Time Marches On...

 Hi Everyone!

As March winds down (it's already March 30th??!!), and we've started Holy Week, I realize I haven't posted a monthly post for March, so here we go:

Real Life: After about 3 weeks of dealing with the flu (first eldest got it, then youngest, then me. Husband escaped it--I have a couple of theories why, but nothing that I know for a fact is the reason). Youngest seems to keep eating something that makes him have issues--luckily, I pretty much can nail down what those things are, so we can avoid them in the future. Eldest and I are okay. I've got my last dose of Tamiflu to have with dinner tonight.

Writing Life:  Still got some stuff out for Sugar & Frost. I've gotten back to working on edits on Shifter Secrets, and progress has been made on it--I'm hoping to finish implementing the edits I'm putting in based off of my critique partner's notes (I've already put in what I want to do in the files that I had sent my CP, I just have to put them in my master copy).

As for Holy Week itself, I haven't fully figured out what I'm going to do--other than on Friday I plan to put aside all writer related things and social media in honor of it being Good Friday.

April marks a much of birthdays in my family, so there is that coming up.

I hope you've had a great March and that you have a peaceful/prayerful Holy Week and a lovely, blessed Easter! God bless.

Have A marvelously merry Monday!

January Bringing 2026...

 Happy Wednesday Everyone!

It's January...it's 2026...can you believe it? Sometimes I have to sit and think about this. When I was younger (teens and younger, that is), the concept of 2026 would've been so foreign, I probably would've given you an odd look. It always seemed so far away, but here we are!

My Christmas and New Year's were nice. Christmas was quiet at home--which was fine--and the following week, we were over at one of my sister's house to meet up with my younger brother and his family from out of town, and my parents live nearby. My sister lives approximately 40-45 minutes driving from me, and since the drive is too much for me to handle (I'm hate driving in general, and that sort of distance with all the other drivers who act like they own the road and are out to test their limits of survival, it's rather stressful for me to drive, so husband does the longer distances when he's off from work, while I do the shorter, daily stuff when he's not off). We had a nice visit with my family, and the new year has looked a lot like the previous one so far--but every year has its own things, so we'll see what happens.

Sugar & Frost is still in the querying stage. Some things happened last year, so waiting to see what may or may not happen with all that this year.

I've been editing Shifter Secrets. Both my long-time critique partner and long-time beta reader say it's some of my best writing. I'm not done editing it, though.

I'm still happily the Official Ambassador for #UnhingedPit on X(Twitter) and BlueSky and I'm looking forward to seeing what "The bosses" (as I call them) have planned. I know a little, but not all the plans...stuff gets revealed when it's time to reveal it

Real Life Hero (my husband) had a birthday this month, so Happy Birthday, RLH! He's still my hero (which is a good thing, since we're married and have no plans not to be married to each other).

Hope you all are having a fun 2026 so far and wish you the best! May God bless you in this year and always.

Have A Wonderfully Whimsical Day!

Something Fun: A Playlist!

 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) siblings (Yes, I'm one of 8 kids). So, here you go:

SUGAR & FROST

Playlist (Mostly 80s, even though it’s a contemporary—current time period—setting)

Take On Me – Ah-Ha

Opposites Attract – Paula Abdul

Invisible Touch – Phil Collins

Tell Her About It – Billy Joel

Lost In Your Eyes – Debbie Gibson

The Search Is Over – Survivor

The Longest Time – Billy Joel

Like The Weather – 10,000 Maniacs

Lonely Is The Night – Air Supply

I Think We’re Alone Now – Tiffany

In The Air Tonight – Phil Collins

Dis-moi Si Je T'aime – Celine Dion

Only You – Yaz

The Promise – When In Rome

Baby, I Love You – The Ramones version

Stuck With You – Huey Lewis & The News

You’re The Inspiration – Chicago 

NOT actually from the 1980s, but referenced in the story itself:

The Christmas Waltz Frank Sinatra’s version

Have a wonderful weekend!

It's All About August..

