December, Celebrations, & Where Has The Year Gone?...

 Happy December,

Well, it's already almost the last day of December...and the whole month totally snuck up on me and slipped by me without me realizing what was going on until Christmas Weekend! I kept thinking "Oh, I've got time to do..." and whatever. HA! Next time, I'm going to REALLY look at my calendar and go "Wait, NO, I DON'T have all this time!"

Exhibit A: I need to finish putting together (and mail) Christmas cards. Yep. I'm late, I know, but hopefully I'll get them out during the 12 days of Christmas (before the celebration of Jesus' Baptism, which is celebrated the Sunday after Epiphany. Catholics don't do celebrations halfway! Case in point: Easter has many, many days in the Easter Season).

Exhibit B: I was wrapping presents on Christmas Eve. I'm usually done days before then.

So all of you out there who were behind this year...I get it! Things happen. Life can be nuts.

This whole year felt fast, though. I know I kept saying it pretty much every single month. I've sat there going "Wait, it can't already be___" and lo, and behold, it would be.

Writing updates? Well, still working on some revisions on a manuscript--hope to be done very soon. It would be nice if I could be done before the end of January...here's hoping! I have several other manuscripts in various stages of not done writing the actual story. There is one that my long-time critique partner loves that I still need to finish writing (ironically, it's Winter/Christmassy-themed!)

My family is doing all right. There's always bumps in the road, but there are also some wonderful moments--I'm working on focusing on the positive. It's easy to get bogged down in the negative and I'm incredibly sympathetic to those who do. But I'm one of those people who just can't stand to stay there. I've got a great support system and I keep learning new things and working on it. My faith has played a HUGE role in all of that.

Christmas Day was very quiet (which is okay) but nice. Christmas Eve we went to Mass (it's fun to see everyone all dressed up and smiles). The Church looked beautiful--Nativity scene, flowers, incense--the works! We sang one of my favorite Christmas hymns--"Joy To The World". I'm hoping during the Christmas Season we'll also do "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (I really like this one, I can't explain why, I just do). I'm also very fond of "The Holly And The Ivy" (my dad likes to whistle that one, and I have fond memories of one of my sisters singing it around the house when I was growing up) and "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day" (the song is lovely, the poem has some sad verses, but ends in hopefulness).We have some other things planned, which I think will be fun.

I'm hopeful about some things for 2024. I won't know if they'll actually happen until they do (or don't happen--whatever happens). So, I have to keep working, praying, and hoping.

I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, a Blessed New Year in 2024, and hope.

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday!

November Came And Is Going...

 Happy November Everyone!

I still feel like the year has been going by quickly. I blinked and it's the end of November. Maybe I need to stop blinking?

This month has been busy! Between family and personal stuff and working on some manuscripts, I'm not sure where to begin. Averie Cat got his yearly shot, nails clipped, and flea treatment all at his exam (but he's forgiven me for the indignity of going to the vet and being in his carrier). 

I don't have much that I feel like sharing from this month, not that it was so bad, but I'm pretty private about my personal life.

For those who are finishing up NaNoWriMo* 2023, I hope you've had great success with it! I don't do NaNo but I do like to cheer on those who do, which I've done this year on X(Twitter). I keep thinking I'll write a really good blog post. Maybe in December...hopefully I'll have a lot of great things to report on for that month! That would be awesome. :-)

I hope all my fellow USA citizens had a Happy Thanksgiving! (Fun was had at my sister and brother-in-law's house with my parents).

Have a great rest of November and a Marvelously Merry Monday!

*NaNoWriMo is short for: National Novel Writing Month, which refers to writers trying to get 50,000 words in during the month of November. Those who officially participate sometimes get a certificate or something like that for reaching 50k words. Others use it to accomplish personal writing goals (or polishing up a novel). Authors are encouraged NOT to query their NaNoWriMo books until they've fully edited and polished up the manuscript, which is true of any manuscript. There's also Camp Nano (which takes place in the Spring and Summer, which a little different from NaNoWriMo).

October Is Almost Over...

 Happy End-Of-October!

I'm a bit late posting for the month, but at least I'm getting it in before it ends!

We've had some days of mild temperatures with beautiful sunshine, and a bit of a breeze. A lovely change from 90-100 degree Fahrenheit that we had in August and September. We did get some rain, which is good.

