Tag Archives: Challenges

Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour: July – Mid-Year Goals Check-In

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I Must Reach My Goal by Farcry77 via www.deviantart.com

I Must Reach My Goal by Farcry77 via www.deviantart.com

Six months worth of goals. Ack! It has been a whirlwind year for me in my writing world, to be sure.  I completed all of the goals for January, February and March which to be honest, was a struggle. I just felt behind the whole time. April was tough, though I did get the cover for Hard Choices done and revealed in April. Hard Choices finalized in May right on schedule and was published. It’s always pretty exciting to send another book out into the world. I did also get some planning done in April for the May Story a Day challenge which took a little of the production pressure off of my shoulders. So in May, I managed my goal of 10 new short stories written. I love that! I signed up for the Holly Lisle world building class only to let it languish and I signed up for her How To Write A Series expansion which began in June. I’ve been keeping up with it so far.

Unfortunately April’s Camp NaNo (where I got a novella finished, a short story written and a novel started) and May’s Story a Day did nothing to instill a daily writing habit. Sometimes editing, cover design, and just plain life get in the way of sitting down to write. I know, if I make it a priority it will happen. Count me as counseled.

I submitted a story to Writers of the Future in May, called After Math, a story set in my Gulliver Station universe. I also submitted a story, Room with a Knife, to the Crew Contest in May. The Garden State Contest received, Eavesdroppers in early May; a poem, Rest, went to the Contrary Magazine in April; and after another revision, Someone Else is Living Here, went to the Southwest Authors contest mid-June.  A new story will be needed for Writers of the Future before the end of September, but that’s a whole ‘nother part of the year! In June I began the editing process for Revolution. At the time of this blog, it’s just about to be put up on Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and Kobo. I also write non-fiction and I submitted articles for the January, March and June quarterly issues of Vision: an ezine for Writers.

Not on the goal list was a clean-up of my website: www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com. The Books tab especially was an embarrassment. I had a web-savvy friend of mine help me straighten it out. She also changed the banner at the top of the page. It looks so much better now.

July is Camp NaNo and I’m in the thick of writing a new novella, or perhaps it will stretch into a novel, who knows. And that’s one writer’s half-year. So what about you? Did you set goals at the start of the year? How have you done?

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com!  Up next: Jean Schara!

Mid-Month Update for July

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Horn Worm in the Tomatoes by Randy Cockrell

Horn Worm in the Tomatoes by Randy Cockrell

I cannot believe it’s the middle of the month already. July is a busy month and I guess that’s why it’s going so fast.

Fourth of July was pretty much rained out here in Payson. The town held the fireworks but very few people were left to watch them fire off in the rain.

The garden has been going like blockbusters. I’m harvesting blackberries, swiss chard, herbs, and sungold cherry tomatoes. The other tomato plants are producing but they’re all still green. There is no sign of hornworms yet, which makes me thankful. They get as big as my forefinger and can eat a tomato plant to just stem in no time flat. This is the time of year they show up so I’ve been carefully examining the plants every time I water. Unfortunately, they look exactly like a tomato leaf so they’re tough to spot. Other plants in the garden, hot and sweet peppers, cantaloupe, summer squash, butternut squash, peas, and green and yellow beans. The cantaloupe have, so far, produced two small ‘lopes but the pill bugs are eating them before they are even close to ripe. I don’t generally like to use bug killer but if I don’t, there won’t be any cantaloupe for me. The picture at the top of the page is of a hornworm, just in case you’ve never seen one before. It looks like an alien, doesn’t it?

July’s Camp NaNo is proceeding nicely. I have a 7K short story done and yesterday I completed the first of two novelettes for my new Brown Rain series. The novelette, titled The Beginning, finished at 21K words in the first draft which puts it in the novella category. I don’t mind. Longer is nearly always better in my opinion. I’ll start the second one today and continue my march toward the 50K NaNo goal for the month. I’m at 28K, past the word mid-point with time to spare.

I’m 18 chapters into the semi-final revision of Revolution, a little over half way done. I’ll hand it off to one more editor, my hubby, for a final look see then one last edit before formatting for release. Yes, the editing, rewriting process takes longer than the 1st draft writing. Be patient, it’s on its way.