 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 WIPs (Works In Progress) and I emphasized that it was in the editing process. But it is written. There are some personal aspects to it and that surprised me. I was ignoring the whisper that said "Hey, this aspect is like you..." until I finally said "Yeah, that is like me." so that was an interesting experience.

Writing: I'm currently working on a manuscript that is a little different--a bit on the "quieter" side (no major magical battles) but no less magical elements and no less emotional or romantic. The fun part is, my characters are rather oblivious that they're falling for each other--so that's been fun to write.

School has started back up for many people, and I hope it's a good year for teachers, staff, and students. I still can't believe we're already starting up a new school year. Seems like summer just began!

Anyway, I hope you all have had a great August and that September goes well for you. God bless!

Have A Fantastically Fabulous Friday!

February Post, Short But Sweet...

Happy Thursday and February!

I decided to take a little longer to write my monthly blog post. It was just as well since things were crazy last month with illness sweeping through my house. (Every member of the Averie household has had some illness within the last 2 months--including Averie Cat). So, we're hoping to be healthier this month (although I'm having some allergy issues).

I continue working on things for Sugar & Frost and when I can, I'll let you all know what's going on (no, I don't have a contract with an agent and/or publisher, yet, but some things have happened, but I'm not ready to mention them publicly, yet).

We had the dubious honor of replacing our water heater recently, but the service person put it on such a high temperature that hot water was scalding! We had to adjust the hot water for various things and then when my husband came home he went up and adjusted it so hot water wouldn't be quite so blistering.

Once I'm in a place where I feel I can share about Sugar & Frost, I'll have more news. For now, I wish everyone a very Happy St. Valentine's Day and hope your February is fabulous!

Have a terrific Thursday!

The Last And Most Festive of the "Ber" Months...

Happy December!

We're nearly halfway through December and I just realized I hadn't put up a blog post for this month. OOPS! But, to be fair, I've had plenty going on.

Personally: We are still minus a Christmas tree. No, we haven't gotten it up, yet. But I'm hoping this weekend it will happen! We don't usually take this long, but we've had some things going on. One of those things was that we had to replace our washing machine. Our previous one decided that it had enough of our household and no, thank you it would not work properly any longer. Poor thing limped along until it wouldn't drain out the water in the clothes (I had to squeeze them the best I could and pop them in the dryer for longer). But that's at an end since we now have a brand new washer, which we've had for about a week and it's doing okay so far.

Not long ago, Averie Cat (that's his social media nickname) had some health issues that made me quite concerned about him. Fortunately, he seems to have gotten past them and the vet was wonderful. Averie Cat is 7 years old, and therefore, I expect to see more health stuff than I did when he was younger. The vet switched him to a prescription diet and he actually seems to like the food pretty well, which is a blessing.

Professionally:  I continue to query Sugar & Frost. I love, love, love this story and I do so hope it gets out to you, darling readers, one day. I really do. I had so much fun writing it and I also enjoyed editing it.

Christmas/Holiday: My shopping is not done. Nor have I sent out ANY Christmas cards, but I'm hoping to remedy that in the next few days to the next week. I had thought I'd write a Christmas letter this year, but I'm not sure that will happen.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays (I know there are several this month) and Happy New Year. 

I hope December is a lovely month for you.

Have a Fantastically Festive Friday!

November, The "Middle Child Syndrome" of The "Ber" Months...

 Happy November!

The months need to quit changing just when I get used to one! 

I meant to post this post earlier in the month, but I forgot! 😬

Let's see...

I continue to query Sugar & Frost. Responses often take a while. I love this story so much that I'm hopeful it will do better in the query trenches than my other manuscripts, but only time will tell. I did make an "Agent's Guide" (which has been something that I saw pop up on X/Twitter and decided it might be fun to have one for S&F). The words on it might be a little hard to see in this condensed version of it, but maybe if you click on the graphic it'll be easier to read.

I've got some other graphics I've made for Sugar & Frost, too. Some I've used, some I've done just for fun.

