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 wh...

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. Fo...

  Happy Wednesday All, Surprise! I'm actually posting BEFORE the end of the month! Imagine that. 😊 I think my part of Texas is confused about what season it is. We were having some cooler temperatures and then all of a sudden it decided to go up again. Now, that's relatively normal in a sense for us, but what is curious is that the tree in my backyard decided it wasn't winter, but FALL! All these colored leaves are covering my backyard. I looked around and thought "Guess the plants and trees are confused as to what season it is. Can't blame them since the weather is, too!" December is quieter so far than September through November were and I am NOT complaining about that. In September, my father suffered a bad fall and consequently there was a whole lot of stress. October saw my folks move out of their home of over 30 years into Assisted Living. When November came along, me and my family had a stomach bug. The very beginnings of December was the tail-end of m...

 Hi Everyone! Wishing y'all a very happy Thanksgiving week! As I type this the day before I'm going to post it, my nails are currently finishing drying from me painting them red, green, and gold. Yes, I know, Advent hasn't even started, but I felt like doing it. The colors make me happy! I'm not entirely sure what my Thanksgiving plans are. My sister and I talked about getting together for a bit, so we'll probably do that. I'm actually allergic to turkey (it makes me throw up... *insert sad face here*) so I either do ham or something like that. My parents have moved. It's a good move for them. They lived in their previous home for 36-37 years. Me and my siblings have been encouraging them with the move--like I said, it's a good one for them. I don't want to go into detail, but it's been an emotional journey--one that I haven't talked about much publicly and don't intend to because it's something I view as very private. Just know that ...

  Happy Monday All, Also, Happy All Hallow's Eve aka Halloween! I meant to write an October post earlier this month, but there were things going on in my real life that made it so I just didn't get to it. I'm doing okay--just a lot going on in my real life. But doesn't everybody usually? October also means my birthday, which I celebrated by going over to my parents' house. Dad had a fall in September, so it was nice to see him making so much progress and doing so much better. I told them that since they had such an integral part of me coming into existence that it seemed appropriate that I'd come over for a visit. We had a lot of fun. It was simple, small, and just right for me. My parents gave me a beautiful card that touched my heart (I got teary!) and I got some other cards and gifts from my siblings. My husband got me Chinese food for dinner a couple of days before since I was going to be at my folks' house on my actual birthday. I can't complain. It...

  Happy Friday One & All, Today is the last day of September. In some ways this month has felt long to me, in others I'm trying to compute the idea that tomorrow is October 1st.  I do plan on keeping my blog to about 1 post a month, which at this point is what I can handle. My real life has had some big ups and downs lately, and it takes a lot of energy to go through it all. Rest assured, the writing world is still very important to me and I'm not inactive in it, I just can't post on my blog more than about once a month at the moment. So, where can you find me in between posts? Well, normally I'd say Facebook, but I've had a lot of trouble with it, lately. It seems my phone and computer don't like the updates so it's slower than a 2-legged turtle in molasses on my computer and refuses to operate at all on my phone (other than Messenger, which I reserve for those on my friends' list, sorry, I don't do much of communicating with folks I don't k...

Happy Thursday and September! Somehow it feels like the months are going by faster. I'm not sure why I feel that way--maybe I've just been super occupied while things were happening. In my personal life there has been plenty going on--from being a mom, to a wife, to my family-of-origin stuff, there has been several things happening. Some good things, some hard, some okay--basically life. As far as my writing life is concerned, I've formed a private writer's group with 2 other authors. They're super encouraging and it's fun to be a part of a writer's group again. I hadn't decided what I wanted to do as far as joining one, so this is perfect for me at this time. I've been doing some writing (I've got like what is it, 3 WIPs--Works In Progress--right now? I don't work on all of them at the same time--I just go with whatever one I'm in the mood for or have ideas I want to add. Normally I don't work this way, but right now it's working...

  Happy August Everyone! Wow...July went by faster than I expected. Between illness in the family (and again near the end of July and beginning of August), everything feels almost like a blur. I continue writing and querying between all the other real life stuff that has claimed my attention. Life doesn't slow down and neither do the demands of motherhood. I'm ready for all of this to settle down. I turn to my Catholic Christian faith a lot, which has been a source of comfort and help. I've got several WIPs (Works In Progress). I'm hoping to continue with Greek gods and goddesses--but one I'm working on is NOT part of my Immortal Dreams series. I also have some other things in play--fairies/Fae, maybe mermaids? With me, you just never know! The Author Encounter is taking this a bit slower this year--my business partner, Nan Jenkins, is working on her MBA, so we've pulled back on some of the events for this year, but looking to do some of our usual ones in the F...

