Spring has Sprung!

I often get asked where I find the time to write, and I usually say I make the time. There are many things I put off doing- laundry, dishes, phone calls, but writing is something that calls to me. I don't watch a whole lot of TV, I think the only show I watch on a regular basis is CBS Almanac because Brian has it on Sunday mornings. I haven't been doing much writing lately, the ideas are floating around, I just need to put them into the right order before sitting down to work on the next project. I think I'm a little scared of the ideas I have because it is a darker theme. I've been hearts and flowers for the last few projects, and the change in direction is a little frightening for me. 

There have been plenty of ways to distract myself from getting to work on a new story. I've put together a few puzzles and read almost an entire series of books that are nothing like the show based on the books. In this case, I liked the show more. My garden is in, and the flower garden is getting out of hand. I should really add a section about twice the size of the current garden. 

Here is one of my recent blooms. This is the first year my iris have bloomed at this house, and since it was too early in the year when I first dug them up, I had no idea what color any of them would be. I have a few varieties, which is nice. 

The boys are already done with school, I can't believe how fast the year went. The summer will likely also fly by. I have plans with them to take a day to go to some garage sales. We did that last year too, and they had a blast with the $3 they were each allowed to spend without my input. 

The fire department auxiliary is putting together another cookbook with the intent of publishing it next year when the department celebrates their 100th anniversary. It's a fun project that gets me in the kitchen testing some of the recipes we get.  

Strange Winter

It's been a strange winter around here. Tomorrow the high is going to be near 50 degrees, no where near what it should be in February. It's got me thinking about getting outside and ordering my seeds for the garden. We've decided to expand the garden this year and that's making it even more fun to pick out the foods I want to plant. 

Even with a mild winter, it hasn't been uneventful. There was huge debate over a school levy. My editorial to the local paper pulled me out of my writing slump, at least a little. The back story of the levy is that in November, a portion of what the district asked for did not pass by a narrow margin. A group of parents got together and petitioned to bring the question back as soon as possible, which was in early February. The outcome was much clearer the second time, and the levy still did not pass. 

The boys and I got out ice fishing once with my parents. Another issue with the strange winter is the lack of ice safe enough to go on. It was a good day at least, and we got a few northerns for my dad to pickle. 

Before long, I'll take my first trip to Mexico too. I went last week for a new tattoo, and have almost hit my weight loss goal knowing I will be wearing a bikini soon. I can hardly wait to sit by the pool in 80 degree weather, sipping something cool while I read a book or just relax. 

I'm almost ready to start my next novel. I just have to get a few details final before I can start, since the part I haven't quite decided on yet is going to be in the first chapter. But I've got the writing bug again, so it shouldn't be long. I have another novel written and have done a few edits to it, but I need to either find a publisher for it or go self-published. I'm not sure which will be better for me and the book.

Writing Strike

I've found myself in a bit of a writing strike as of late. I haven't been on here giving folks an update, or deep in my next novel. Of course I have a plan for what I want to write next, but the project scares me a little. There is a darker story line than I have used this far, and I wonder how writing that way will affect my own spirits. I might be thinking too deep about it too. Knowing November is National Novel Writing Month might get me going on putting words down.

But here I am again, after a time away, writing while the boys do their homework. I don't remember having this kind of homework when I was their ages, but a lot has changed since then too. 

At my last vendor event, I went back to proofreading my next novel. I am thinking about making it just digital so I don't have inventory to keep, but am not rushing to get it out either. I'm starting to see how fast time goes, and how busy I tend to stay even without getting out to sell books. Sadly, that also keeps my sale numbers low, but I'm not counting on that income at this point.

I had a good laugh last week when I received a letter from my great aunt with a newspaper clipping inside. It was about some of the mistakes found in books (she said it made her think of me. If I find a good news story, I'm sending something back to her). Sadly, I know how some of those writers feel. No amount of proofreading will catch each and every mistake in a book, but we try. 

Wrapping up Summer

It's amazing how quickly the summer can pass. I scaled back on events this year to spend more time with my family, and don't regret it one bit. We took our first trip and spent the better part of a week in South Dakota. The picture above was at Bear Country. Sadly, this is the best family picture I got. It still looks kind of cool.

Monday the new school year starts up again. I will have a first and second grader! 

I've been asked to be a godmother again too. It's an exciting honor to get asked, and I had hoped I would. Now I have 2 godsons, I think my family knows me well enough to know I am better off with boys than girls :)

The writing has been slow. I finished up my first draft of my third book, not any connection to the two I have published. I haven't decided what I want to do with it once I get it polished up. I know more now about publishing than I did when I finished writing my first one, and might try another option.