The Goodreads site offers a Question the Author option. What do you think, are there questions you’d like to ask and no place to ask them? Would you be interested if I signed up for that on the Goodreads site?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Like any author, my books sell based on reviews. Would you be interested in getting a free copy to review for me? Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. Or sign up here. Use Control, Click to access the link. Let me know you’d like to be a reviewer on the e-tailer or Goodreads site of your choice.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here. Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

Hard Choices: A Gulliver Station Story released May17th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Flash Fiction Friday: Where Do Babies Come From

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Betty holding a leaf on the patio. Photo by Randy Cockrell

Betty holding a leaf on the patio. Photo by Randy Cockrell

Last December I did a writing exercise where I was not to say who was doing the talking, in other words, write a short story with no dialog tags, or other ‘stage’ direction. I thought it came out pretty well but in the interest of easier reading, I’ve added dialog tags and other emotional direction.

Where Do Babies Come From

I was dashing around the kitchen in the usual after work way getting chicken ready for dinner when my daughter, Brittany, looked up from her coloring book at the kitchen table. “Amanda says babies come from mommy’s tummy’s. Is that true?”

The plate of chicken nearly slipped out of my hands. Amanda is a cute little girl but her parents keep her a little too well informed. I swallowed. “Well, that is true.”

Her favorite red-orange crayon hovered over the coloring book page. “How do they get in a mommy’s tummy?”

Now? I’m having this conversation now with a seven year old? I glanced at the clock; my husband wasn’t going to be home for at least another half hour.  “Well. Um, first; mommy’s and daddy’s fall in love.”

Her grey-blue eyes drilled into me. “And then they get a baby?”

I started to sweat. “No, not exactly.” I put the plate of chicken thighs down, washed my hands then walked over to the table. “Mommy’s and Daddy’s love each other. Then, when they think the time is right, when they have a lot of love, so much love that they have extra, then they make a baby.”

She nodded, her little face clearly rolling that information around in her head. “Do they use modeling clay? We made little people in art class out of modeling clay.”

“Noooo, not exactly.” Under my breath I muttered, “I should have bought that, How a Baby is Born, book.”

“What? You need a book to make babies?”

Why can she hear that and not hear me when I tell her it’s time for bed? “Uh, yes. I can show you pictures. How’s that? I’ll get a book that tells you all about how babies are born.”

She shrugged. “OK. Can I have a cookie?”

 

The End

302 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Flash Fiction Friday: Mystery on Titan

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Ice Dragon by Aerin Kayne via www.deviantart.com

Ice Dragon by Aerin Kayne via www.deviantart.com

This story came about because of a challenge on Chuck Wendig’s site. So I rolled the random generator and got Military Science Fiction and Comic Fantasy. Ack! It took me a couple of days to come up with a mash up of those two genres. After you read this, go back to Chuck’s site and check out what other writers came up with. I’m sure you’ll be entertained.

Mystery On Titan

“What a pit,” Airman First Class Carl Andrews said as he rubbed his hands together on his first day on the job. “People used to complain about being stationed in Thule, Greenland. Hell, that’s a garden spot.”

Staff Sergeant LeAnn Rice sniffed. The heat in the new base on Titan, the sixth moon of Saturn, wasn’t up to the task of keeping the base warm. Her nose ran constantly. “Well, the scientists love studying the atmosphere and the hydrocarbon lakes. We’re just here to provide a forward lookout to the edge of the solar system.”

Carl snorted. “You think aliens are gonna come streaming in from the far edge of beyond to say hi?”

She shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what I think, we’re here to monitor the satellites they sent out to Pluto and send a call to Earth if we see anything. It would have been nice if we could have been on the sunny side of Titan though. It’s kind of depressing being always in the dark.”

By necessity they were on a four year tour of duty. It took too long to get to Titan to make the time on base any shorter. Two years went by and in a schedule that put them together every two weeks, Carl and LeAnn were again on duty together.

“Look,” Carl pointed at his monitor. “A ship is coming in.”

LeAnn looked up from her monitor where she was making notes in the log. “Can’t be. The supply ship isn’t due for another two weeks.” She got up.

“I know that,” Carl said, “but it looks like an incoming ship to me.”

