Fall is here!

This is by far my favorite time of year. It's getting cooler out, the leaves are falling and it's time to think about those hearty fall/winter foods. I have been craving chili for a few weeks, and with the temps getting back to the 60's this week, I might finally make a batch.

I have a few more events lined up for October. This upcoming weekend I will be at the Millner Heritage Winery Grape Stomp. I've never attended in the past, but have heard great things about it. Saturday is also my birthday and a good friend's wedding, so I will have to make it a short book event. After a nice vacation, I am also going to be at the St. Cloud Armory on the 25th.

My aunt sent me a nice little message this morning that the Hutchinson paper had an article about me and my first book. Back when I interviewed with the Litchfield Leader, the person interviewing me had mentioned sharing it with their sister paper in Hutch. I guess I knew it was a possibility, just wasn't sure if or when it would be published.

This past week also added one event to January. I will be back at the Waite Park Library for an author round table. I am also considering a ladies night out in Annandale in December. I have also gone back to doing some more writing, and will continue as it gets cooler outside. There are few things that beat wrapping up on the couch with a quilt and my computer.

Back in Action

Tonight I had my first event in just over a month. I was at the Litchfield library. The nice weather and sporting events may have kept some people away, but I had the opportunity to chat with a young writer. She was full of questions, and it was fun to talk about our craft. The librarian from another library I have been at also met me there, and had a gift for me. She made a bag with a fire truck fabric. She said is spoke to her at the quilt shop. As a quilter, I know the feeling.

There's lots going on around home. The garden is just about done. I'm waiting for my tomatoes to finish up so I can make some salsa before I pull everything out. All my practice with my bow can finally be used now that the deer bow season has opened. Brian has even helped me make a ground blind and gave me a camo jacket. The boys are excited with the idea of Mom getting a deer with her bow :) I've got a lot to live up to!

My next event is next weekend. I will be at the Westwood Church in St. Cloud. After that, I am back to around 4 events a month until December. It's hard to know how much I want to plan when there are so many holiday events I would like to be doing with my family. It's kind of sad to think Christmas is only 90 so days away now! My book makes a great gift (I had to add that).

Week of Interviews

I spent two of my lunch breaks this week on the phone doing interviews about my book. The first one was with 1420 AM out of Litchfield. I spoke with Tim, the news guy, who recorded our phone call and will be airing it at about 8:20 on September 10th, and advertising/mentioning my event at the Litchfield library scheduled for September 18th. It was strange being on the phone, pretending we were live. I'm sure I said 'so' a lot more than I normally would.

Today I talked to Andrew at the Independent Review in Litchfield, also to talk about my event with the library. He's going to run an article on me and Moving On, but I need to find out when it will be published. I'd like to get a copy when it comes out. It was a long interview, and he asked a lot of questions. I just hope my answers made sense.

I'm thinking about adding another event to October, and look ahead to December. The holidays will be here before we know it and my book makes a great gift- just had to throw that out there :)

Next week, I am taking a few days off of work and going on a ladies' retreat. Most of the people at camp are into scrapbooking, but my mom and I bring our sewing machines. I've been trying to decide what projects to bring. It would also be a good time to do some writing and editing. Some time away to unwind is long overdue.

Not the Labor Day Weekend I was Expecting

It has been a sometimes long, stressful weekend. We finally had our house warming party, about a year later. Friday night I had to get the food, Saturday we had a birthday party and kept getting things ready. Yesterday was the party and it rained! Thankfully, Brian was able to patch the holes in the sheet rock in the garage and paint it (he started that project Thursday night) so we had a nice clean garage to party in.

I was mad about the rain, not only because we couldn't be outside, but I have been looking out the window at a huge pile to burn, and yesterday was the day but it didn't happen. We had about an inch and a half of rain just yesterday afternoon and evening. Knowing there are plenty of critters making the pile a home, I really want to light a match and get it burnt so they don't decide to move in with me.