  Happy Wednesday All, I can't believe it's already May! April got away from me and I didn't get to post any other blog posts besides the initial April one. Yikes, I'm sorry! Life continues to be crazy on my end. Our house is much closer to being ready (we have a great contractor!) and we have hopes of being back in our home not next week, but the week after. We'll see. Our contractor is industrious and efficient. He keeps us in the loop and gets things moving. We've been grateful to have someone reliable after the water remission people weren't the most communicative (which is a big reason why it's taking us so long to get back into our house). This weekend is my and my husband's anniversary (I don't give out details on how long we've been married--my husband likes a lot of privacy, so other than a few pictures on here and Facebook, you won't hear a whole lot about him). We've been together for over 10 years, though, and I feel a sen...

Happy Monday All, I've been wrapped up in my WIP (Work In Progress)--which you can find out more about on my official website . I've also been working on another project, which I'll talk more about when it's finished. In all of this, I keep up with the Wife and Mommy gig--two lifelong vocations that take most of my time. However, lucky for me, I have a husband who believes in making sure I get time to write and work on things in my writing career. This means, though, I don't get on the blog as much. It's not because I've forgotten about it, it's because my life is full of these other projects. However, this doesn't mean I've totally disappeared. I recently updated my website, and I'm on Facebook and on Twitter . What's going on with you? Have A Magically Merry Monday!

Happy Wednesday All, Whew. I'm tired, are you? For one thing, Texas is back to yucky weather. Luckily it's not supposed to be as bad as a week ago, but it certainly wasn't fun to be woken at 4:30 a.m. with a Tornado Warning. Now, I appreciate the National Weather Service (NWS) doing its best to keep people safe. In fact, I'm grateful, and I respect what they're doing. Honestly, I do. What I don't like is the fact that after being woken at 4:30 a.m. (when I finally was able to sleep after dealing with Youngest waking up every 1-2 hours because Youngest is going through a rough patch right now--something all people go through and it's not dangerous, just hard) is that I couldn't go back to sleep for the longest time! I finally conked out around 6ish, I think. Only to wake up again around 6:30 or so. Then I went back to sleep until Youngest decided that at 7:27 a.m. sleep was a rotten idea, and it was time to get up (this was after Youngest had been ...

Happy Tuesday Everybody, Did you all have a nice Easter? We did. Holy Saturday we got to see one of my sisters and her family. That was a lot of fun. We also went over to a friends' house to visit. On Easter we went to Mass, and my father-in-law came over in the afternoon. So not bad. I did find out a piece of sad news. Mother Angelica (the nun who started EWTN --Eternal Word Television Network--a Catholic TV station) passed on Easter Sunday. Mother Angelica was humble, straight forward, and humorous. She will be missed. Rest in peace, Mother Angelica! Now, for a piece of fun news... Author Katie McGarry has a brand-new release out today! I've received  Walk The Edge and I'm interested to see what Razor's story is like. This is the 2nd in her Thunder Road series, the first one was Nowhere But Here . It's been a lot of fun for me to watch Katie's career grow and flourish. I met Katie before Pushing The Limits was published. She had ente...

Happy Monday All, Happy Easter to all who celebrate Easter! Hope your Easter weekend was lovely, peaceful, and fun. The Averie Household keeps busy during Easter, Mass, family, etc. I've covered this topic before, but now I have another perspective on it...the question of "how do you do it?" People look at me with my Offspring--those demands, wife, home, writing, etc. The truth is--and everyone will be so disappointed--I don't. Some days I just do one thing. Some days, I run around feeling like if I could just clone myself everything would get done. Sometimes I'm lucky if I remember my name (it's "Mom" or "AAAHHH", right?) The fact is, this is my life. This is the life I've been given and chosen. I don't expect anyone to do it for me, and I don't expect people to know how I do it. I don't know how I do it. I just do whatever I do for each individual day. Some days it means Real Life Hero (my husband) takes the Offspr...

Happy Thursday One & All, I won't be posting on Friday because of it being Good Friday. I know I don't post most days, so that's a "whatever", but I am trying to do more with the blog. Honest! I'm working on trying to find more ways to write in spite of the fact that the Averie Household is as hectic as ever. We have conquered the Death Ray Sinus and Respiratory infections--hurrah! We've even managed to get Real Life Hero a brand new suit--(he looks so good in it!) and new dress shirts and ties. I got a new skirt and sparkly new shoes (I got them because I have this other skirt that they'd be perfect for and I have a couple of events coming up that I want to be extra dressed up for. I don't normally get this fancy, but these events are fancy things). My computer or the website is being weird about pictures, so unfortunately this week, I don't have pictures on here. I have been writing--a little at a time (like I said, a lot going on...

