Hi Everyone! Amid all the preparation for Christmas and other holidays, sometimes we need a minute to just relax. Don't worry, I've got a regular post scheduled to go up on this blog on Monday (Dec. 22, 2025), but I thought for the weekend, how about something a little different? So, to that end, I thought I'd share the playlist for Sugar & Frost. Sugar & Frost is a YA Fantasy I'm currently querying. It features the cold and aloof Chase Frost, and the sweet and new-to-town Kalea "Kallie" Sugar (whose family used to be residents of North Pole Village, but Kallie was born in Hawaii, so this is a switch for her!) It's a book near and dear to my heart. Funny thing is, while the story itself has a contemporary time period setting, I got the idea that most of the songs on the playlist would be ones from the 1980s. Why? I suppose in part because I thought it would be funny and fun; but maybe also because the story is dedicated to my seven (yes, 7) sibli...

  Hi Everyone! Hope you all have had a wonderful October! Halloween (All Hallow's Eve) is almost here, and I've seen plenty of autumn and Halloween decorations. (I'm not a fan of spooky stuff, but there are some traditions that I think can be fun for families). Querying update:   I continue to query Sugar & Frost . Right now, nothing new to report on. Editing update:   I'm still editing Shifter Secrets , but I've been making some progress. It's a wolf-shifter YA Fantasy. The romance is more on the sweet side. I do trend more sweet than spicy with pretty much all my work especially the manuscripts I'm working on, now. Real Life: Real Life continues to have its own ups and downs and moments of busyness, which I'm sure the same for most people. My birthday came and it was nice. I got some lovely greetings and gifts. My siblings went in on a very nice gift card to Two Dumb Dames (the best fudge ever in my opinion--the shop has been family owned and oper...

  Hi Everyone! October is moving along and we're halfway through the month already. I say it often, but I can't help it. It seems like time goes a lot faster the older I get than it did when I was younger. Reminds me of a Clint Black song, "Slow As Christmas", but I think it illustrates other passages of time, too. Anyway, this post isn't going to be an update post, but rather something I was thinking about recently. I might do an update post before the end of the month--I don't know, yet. But I do try to post a blog post at least once a month, so here we go. I'm feeling a little philosophical (I guess that's the effect of having watched a video that was giving more explanation and nuance to a scene in a musical that I hadn't noticed/realized--not too surprising since I can be oblivious--before; and yes, I like em dashes!) So, I want to propose ideas that may or may not resonate with people, but stuff I've thought about: Some people have critic...

  Happy Tuesday Everyone! Wow, September is OVER tomorrow; today being September 30, 2025--the last day of the month. Writer's Life News:  Still querying Sugar & Frost. Hopeful about a couple of things. We'll see. Editing Shifter Secrets , my YA Fantasy with wolf-shifters in it.  It's going slowly, but I've made some progress. Life outside of the writing world: Busy on some days, not as much, others. So pretty typical. My youngest was sick over one of the weekends, but luckily the worst of it only lasted 24 hrs, and the next couple of days were recovery, so by Monday (after getting sick on a Friday) youngest seemed much better, which we were all very happy about. I'm going to make this super short because I want to get this in before tomorrow (October 1). So I'll see you in October! Have A Terrific Tuesday Night!

  Hi Everyone! End of August is coming up, and thus, it's time for a monthly update from yours truly. Currently, I'm waiting on some responses on queries for Sugar & Frost . There's been a bit more interest since #UnhingedPit and #questpit, so that's great. I love this story so much, that I'm happy with other people get interested. As far as I'm concerned, it's a fun read. I call it the "book of my heart" because it's just exactly something I'd pick up as a reader and cuddle up with a comfy blanket in a chair, couch, or in bed, with something hot to drink and just enjoy. I also dedicated it to my siblings, so there is a personal aspect to it, too. Other manuscripts:  Moonrise Pack: Shifter Secrets (YA Fantasy, wolf shifters, sweet romance) is in edits--I finally sat down and started working on it. I'm not very far along in the editing, yet, but hopeful about polishing it. I had made a poster for it for #PosterPit since they allow W...

  Happy Tuesday All, Once again, I'm posting the monthly post near the end of the month. But oh well. I was pretty busy during part of the beginning of the month, so I thought I'd wait until after so that I could mention some of it here. I got to hang out with 2 out of 3 of my Girls' Night Out Ladies. These ladies are my besties and I've known them a long time. We had a nice dinner out and then hung out at a coffee/sweet shop until they closed. The last time we'd all been together was in 2019. I'd seen them on and off, but not all of us together. So, that was a wonderful thing to have happen this month. #UnhingedPit -- a pitching event held on X and BlueSky happened. Authors pitch their manuscripts but in unconventional ways. The two ladies who run the event decided to make me their ambassador (it's sort of a funny story--they liked my enthusiasm when it was first developed in 2024, and after a while we got to talking and that was that). It was so much fu...