The garden is still producing. I picked beans tonight and we had them with fresh potatoes. I've pulled a few carrots, and they are still growing but are bigger than I have ever mangaged to grow. The tomatoes aren't great this year, they seem to crack or split before I get to them. The chickens don't seem to mind. We've been collecting at least one egg every day too.

Fall approaching is also a good thing. Deer hunting starts in 20 days, I need to get my sights set before then. At garage sales this summer I purchased a pile of books I plan on reading when I bike in the basement (it makes the time pass faster). And of course, the food gets better as the temps get lower.

Long Time, no see

I knew I had been putting this off, but until now I didn't realize how long it's been since my last post. I'd like to think I've been doing something productive, but not so sure. I guess it depends on how you look at it.

My last post back on June 1st, I talked about the goals I set for myself at the start of the year. I have been working on them, and have some progress to report. I did get my permit to carry, and learned a lot from the class. We had to shoot to get our certificate, and I somehow managed to get one dead center, no pun intended.

The carrots are growing, and probably won't need too much thinning. The garden might be a focus for tomorrow, depending on how hot it ends up getting. We might need to set up the pool to cool off too.

I have just under 350 miles on my bike, and only 20 days left to reach my goal. I took the afternoon off yesterday and put on 22 miles. When the alarm went off this morning to take my ride, I turned it off and fell back asleep. 

I dug out the goal jeans tonight looking for another pair, and got them on, buttoned, and zipped, but couldn't move. That doesn't meet the goal but is still a good sign. 

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or not, but I've taken it pretty easy this summer on events. I was gone too much last year from the family, and that needed to change. We've been finding plenty to do, there hasn't been a quiet weekend yet. Tomorrow's event I was signed up for ended up not working out for me- the hubby signed up for something, and we couldn't leave the boys alone. Cost wise, it made more sense for me to stay home than him. But this is the only weekend in who knows how long I will be able to get to the swapper's meet, and I need more tomato cages.

It's going to be a hot weekend, and I will either be sewing, typing or laying out in the sun. I can't wait!

The (almost) Middle of the Year

I revisited some of my goals for the year the other day and came to the realization that I haven't done much yet, and the year is approaching half over. Sounds crazy to think of it like that on the first day of June. Anyway, I got to work. 

The carrots are planted, and with a little luck, I will be able to harvest them. My second book was published in May. Brian and I are signed up for a conceal and carry class, and I've done a little target practice trying to decide what the best gun will be for me. In the process, I ended up with a battle-wound. No, nothing major, but an empty shell hit my forehead and cut it. I am not getting that kind of gun, in case you were wondering. 

The biking has been slow with the odd weather we've had. I was out tonight before supper and ran over a nail. It cut the bike ride short, but I did walk the rest of the way after I stashed the bike. I purchased an indoor bike trainer in the fall, and love it. If you don't know what that is, it's basically something that holds the back tire of your bike up and you can adjust the resistance. I've used my bike more in my basement with that than I have outside. If I hadn't thought it was such a nice day today, I wouldn't have had a flat tire. Oh well.

It's been busy around home, part of my lack of posting. As I type, the chickens are getting butchered. The vegetable garden is in the ground. I may have gone overboard on the tomatoes planting 32 plants for us. I hope the pepper plants survive their abuse from the kittens.

School is out for the summer, and the boys are excited for our family trip this summer. I am too. I made the choice to scale back on summer events after last year and plan on making it a point to do more with the family. I sold more in the fall anyway, but there are still a few summer venues I plan on going to. 

My third book is almost complete. It may be a while before I get it published, but I'm a few nights away from writing the ending. It's not connected to the two I have published, except for having some firefighters in the story. Honestly, I'm more excited about this one than the first two. I really like the storyline and the twists :)

Touchdown in Kimball

It's been an interesting week, to say the least. My launch was Friday night, I spent the weekend with some friends having a craft weekend, my wedding anniversary, and there was a tornado touch-down very close to my house. The damage started less than half a mile from my house, with the most destruction happening on our high school football field. Normally, I can see the uprights on the South end of the field from my dining room window. Now they are just gone.

It was confirmed as a tornado, with about a mile long path. Our house and property was fine, and oddly enough, there was minimal damage through out town. The bus garage was probably the second worst damaged, and even that wasn't major.

I got my vegetable garden cleaned up tonight and hope to get it planted this weekend. With the strange weather I haven't wanted to transplant the plants I have started just yet, but I've been told after Memorial Day they should be safe. It will be nice to harvest food we grew ourselves and know exactly where it came from and if there was any products used on them.