Happy Monday All, Death Ray Sinus Infection gave way to Death Ray respiratory infections in my Offspring unfortunately. Fevers, coughing, congestion, and antibiotics is our life at the moment. We'll be glad when the Death Ray Infections get out of our house. And illness please, please, please stay out! On the writing front, I'm working on two Botanical Gardens in Springdale, Arkansas completely new ideas and discerning what direction to take with an established story. For now, I'm not entirely sure what direction I'll take, but I expect I'll be clued into what to do some time. I've discovered that one-size fits all doesn't exist (at least, not every time something says "one size fits all" or "one size fits most"). My mom ordered me this gorgeous skirt. It said one-size fits all, but the reviews were pretty good, so I waited for it. It arrived over the weekend and it was as gorgeous as the picture. I put it on, and it was extreme...

Happy Friday All, Coming up with the nickname for my ailment and author Stacy Hoff's inspiring blog post , gave me the urge to write this post. So thanks, Stacy! The Death-Ray Sinus Infection hit my household. Well, me. It started last Friday with dry, sore throat. Okay, whatever, we ran the heater, I often feel that way with the heater on. Saturday I feel like crap--like pulled through the mud crap. Sunday I feel better. Monday I'm so-so. Tuesday fever hit me, and I went to the doctor. I got an antibiotic and started on it right away. Wednesday I felt slightly better. Thursday, fever went up again. Now it's Friday. I feel crappy. Yep, it's the Death-Ray Sinus Infection. My poor body feels like an 18-wheeler dragged it down through the mud, across a busy freeway, down the "Cliffs of Insanity" ( The Princess Bride reference) and through the swamp of eternal coughing and it's weak and tired. Husband, being the super-hero he is, is doing his best t...

Happy Tuesday Everybody, Whew! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update this blog. Things are chaotic in the Averie Household and some days I feel like I'm running a marathon. Recently I was talking with a friend of mine who mentioned she was starting a writers' group somewhere. I'm not able to be a part of the group, but she wants me to come out and do a talk. I'm very flattered and thrilled to be asked, so I inquired what she'd want me to talk about. She mentioned networking. We chatted a bit about that and my wheels have been turning ever since. (We're looking at me doing the talk sometime in the summer, we haven't set a date, yet). I'm looking forward to it. My illustrious critique partner, Tess St. John , has just released the 5th and final book in her Undercover Intrigue , romantic suspense series. The novel is entitled Eyes Of A Stranger and for a limited time it's on sale for 99 cents on Amazon Kindle . I haven't read...

Happy Tuesday All, Are you a good dancer? Or do you just freelance? When I was younger I took ballet, tap, and jazz for several years. I never danced en pointe in ballet, but I did enjoy it. Growing up, I felt sort of awkward, and sometimes a bit on the klutzy side. Ballet made me feel graceful and beautiful. I wasn't very good at tap or jazz, but some of it was fun. Fountain in Frankenmuth, Michigan Nowadays I'm not doing too many arabesques, shuffle-ball-changes, or shimmying my way across the floor. Usually I have one of my offspring with me and I dance around the room with them (while they giggle incessantly--generally with me, thank goodness!) Sometimes I turn on country music and try to 2-step around the living room. Other times, I turn on children's songs, or rock n roll, sometimes folk-rock. Music is always a good way to boost your mood, and dancing can be fun (and good exercise, too!) When you want to "cut a rug" what do you do? ...

Happy Friday All, I hope your week has been awesome. Yes, as I said, Jason and Laney (from my Immortal Dreams Trilogy) are still playing around in my head. "Awesome" is one of Jason's favorite words. If you asked him, he'd tell you HE'S awesome. And, in some ways, he was subconsciously modeled after my husband (I never intentionally model any of my characters after anyone I know). Here's proof (this is from a conversation we had a while back): Me:  I think I subconsciously modeled Jason after you. Husband (grinning): That's why he's such an awesome character. Me (in a dry tone): I shouldn't have told you that the first time I told you. Husband just continued to grin and laugh. Go figure, right? But I can't deny my husband has some pretty awesome qualities. He's a really good Dad, and pretty considerate of me. He'll take the Offspring somewhere just so I can write. He goes on walks and things so I can nap (whenever he...

Happy Monday All, It's a brand new year! In some ways, it seems like it's taken a long time to get to 2016, in others, it seems like it's moved fast. Whether fast or slow, it's here. A lot of people like to reflect on the year that's past. For me, it was a whirlwind of change. My family grew, bringing new challenges--both good things and rough. I'm pretty sleep deprived these days as a result (I know sleep is possible...just not yet). I'm starting out the year with having published 4 novels and working on another and a few new ideas. I haven't completely left the Immortals from Immortal Dreams Trilogy behind. They're still there (and Jason and Laney often make appearances on the Immortal Dreams Facebook page ). But I'm not actively working on anything, yet. However, ideas are there.    I'm pursuing new possibilities. It's both exciting and nerve-wrecking. I keep asking myself, "What's the next best move for me? Wha...