I've done a bit of writing this month--not a ton, but at least it's making progress and I think the manuscript I've been mostly working on will be fun story when it's written. (There are already fun aspects to it, as far as I'm concerned!)

September feels a bit of a blur of sorting through emotions on some things I've had to deal with and family responsibilities. But October has been better. Sometimes things happen and you just have to keep holding onto hope (my faith as a Catholic Christian helps me tremendously with that).

I celebrated my birthday, my dad's, and sent birthday wishes to other family members whose birthdays fall in October. My husband and I went out to dinner the weekend of my birthday--something we hadn't done in awhile and I really enjoyed it. I think we need to have dinner or date out more often!

It's hard for me to believe that November is almost here, but there we are! My thoughts are starting to turn towards family moments, smiles, laughter, and the warmth of the Holidays. I always look forward to seeing the Church all decorated for Christmas. The flowers are always so beautiful and love Christmas hymns (I love Christmas music in general, too) I don't love snow--you northerner regions can keep it as far as I'm concerned--but I do like 50-60 degree weather, and hot cocoa or hot cinnamon apple flavored tea. I'm also a big fan of baked goods (especially my dad's).

I'm not sure what the rest of 2023 will bring, but I wish you a wonderful end of October, a safe and Happy Halloween (which I also call All Hallow's Eve) and a Merry Monday!

September Is Here Already...

 Happy Friday Everyone!

It's September...! Is it just me, or does this year feel like it's going by fast?

Schools are back in session. Texas hasn't gotten the menu that it's getting into the Fall months. But that's nothing new when it comes to September in my part of Texas.

I've got four family members with birthdays--a joyful thing for sure. Buddy Holly was born on September 7th (and I enjoy several of his songs). My deceased friend, Sarah's, birthday is on September 16th.

After working so intensely on revisions on one of my manuscripts, I've been reacquainting myself with the WIPs (Works In Progress) that I haven't as yet finished writing. It's been interesting...I like them a lot more now than I did even when I started writing them! My long-time critique partner is working on some stories she hopes to release--I got a chance to read one of them. I hope readers will enjoy it. She's a very talented writer.

Not much else to report on so far, since it's just the beginning of the month, but stay tuned! If something comes up that I want to announce, I'll announce it!

Meanwhile, Happy September 2023!

Have A Fantastically Frabjous (look up Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky poem for that word) Friday!

August Is Here...

 Happy August Everyone!

My August started off with a road trip to Lubbock, Texas. My Real Life Hero (aka my husband) did the driving. My offspring hung out in the backseat, while I had the front passenger chair.

I've got some family in Lubbock, plus I've wanted to go where the innovative singer/songwriter/musician, Buddy Holly was from.

My fandom of Buddy Holly-(Buddy Holly & The Crickets) (Buddy Holly was inducted into The Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1986) started when I was probably either in high school or my early twenties (I can't remember exactly). I went with my parents (and maybe my younger brother) to see The Buddy Holly Story, a musical about Holly's life. Later, I got a copy of the musical, and Paul McCartney's The Real Buddy Holly Story.

A family member of mine moved to Lubbock some years back. I vowed to one day get out there to see my family member's house, and get over to The Buddy Holly Center.

I would've gone last autumn, except a family thing came up and I wasn't able to go. So, I finally got to planning with my Lubbock family members, and got out there.

I found Lubbock charming. The heat didn't faze me much, since I get plenty of that where I live. Despite knowing it's essentially desert, I found the dryness a bit surprising (I'm used to humidity). Regardless, I enjoyed the city a lot. I thought the Tech campus was pretty (I liked all the trees, and the public art was cool).

 The Buddy Holly Center visit: I had mentally prepared myself for it to be small. I knew that as short of a career that Buddy had there wasn't going to be much, but I made up my mind to enjoy whatever was there. I actually was not disappointed in the least. If anything, I was overjoyed. It was so fun to see guitars he actually owned, letters, some of the clothes, drawings, and other items. I'd known they recovered his glasses from the crash sight, yet was still amazed to see them. Other than a small crack or two, they were still pretty much intact. There was an incredible timeline centering around Rock N' Roll, which I didn't get to read the whole of, plus a ton of other information. I made a promise to myself that one day I'd go either by myself or with someone else who would want to read everything and read all of it!

