Cross-eyed

I’ve looked at and reread the romance I’m writing a billion times. Well, not a billion, but enough times that I’m practically cross-eyed. I’d sent it off to my friend, Rachel Carrera so she could give it a once over and then design the cover and get it ready for publishing, but then I got cold feet, and asked her to delete the file. I wanted other eyes on it before we took that step.

Now, I’m conflicted. At the suggestion of several beta readers I’ve made some necessary changes (like taking out any mention of stairs in a ranch-style home) and making sure my characters’ names stay the same throughout the book (near the middle of the book one character took on the name of a character in my first novel). But some other suggested changes are tough to undertake, partly because I’m fond of the story as is, even though it’s not perfect.

Writing is fun. Editing is hard. I’m ready for a glass of wine.

Peace, people.

Lost in Tallahassee

It’s difficult these days to become lost. I have GPS in my car and on my phone, so there’s really no excuse for taking a wrong turn, or two, or twelve. But on Saturday afternoon I wandered around Tallahassee for over an hour in search of a specific address and only found it once I’d turned off my guidance apps.

Still, I can’t figure out what went wrong. The address was entered correctly, but first the car’s GPS directed me to a gas station and then to an office complex. I tried my phone’s app and it took me in a huge circle right back to the gas station. Weird. When I turned off the guidance I decided to try to find the intended location just by driving in what I believed to be the logical direction and lo, and behold, I found the venue rather quickly.

The sad part was, I arrived an hour after I’d planned and then had to immediately leave to be home for an outing with Studly Doright, and I was frazzled. I kept picturing my car’s make and model being flashed on one of the highway signs asking drivers to watch for missing senior citizens.

Tomorrow, I’m staying home.

Peace, people.

Last Year’s Greatest Hits Countdown: Number One

2020 was an awful year. In addition to dealing with the pandemic we also had to say goodbye to our sweet cat Scout who’d been our loving companion for 17 years. Losing her was such a blow, and we still miss her so much it hurts.

But we found our crazy Gracie cat, and she’s the topic of my most liked post of the year, It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.

https://nananoyz5forme.com/2020/10/11/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood/

Peace, people.

Last Year’s Greatest Hits Countdown: Number Two

My second most read blog post of 2020 is another oldie. I wrote My Heart Hurts in 2016, shortly after Donald Trump was elected president. It’s as true now as it was then, and after yesterday’s breaching of the U.S. Capitol building by thugs who’d been incited to violence by Trump, my heart feels broken.

I hope we’ve learned our lesson, but at the same time, I fear for our future. https://nananoyz5forme.com/2017/01/13/my-heart-hurts/

Peace, people.

Is This My Country?

Thugs, egged on by the sitting President of the United States, are storming the U.S. Capitol as I sit watching in utter disbelief. They have placed elected officials and others in grave danger in an attempt to overthrow the results of the election.

The House and Senate have been evacuated stopping the electoral vote count. I sincerely hope they face consequences for attempting to subvert the democratic process.

It’s a sad day for my country.

Peace, please, people.

Last Year’s Greatest Hits Countdown: Number Three

The post that came in at number three for 2020 is one of my personal favorites. I wrote it about Toby, a special dog who, in his lumbering way stole my heart. He also taught me patience and renewed my interest in physics. Rest In Peace, sweet Toby.

I give you Newton’s First Law of Motion as Applied to Walking the Dog.

Toby is the dog. The guy in blue is my son.

https://nananoyz5forme.wordpress.com/2018/10/09/newtons-first-law-of-motion-as-applied-to-walking-the-dog/?preview=true&preview_id=15688&preview_nonce=8c77d94703

Peace, people!

Last Year’s Greatest Hits Countdown: Number Four

The blog post that came in at number four this year was already an oldie when 2020 rolled around. Written in 2014, much of its lingering popularity must be due to the inclusion of the word ‘sexual’ in the title. A smarter me would find a way to work some form of the root word ‘sex’ into every single blog post.

Join me in looking back at a seemingly innocent song that’s just chock full of fun—Roller Skates and Sexual Innuendo.

https://nananoyz5forme.com/2014/10/21/roller-skates-and-sexual-innuendo/

Peace, people!

Last Year’s Greatest Hits Countdown: Number Five

Thanks to each of you, 2020 was the best year yet for Praying for Eyebrowz. I never dreamed when I started writing this blog that the best part would be the connections I’d make with so many wonderful people. Those connections might’ve helped save my sanity last year. I’m not kidding.

To start off the first week of the new year, I thought it might be fun to take a look back at the top five posts of 2020. Please join me as we travel back in time….

The fifth most popular post of 2020 was Love is a Battlefield, a little glimpse into the imperfect perfection of a lengthy relationship. https://nananoyz5forme.com/2020/02/22/love-is-a-battlefield/

Studly Doright and me. (I’m the one in the left…)

Join me tomorrow for the fourth most popular post. The anticipation is intense! Or maybe I’m just hungry.

Peace, people!

Walking a Fine Line

Back in 1964 when I was a young Brownie Scout peddling Girl Scout cookies, I came face-to-face with an ugly truth: I’m a lousy salesperson. My spiel when knocking on doors of prospective customers often included the question, “You wouldn’t be interested in buying cookies from me, would you?” Marketing was not my game.

Fast forward to 2020. I’m still not much good at selling my wares. Nowadays, though, it’s my little indie book I’m peddling instead of the highly desirable Girl Scout cookies. I don’t want to annoy you, my readers, but I also don’t want to miss an opportunity to say, “Hey, buy my book!”

I wonder if it would help to mention how much I think lovers of Thin Mints would enjoy reading Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort?

Hey, buy my book, and cookies, if you have the opportunity.

Peace, and good reading, people.

Upstairs, No Stairs

A couple of good friends are helping me proofread my romance, The Cowboy and the Executive, before I send it to Rachel Carrera for her special magic. Honestly, I thought I’d crossed most of my t’s and dotted all of my i’s, but I should have known better.

Most of the corrections involve missing quotation marks or spaces where no spaces should be, but one of my mistakes, called to my attention by my friend, Flo, made me laugh out loud.

Apparently, on a couple of occasions I’d written that my heroine’s bedroom was on the second floor. Unfortunately, in the previous chapter I’d already described the home she was staying in as a sprawling one-story ranch house.

I suppose if the home was, say inside Hogwarts or located on Diagon Alley, my mistake might be a charmingly magical occurrence, but since it’s just a Muggle dwelling on a ranch outside of Amarillo, Texas, I had to make a correction or two.

Thanks to Flo for keeping my protagonist’s feet on the ground. Still, I wonder if there’s a place for the Golden Snitch in this book?

Peace, people!