Tag: writing

Staycation 2022

A few days ago I typed “The End” on my fourth novel, Reunion at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, the third in the Happy Valley trilogy. If that sounds confusing, it’s because one of my books, The Cowboy and the Executive, is for now, a stand-alone romance.

“Reunion” is currently in the hands of beta readers and I know it’s being read with an eye for all of my missteps and goof ups. Unless one is perfect, and I have yet to meet anyone fitting that description, beta readers and a good editor are essential to creating a finished book with a polished feel.

I’m a better than average proofreader, but when it comes to one’s own writing one develops a certain selective blindness. I still cringe at some of the minor errors I now see in Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, and one day maybe we’ll pull the book from Amazon and fix them. Just not today.

While “Reunion” is being worked on, I’m cleaning out my closet. Ugh. A job I’d planned on taking one day is now into its fourth. Of course it might go more quickly if I weren’t also taking breaks to ruminate on book four in the Happy Valley series—working title, Christmas at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort. Yes, Paula, Cassie, and the gang are coming along for at least one additional adventure before I wrap the series up. Will Santa show up with just the right presents? Maybe.

Spring fever has attacked with a vengeance this year. I want to be outside, but outside makes my eyes water. The weather here in the Florida panhandle is absolutely gorgeous, but the pollen is everywhere. I could make a “pollen man” and stick a corn cob pipe in his mouth, but I’d probably collapse from sneezing mid-construction. At least I’m not cold, and that’s a plus.

Okay, that closet is still calling. I might see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then again, maybe that’s an oncoming train.

Peace, people!

http://Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort (The Happy Valley Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P76RBRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_H12TRC11J2TMQJHCTPQT

Blame it on Gracie

I’d get out of bed and work on editing book three in my Happy Valley series, but there’s a cat snuggled on my chest.

Who could even think of displacing this girl?

Peace, people!

A Little Bit of Mayhem

For Christmas my beautiful and thoughtful and exceedingly brilliant daughter presented me with the coolest gift.

It’s a teeny tiny replica of my first novel made into a key chain.
It’s exactly like the book’s cover, both front…
… and back.

Ashley purchased the miniature replica of Mayhem from a seller on Etsy, and I think it’s about the coolest thing ever. People are so darned clever and my daughter seems to know where to find the cleverest.

Peace, people!

Is it Shoe-in or Shoo-in?

Dear Readers,

I pride myself on having a decent grasp of the ins and outs of American English. Words are my friends. Family mythology has me reciting the Declaration of Independence before I could walk. (In actuality, it was the Pledge of Allegiance, still an accomplishment for a ten-month-old, but my maternal grandmother insisted it was the Declaration of Independence. She thought I was much more precocious than I was).

So why, at the advanced age of 65 did I not know that the phrase “shoe-in” is, instead, “shoo-in?”

The grammar program on my computer flagged the term “shoe-in” and I ignored the warning. But the red mark on the screen bugged me until I finally googled the phrase.

I’ll be darned.

Be honest, now—haven’t you always thought it was “shoe-in?” Surely I’m not the only one.

I figure these would be a shoe-in, right?

Peace, people!

Negative Reviews are Good for the Soul or Something

When my first novel, Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort received its first truly negative review on Amazon I must admit my feelings were hurt. Prior to that scathing piece of commentary most of the reviews had been stellar. I’d been in a bubble of positivity and it burst. Ouch.

After more than a year since its publication, the book has continued to receive mostly four and five star reviews. They make me smile, especially when they are from folks I don’t know personally. I’ve hopefully learned to read the constructive types of negative reviews as a way to make my writing better.

But the book received a doozy of a negative review a few days ago. Here, I’ll share it with you. That either makes me brave or stupid. Talk amongst yourselves.

Okay, lady (or gentleman) reviewer, tell us what you really think. 😳

If you’ve read Mayhem you might think, “Did this reviewer actually read the book?” I wondered that myself. I won’t refute everything she/he commented on, but nowhere in the book did I bash fishermen, and I never said lesbians get a bad deal in life (do they? My lesbian friends don’t seem to), and if the book in some way intimated that all men are bad, I certainly couldn’t see it. I kind of like men, a lot, and my characters do, too. Dr. Hunky, anyone?

I guess beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, the ugliness is in the imagination of the reviewer.

Now I think I’ll go read the negative reviews on Diana Gabaldon’s latest book. Yes, even her work gets blasted. I must be in good company.

Peace, people.

Ain’t it the truth?

A Thousand Words

My daily writing goal is a minimum of a thousand words. Some days those words come easily and I sprint on by, never noticing when the benchmark is surpassed. Other days, I slog through, checking periodically to see if I’ve met my self-imposed standard. It’s amazing how I can toil for hours and only produce 478 words. And then hours more to have merely added another twelve.