We went to a local ice cream parlor called Holly Hops and I fell in love with the 1950s vibe. There was even a working jukebox! I didn't put in any money in it or select any songs, but it was playing music.

Overall, I'm very happy with the trip and hope to go back someday.

As for writing news, I'm working on revisions. I'm not sure when I'll be done. Although, I'm definitely making progress! I've got a scene playing in my head for one of my WIPs. I'll let you know when/if I have more news.

I can't believe summer is almost over--it seems like it just began. This year is really flying by for me! I hope you all have had a wonderful summer. Best wishes to all the teachers, students, and staff going back to school.

I'll check in again in September (or earlier if I have news). 

Take care. :-)

Have A Fantastically Fabulous Friday!

July Snuck Up On Me...

 Happy Thursday Everyone!

June is already over? I was completely unprepared for that. In fact, I feel like this year is flying by. (I was late sending birthday card to a friend who had a birthday near the end of June...normally I'm better about these things, but it snuck up on me!)

Updates: June was full of working on revisions. At the moment, I don't want to go into detail...if something fun happens with this, I'll update y'all. For now, pray for me. :-) And if you don't pray, at least wish me well, please? Thanks.

Writing: I haven't been working on my other WIPs because I was doing revisions. I've got some notes back on some chapters for revisions from my long-time critique partner, so I'm going to be working on those on Friday. I do plan on working on one of my WIPs, though. My CP (Critique partner) likes this WIP in particular.

Reading: Yes, I've been doing some reading. I've really liked this one Beauty And The Beast retelling. It's called Beauty's Rose and it's by Shonna Slayton. It's set in 1986. There are a lot of 80s references that made me nostalgic. I totally had a Walkman. Okay, okay, it belonged to one of my sisters, but I used it, too and I eventually inherited it.

Summer:  Is hot. Very, very hot. We had 2 weeks of temperatures in the TRIPLE digits. I expect that to happen again before (and if) we get cooler weather in the Fall.

Fourth of July:  Mine was relatively quiet (minus fireworks going off near me, and then I think a neighbor of mine was shooting some off). I watched a bit of some fireworks online. I went to Church in the morning and then spent the day cleaning and hanging out with the Offspring. My husband had to work, so we didn't do very much. I got my end tables in the living room all dusted. My living room is finally livable. (Ha, ha).

As for the rest of July: regular schedule for me. Family, revisions,  writing, and reading. I've got a tiny bit of a travel planned for this month, too.

I hope your summer is going well--and that you're keeping cool. Take care and I'll catch up again with y'all in August!

Have A Thrillingly Terrific Thursday and A Joyful July! 

I Missed A May Post...And It's JUNE, Now...

 Happy Tuesday All,

Wow...I can't believe I actually forgot to post on here in May. In my defense, I thought I had, but when I came to post a June entry I realized I had missed May!

In May, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary. We've been married for well over 10 years! :-) We didn't do anything big...but we did get take out from Chili's, which was good. My husband is my Real Life Hero. The man has seen me at my best and my worst and STILL loves me, so I'd say he's a keeper. My wedding was lovely. I felt like a princess (which is cool, since my Dad sometimes calls me "princess"). We had a blast at our reception and a wonderful honeymoon on St. Croix (US Virgin Islands).

This June my parents will celebrate 57 years of marriage. I'm so happy for them!

In terms of writing...I've turned a bit of a corner so to speak. I had a brainstorming session with my long-time critique partner, author Tess St. John, which helped one of my manuscripts quite a bit. I've been able to add some pages and some ideas are coming down the pipe for the manuscript, so that's great. :-)

I read 3 books by Victoria McCombs (The Storyteller's Daughter, Woods Of Silver And Light, The Winter Charlatan--they're all part of the same series. I enjoyed them!) I've read some other books, too, that I've enjoyed, but given that I write primarily YA Fantasy and Paranormal, I thought I'd mention those 3 specifically.

I'm still hopeful on the query front, but right now I don't want to say much about it. It's a process!

I hope things are good on your end and that June is a good month for you. Take care!

Have A Tremendously Terrific Tuesday and a Joyful June!