schedule for myself and I will let you know in May if I was able to stick to it, and, if I succeed in finishing this novel! Argh!

My schedule is/will be:

Three hours a day (or more) until I am done with this novel. I am committing to a full three hours, not doing anything but writing/revising. I will do this every afternoon until it is done. That is my commitment to myself. Wish me luck!!! 

I wish you ALL luck. I wish that you will ALL stay safe and healthy until we make it through this...