One of my writing heroes, Stephen King, writes 2,000 words or more a day. I’ve reasoned that he’s probably not also doing laundry, shopping for groceries, and maintaining a fairly clean house on a daily basis as I do. But who knows? Maybe Mr. King scrubs toilets between paragraphs. Now that’s something I’d like to see.

The thousand words a day have added up to more than 40,000 words in my current work in progress—Reunion at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, the third book in my Happy Valley series. That’s almost half a book. Its predecessors are doing well, thanks to my lovely readers (links below, of course).

Now, if only the number of words in a blog post counted toward my daily word count I’d be well on my way to 1,000 words. Alas, that is not the case and I’d best get to writing because no one wants to purchase half a book.

Peace, people!

http://Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort (The Happy Valley Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08P76RBRD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_H84RG6M2WQMY3G439H19

http://Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort (The Happy Valley Series) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09M544HFH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_J93HHWN8WKC8B0MVZ7NB

Poor Planning

I arrived at the coffee shop early this morning ready to work on Reunion at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort. There was just one problem:

Can you spot the problem?

No laptop. It’s at home, sitting by the back door. I’m clear across Tallahassee.

Internal conversation:

I could go home and get it.

It’s too far; you’d waste too much gas.

I guess I’ll write when I return home.

But all the really good ideas happen at the coffee shop.

That’s nonsense, and you know it.

But all the really good coffee drinks are at the coffee shop.

Well, that makes sense, but the coffee will be here tomorrow, as well.

True. So sip coffee now. Do some shopping. Write this afternoon. Maybe take a nap in between. And try to remember your laptop tomorrow.

Finally, a plan we can agree on.

Peace, people.

Stupidly Fun

Contrary to the advice of other authors, I tend to read my books’ reviews. Yes, even the (blessedly few) negative ones. Often one of my books gets a review that makes me smile. I found this one about Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort on Amazon this morning and can’t stop giggling.

If you need something “stupidly fun” to read this weekend, may I suggest one of my novels? (Links at the end.)

http://Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort (The Happy Valley Series Book 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MDRSDZF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_E9ZCCED2GNZEKCASQB7Y

http://Mayhem at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort (The Happy Valley Series Book 1) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PDRH2Q9/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_Q0NN1PMP89J2XZEHNMWA

http://The Cowboy and the Executive: A West Texas Romance https://www.amazon.com/dp/B095BVSF3L/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_9W3777WTBV06S2052NZF

Peace, and laughter, people.

Highs and Lows

I haven’t been faithful in writing posts for the blog lately. My mind is on book three of the Happy Valley series and I just haven’t had the time or the inspiration to focus on Praying for Eyebrowz. So it was a shock one day this week to see that my stats were booming.

On the 13th I hit a new daily high by a wide margin. Prior to that I think my best day was 290-ish. Of course I hit a new low the next day, but still…. I celebrated with an extra bite of hummus. Life is good.

Peace, people!

Go With the Flo

When I was writing my third novel, Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, I pictured a scene in which one of my favorite characters, Martha Murray, would recite, or have another character recite, a poem she’d written for her wedding ceremony. For several weeks I wrangled with writing a poem for Martha but nothing felt right. I was pulling my hair out and getting nowhere.

Then one afternoon my lovely friend and trusted confidant, Flora Diehl, called to visit and during the course of that call I said something like, “Maybe you could write Martha’s poem.”

I’m not sure what prompted me to say that. It wasn’t premeditated, it just popped into my head and immediately came out of my mouth. Regardless, it was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

Flo thought about it and responded several days, maybe weeks, later with the perfect poem for Martha’s wedding. I cried the first time I read her poem, “Now,” and every time I read it I get teary-eyed. Flo perfectly captured what I wanted Martha’s poem to feel and sound and even look like.

I’m not printing it here. Maybe one day I will, but I feel like the poem fits best within the context of the whole story. There are also a few gentle spoilers embedded in Flo’s contribution to my tale, and we’d hate to give anything away.

Readers can find the poem “Now” on page 302 of the paperback and again after “The End,” but before the acknowledgements. In the e-reader version it’s anyone’s guess since font size matters you know, but it’s near the end of the book.

If you haven’t yet read the first book in the series, Mayhem at Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort, I suggest you do so before reading Wedding, but I think there’s enough backstory in book two that one wouldn’t necessarily have to read book one. (Although that would make me happy…)

Due to COVID, I haven’t seen Flo in person in over two years, but when I do see her again I’m going to ask her to read the poem while we enjoy a glass of wine. I’m stocking up on Kleenex for the occasion.

Peace, people!

http://Wedding at the Happy Valley Motor Inn and Resort (The Happy Valley Series Book 2) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MDRSDZF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_HQEY2690EWD7XG9C9Y1K