Happy Monday! Can you believe that next week is Christmas? I thought it would take longer to get here. I finished my Christmas shopping last week. Have you finished? The Averie Household has been slow about getting the tree up this year. The evening of December 13th, my Real Life Hero brought the box in. Slower than what we usually do, but things have been a bit crazy the last couple of weeks. Despite being slow about the tree, we've been anticipating Christmas. The Offspring are excited and we've been to one Christmas party and Real Life Hero has one coming up at his work. In the car we've been playing Christmas music, which has been fun. Working on some more projects under my Jeannie Averie pseudonym, but I'm thinking up things for the last two books in the Immortal Dreams series. Averie Cat had his yearly check up and he's in good health. Got his shot he needed and we're now all set. He didn't enjoy the whole thing, but at least he's health...

Happy Wednesday All, I'm trying to figure out a blogging schedule. It's not something I've had for a while, yet, but I'm thinking about it. Maybe once a week would work best for me. So, I'll try that and let you know if that changes. Under my other pen name I did a 5 Fun Facts about myself that you may and or may not know, I think I'll do something similar here with a YA twist. 5 Favorite YA Reads (aside from my work) I'll Always Recommend (In NO particular order): Ashes On The Waves by Mary Lindsey. I'm not an Edgar Allen Poe fan. I think he's depressing. But, Mary's novel is beautiful, poignant, and well written. It's just a gorgeous book (as far as I'm concerned, and like I said, I'm no EAP fan, even though I recognize he was a talented writer). So, definitely has to be on this list. Pushing The Limits by Katie McGarry. I've had the privilege of watching this author's banner fly and her popularity rise. The firs...

Happy Monday All, It's back-to-school for a lot of people (including my offspring) and I'm looking toward Fall. I love Fall and Winter (just not snow and ice) and fortunately I live in a place that can get cold but generally doesn't snow and hardly ever has ice. Warm sweaters, long pants, cozy blankets. Sign me up! I'm also looking toward the first weekend in October. Why? It's the Northwest Houston RWA's annual Lone Star Conference and it's my 5th year going! Contrary to previous years that I've gone, it's going to be the FIRST weekend in October, rather than the 2nd. Saturday, October 5, 2013 all day long. If you haven't signed up, go check it out and see if there's still room! You do NOT want to miss this opportunity. This year Donald Maass is our keynote speaker. There are so many great books coming out this week , I just know I'm going to miss one (or more) but I'll do my best... Elvis Is A Keeper by Shauna Allen (b...

Happy Monday/Tuesday All, Given that I'm writing this after 8pm on Monday night, I figure this post will serve as Monday & Tuesday's posts. I have received a Box Of Awesomeness. Actually 2. The first one is in the form of my younger brother's Christmas present to me, that somehow got detained on its travels from its starting location to my parents' house. You see, originally brother was going to be at parents' house to receive said package. However, given it was detained, he was back at his house (many miles away from parents' location) when it arrived. So my parents, being the Box Of Awesomeness they are, kept it for me. I was able to pick it up on Sunday. My younger brother hit it out of the park in his selection of Christmas present! I received the following THREE books: Opal by Jennifer L. Armentrout (book 4 in the Lux series--really good series) Much Ado About Magic by Shanna Swendson (book 5 in the Enchanted Inc. series--fantas...

Happy Wednesday All, (No matter what the date tab says, this post is meant for Wednesday). I can hardly believe it...not counting today, there are TWO days left until the Lone Star Conference. This is my third year going, and I'll be entering my fourth year as a member of the NWHRWA. This group is an incredible group of men and women. I'm very lucky and blessed to be a member and to be amid so many talented writers. I know travel can be a pain (especially if you live out of state, or even out of the country) but folks, these people are so hospitable and kind. If you're a writer, I cannot stress enough how important that is. It's also why I invite my fellow authors to this Conference every year. Now that I've gotten the sentimentality out and told you how truly awesome the NWHRWA & the Lone Star Conference is, let me move on to what's kept me from the blog... I have been reading like a mad fool, my dear readers. My cousin got me interested in an a...

Happy Thursday All, Well, I'm settling back into my usual daily routines since being away all weekend for my grandfather's memorial. Of course, no routine would be complete without some sort of twist, right? Mine happens to be allergies! At least they seem to be getting better, for which I do thank God. My current WIP, (no, I can't talk about it, sorry. It's easier for me to write when not too many people know very much about what I'm writing. I don't know why), is coming along. A little slowly, but I'm starting to get a tiny piece of the passion I've been missing back. I really like this story, and the way it's being told. I have a few details to tweak and stuff, but I'll do that when I start editing. Right now, I'm focused on getting the story out of my head and onto written format. Anyway...today I wanted to talk about obsessions...particularly book obsessions, which, for me, there are many, but I'm going to talk about my newe...

Happy Tuesday All, I took a weekend trip up North for my Grandfather's memorial. It was a lovely ceremony, stories shared, tears shed, but also some laughter at the funny things my grandfather said or did. He was a World War II veteran, so we were blessed to have an Honor Guard there that gave a gun salute and presented a flag to my step-grandma. One of my brothers plays the Scottish Bagpipes, so he played TAPS on the bagpipes while in a kilt, with a sporran, and the shoes (called gillybroughs--I'm not sure of the spelling, but that's what it sounds like). All my siblings were there, so that was wonderful, because we haven't all been in one place in several years (there's a lot of us) and I got to catch up with them and relatives I haven't seen in a number of years. Sunday I returned, and did some unpacking and settling in. Monday I had a headache and my stomach decided to not be completely happy, so I spent the day in bed reading a book--which I also fi...