Since switching to a vegan diet I’ve become a frequent diner at Sweet Pea Cafe in Tallahassee. I have favorite dishes—the Caesar Wrap is one, and Rancheros is another, but I give a thumbs up to everything on their menu. It’s all vegan, all the time.
The specials board never fails to make me smile even if I’m not enticed to try what’s listed. I’m a messy person and sometimes the special isn’t suited to dining in one’s car.
Today’s specials were particularly inventive.
The BBQ Streisand was tempting, but I could well imagine the resulting bbq splotches on my tee shirt.
If you live anywhere near Tallahassee pay this little unassuming cafe on Tharpe Street a visit. Tell them Leslie sent you.
On Monday afternoon I typed the words “The End” on the first draft of Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort. The denouement came with little fanfare. I was sitting on the sofa drinking a glass of water when I realized the book’s ending had been written for several days—it was just buried in the middle of a bunch of other stuff. I grabbed my laptop, searched for a specific phrase, and voila!
Not for the first time did I thank the powers that be for word processing programs. A bit of copy, a smidge of pasting, and a big fat dollop of deletion, and I had something that closely resembled a book. Well, the roughest, rawest version of a book. If I were laying it out in cooking terms I’d say that the ingredients are all there and they’ve been mixed into a batter, but before it’s ready for consumption it’ll need to be baked and frosted. Sprinkles are optional.
I gathered all my gumption and sent the batter, er manuscript off to trusted beta readers. That’s such a scary feeling. One would think it would be easier now that I’ve published two books, but it’s not. I’ll be a mess until I hear something from my readers.
Now what? Well, while I’m waiting to revise Wedding, I have a sequel to The Cowboy and the Executive running around in my head, and I’m almost certain there will be at least one more story in the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort chronicles. It’s a scary thing, this creation of characters. They take on lives of their own and they depend on me to tell their tales. I wonder if I’d have even begun writing if I’d known how that worked. Deep thoughts for a Monday evening. I believe I’ll have some wine.
I wrote 1,000 words today. Correction—I wrote 1,000 really crummy words today. Oh, maybe there were a couple of good sentences thrown in for good measure, but everything else was crap.
Endings are tough. When I set out to write Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort I had an ending in mind. But that was before my characters developed other ideas and now my preconceived notions no longer apply.
As usual, Studly Doright is no help. Along with his stock answer—have a tornado blow everything away and type THE END, he now suggests the (to him) clever use of ellipsis. “Just write a sentence and end it with …“ he says.
Oh yes. Great idea.
I’ve tried distancing myself from the story. I’ve tried drinking too much wine. I’ve explored the idea of throwing the whole thing in the garbage. But those two okay sentences give me hope. Yes, endings are hard, but not impossible. I shall prevail.
On our way back to Tallahassee from Dallas, where we’d attended graduation exercises for our granddaughter, we got an unexpected and unwanted souvenir—a crack in the windshield. It wasn’t a large crack, but threatened to grow if we didn’t have it fixed quickly.
So today I’m sitting in a Safelite AutoGlass repair shop waiting for my windshield to be made whole again, when in fact I should be finishing the first draft of Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort. My brain is stymied, though, and I don’t know how to bring the tale to a satisfying end.
Perhaps my main character could have a minor crack in her windshield, and after it’s fixed she and her friends could live happily ever after. Almost like real life.
Studly Doright and I recently drove to Dallas from our home in Florida, most of the time taking advantage of the interstate highway system. I took a few photos along the way—none of them very memorable.
But in Texas a billboard ad campaign caught my eye.
Snakes! Why did it have to be snakes?
Maybe I’m being a wimp, but I don’t exactly relish the image of a rattlesnake seatbelt. I call this an ad fail.
Now, a similar seatbelt billboard didn’t bother me. In fact, it’s pretty clever.
It’s a western belt. In Texas. I like it.
Am I wrong? Would the snake ad make you want to buckle up?
On May 31, 2021, our beautiful Gracie celebrated her second birthday. Now, I hate to admit it, but I was totally unaware that it was the big day until my cat sitter texted me. I’m such an awful mom.
I must’ve included that critical information when we first contracted with the sitter; otherwise, it would’ve escaped me. I’m terrible with all that calendar stuff. (See awful mom note above).
I sang “Happy Birthday” to her, but she was totally unimpressed. Everyone’s a critic these days.
Yes, I’m two. Why do you ask?Mom, can I have a slumber party? Huh?
Last Friday morning my daughter-in-law treated me to a day at the Adolphus Hotel in downtown Dallas. We lounged by the pool on the seventh floor where servers attended to our needs.
My happy toes.Our needs…The AT&T building
I was almost positive I’d spotted former Dallas Cowboy quarterback, Tony Romo, in one of the cabanas. I was wrong—the guy was just barely taller than me. Sure am glad I didn’t ask for an autograph. 😉
I have two books on the market—now, that’s a phrase I thought I’d never type. I must admit, it feels pretty good. And with summer upon us, everyone needs at least one of them to read. Both would be better, right?
One is a romance set primarily in the Texas panhandle where I was born and raised. As I was writing The Cowboy and the Executive I fell in love with my male protagonist. Barton Young is good looking, he can sing, and he likes to dance. What more could a girl want? But does D’Aun Gilman dare fall for him when doing so might cost her the job she loves? This tale is definitely on the spicy side.
Available on Amazon and Kindle
My first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, follows the adventures of newly widowed, Paula Jean Arnett, and her best friend, Cassie Campbell, as they attempt to get to the bottom of why Paula’s husband bought a rundown fishing resort in East Texas from a mysterious woman who might have been more than a business partner. Part cozy mystery, part road trip, Mayhem is a lot of fun, and definitely sweet.
Coincidentally also available on Amazon and Kindle.
So, take your pick. Or make me really happy and pick both. Now excuse me, I’m going to go drool over Barton—just don’t tell my husband, Studly Doright.
The threat of rain lingered as we made our way to our granddaughter’s high school graduation on Friday evening. But as the senior class of Wylie East high school took their seats on the football field, the darker clouds were replaced by some rather mysterious ones that appeared to be sending a cryptic message.
Can you see the lower case cursive l?
I added a filter to make it more visible. Am I going crazy or does it look as if there’s a message there? Too bad I don’t read cloud language.
Praying for Eyebrowz 