I didn't have much planned for today, and the way it turned out, that was a good thing. I wanted to get some quilt pieces cut for my weekend away in 2 weeks, and shoot my bow a bit. About 8:20 this morning, the pager went off, and I listened to the page- a garage fire. The address: my brother's house. I was a little more alarmed, because their attached garage is a tuck over (part of the garage is under their living room). It scared me more that my sister-in-law had talked about going shopping and leaving my niece and nephew home with my brother. I tried calling and texting them both, and she called me back to let me know she was at the neighbor's house with the kids.

After Brian came home from the call, I loaded up the boys, and we went to their house. It was truly a sign of how wonderful our small-town community can be. One of the neighbors was dropping off coolers of food, another was helping pull things out of the garage. Another was watching the kids of the families there to help. Someone else had let my sister-in-law shower at their house. Many of the guys from the fire department had returned to the house to help tear out the water soaked drywall and insulation.

The fire was along the back wall of their two stall garage, right in the middle. A few more feet to the right, and it would have been directly under their living room. They were sleeping when someone passing by knocked on the door and told them about the fire. The smoke alarms in the house didn't go off, but the one in the garage was completely melted. There is no doubt, it could have been much worse. By the end of the afternoon, a new garage door was in place, the melted and burned items were in a dump trailer, and the items they might be able to still use were also loaded up.

Time for Typing

I have been working some on a new book, which is exciting for me. It's fun to come up with new characters and situations. There is more of me in this female lead than I may want to admit. She is a very strong willed gal, but has a softer side that will break out at some point in the book.

I'm not sure if it's evolution in my writing or what exactly it would be, but I have listened to different music with each book written. The first- Moving On, was Cake, Weezer, and the like. The second book, Trying, it was more current alternative rock/girl music. Now I'm hooked on Ed Sheeran and John Mayer on Pandora. I love putting in my ear buds and blocking the world out so I can write.

We took the boys to the state fair over the weekend. That was an adventure. The biggest hit with them was the DNR building where they had fish and taxidermy animals. Guess my renewed interest in the outdoors is rubbing off on them.

Now that our summer is coming to an end, and things are slowing down a little bit, I have been able to find time to get myself organized. I've had the start of my next book for most of the summer, but I've been stuck in the same spot for a while. Last night I found time to make my character outlines, and have a better feel for what I want to write. If I get out of the garden fast enough tonight, I might even get a few more pages written.

My break in events will be short lived, which is good and bad. I am adding to my Events page as I get dates finalized. The most recent addition is the Richmond library in November. I was also contacted by the Cold Spring and St. Cloud libraries, but we don't have dates set yet.

My first official book review was posted on Facebook today, and should also show on Amazon and Twitter. Thanks to 2 Indie Girls for the review!

Weekend Goal and Other Information

I might regret staying up late tonight knowing how long of a day I have ahead tomorrow. Tonight kicked-off our town festival- Kimball Days. I took on running the Craft & Vendor Fair this year, so I have to get out there early tomorrow to get myself set-up before the vendors start showing up. We have 21 spaces paid for, and that is close to a record number. I've got a few other authors coming out too, and I'm excited to meet them and hear about their books.

My goal for my booth is to sell 20 books. If I hit 20, I will donate $100 to the Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in St. Paul. Random bit of information: there have been 208 line of duty deaths in Minnesota since 1881. One of those was from Kimball.

The beer sales and softball tournaments this weekend will keep the people on our fire department busy, and some of the spouses. I've signed up for 3 shifts this year. I don't expect to see the hubby too much. He's not only in charge of the whole Kimball Days as the chair of the committee, he's also one of the main people from the fire department running the beer sales. If I'm lucky, I will get to have a meal with him tomorrow.

I added another library event to my schedule for this fall, and have 2 more getting set-up. There are also 2 book stores who have contacted me about setting up signings. After the major push this summer, I am looking forward to a few less events and more time writing the next book. I might have to change the name of one of my characters since we just hired someone at work with the same name.

I was lucky enough to be featured in the Annandale Advocate this week with my book. They also purchased some books from me to sell and will put the book cover in filler ads as they have space. The article was very nice, and I've heard a lot of feedback on it. I am thankful they published the story and for the good press.