November is an interesting flurry of election, Thanksgiving, and Christmas things all happening at once. I'm not sure what our Thanksgiving plans are, yet. In terms of Christmas, my husband has the week of Christmas off, which I'm delighted about because he also has some days after Christmas Day off, which is good because sometimes we have out-of-town family come in after Christmas Day and this means we have some flexibility in our schedule.

It's kind of funny because in a lot of ways November is, in fact, in the middle of the "ber" months and in some ways gets a tiny bit overlooked with the packing up Halloween decorations and exchanging them for Wintry and/or Christmas ones. But, as I told my eldest, it's November, I can sing Christmas carols if I so choose. (At which point, eldest declared that I was wrong and my husband backed me up. I knew I loved Husband!)

Whatever your plans for the last couple of months of 2024 are, may you have a blessed rest of November.

Have a Marvelously Merry Monday!

The First of The "Ber" Months, October...

 Happy October Everyone!

I'm posting this later in the day than I normally would. But, sometimes it's fun to do something a tiny bit different. (In this case put up a blog post after 4pm my time, when it would normally be up early in the morning).

October always used to give me a sort of "giddy" feeling when I was growing up. I guess because my birthday is this month (Oct. 15th). But sometimes, on rare occasions, my part of Texas would start getting cooler. I always liked the little nip in the air that hinted at the holidays to come. The day I'm writing this post it was 88 degrees Fahrenheit earlier in the day, but now is up to 90. Hardly autumn-feeling weather.

I'm going along querying Sugar & Frost (the manuscript's "mood board" is the image in the center). I do hope an agent gives me an offer. I love this story so much! It's fun and whimsical and definitely romantic.

Sugar & Frost's Mood Board

Some people call "romance-forward" Fantasy stories "Romantasy" so, one could call it a YA Romantasy or a YA Fantasy Romance. Either is true because it is romance-forward (the romance plays an integral part of the story) but fantasy elements are important, too. I had a blast writing this story. I really enjoyed myself. Even editing was fun.

One of the inspirations was Frankenmuth, Michigan, which I've visited at least 2-4 times. It's a great little place. I fell in love with Bronner's (a Christmas store of epic proportions and one of my "happy places").

Bethany Averie at Bronner's

I hope your October is fun. :-)  Have a Festively Fun Friday!

P.S. On a more serious note, I've been praying for the victims of the recent Hurricane Helene. God bless all who have been negatively affected. If you can donate and/or help, please do.

The August Month Is Here...

 Happy August!

Wow, it's the beginning (or, rather continuation, if you go by what the stores have had in stock for awhile) of back-to-school activity...already. Didn't summer begin like yesterday? Somehow this year has seemed to zip past me at a rate I didn't expect. Then again, I've had plenty to fill my days.

Auto insurance issues continue for the Averie clan. I won't go into detail, but let's just say I'm not impressed. 😑 Oh, and car issues aren't fun, either, but whatever. Just gotta keep going and trust that the Lord will pull you through (the only way I know how to manage).

Hurricane Beryl barreled through my part of Texas and we were without power for about 3-4 days. Not long when you consider how some people were out for at least 2 weeks (maybe more?) But, luckily it wasn't worse. (Someone in my neighborhood had a tree fall on a car! We saw them working on it, they did manage to get the car out. I don't know if it was damaged...it looked like it was mostly okay, though). We had some damage, but not as much as others, which is nothing short of a miracle, for which I do thank God.

I continue to edit Sugar & Frost. I'm going relatively slowly, which is okay. These notes I got back have been helpful and I'm getting some other edits done in the process. I still have at least one more pass (although, likely more than one) left before I feel it is at all ready. But publishing isn't about being fast really, it's about trying to put out your best work. Nobody is perfect, but you try your best.

My husband had some time off, which helped give me more space to work than I would've had, so that's good.

I don't have any major plans for August. Just keep going with what's already going on in my life. Do you have any special plans for the month?

Hope everyone has a great August!

Have A Fabulously Fun Friday!