LeAnn leaned over his shoulder to peer at the screen. “It’s coming from sun-ward, that’s for sure.” She went back to her desk, changed her monitor to pick up the signal from Carl and keyed her mike. “Unidentified ship, this is Titan Base Herschel, please identify yourself.”

Carl turned to stare at her. “It’ll take a few minutes. Shouldn’t we call the Captain?”

“And tell him what?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just seems like he should be informed.”

“Give it a minute, Carl.” LeAnn tapped her fingernail on the desk. She turned to a second monitor and pulled up the records from the last supply ship. Tapping the screen she scrolled to the record of the last ship’s approach to the base. The flight path traced from Earth, on its nearest rotation around the sun to Titan. The path in a blue dotted line made an arc, directly between Earth and Titan. Carl got up and stood behind her.

She tapped a command into the first screen and a dotted red line traced out behind the mystery ship, a record of its path since the computer first noticed it. LeAnn blinked. “It’s not from Earth.”

“Crap.” Carl dashed back to his seat and began a staccato tapping on his keyboard. “I’m extrapolating the path backward,” he told her. “It, uh, looks like it slipped in around Uranus and is sling-shotting toward us.” He whipped his chair around. “It’s alien.”

LeAnn hit the button to call the Captain. “We’ve got aliens on approach,” she said when he answered.

“I’ll be right there.”

Three minutes later he and Dr. Gifford, lead scientist, burst through the door. “Where is it?” Captain Brooks skidded to a stop beside her.

LeAnn pointed at her screen, the red-dotted path now longer. “I sent a call out eight minutes ago.”

“Why?” Dr. Gifford asked as he pulled his glasses off and wiped them as he stared at the screen.

“We thought it was the supply run, early.”

The speakers came to life. A thin, reedy voice nearly drowned in static came through, “Herschel Base, this is the Atamattal ship Thahhsskkt, on approach to the moon you call Titan.”

The Doctor stopped polishing his glasses mid-stroke.

The Captain grabbed the headset from LeAnn and jammed them on his head. “Thassktt,” he mangled the word. “What is your purpose?”

“Annual holiday,” the crew heard over the static. “We come here every fifty of your years.”

Captain Brooks stared at the Doctor.

The Doctor shrugged. “Must be a pretty cold species to vacation on Titan. Ask if they’ve been to Earth?”

The Captain did that.

“No, the third planet is too hot for us. Our people have been picking up your transmissions for a hundred years, so we can communicate with you. We’ll be setting down at the northern pole. The lakes are beautiful this time of year.”

“Uh, we’re happy to meet you, Thassktt.”

Two days later, a team went to speak with the aliens. The alien ship was settled on a rock outcropping and the human shuttle landed beside it. The shuttle commander and Dr. Gifford stared. There, on the so called beach, were six dragons of varying sizes. “Must be children,” Gifford pointed at two of the smallest who were throwing pawsful of the petrochemical mist at each other.

The largest dragon turned at the sound of the shuttle and spread wings, taking off in a down blast that sent smog whirling in all directions. It landed in front of the shuttle and peered in through the windows. “Sorry you can’t join us,” it said through the glass, “too cold for you.” It sighed. “It’s too bad, we love this moon but I suppose now that your species is here, we’ll have to find another vacation spot.”

“Not for a long time yet,” Gifford said. “We’d like to share cultures with you.”

The dragon nodded. “We get that all the time. An official delegation is needed, you know. It’s not for the likes of me to talk but thanks for the offer. I’ll make a report when I get home.”

He turned and rejoined his family. No amount of coaxing would get him to talk again.

Back at base, Captain Brooks made his report to Earth. The long wait began.

 

The End

985 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Flash Fiction Friday: Out of the Ashes

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Phoenix by FleetingEmber via www.deviantart.com

Phoenix by FleetingEmber via www.deviantart.com

On June 6th, Chuck Wendig issued a challenge, http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/06/06/flash-fiction-challenge-rise-of-the-phoenix/. Write a flash story that in some way relates to the fabled Phoenix of legend. Here’s my take. Click on the link and view the blog comments to see what other authors have done with the story. I think you’ll like them.

Out of the Ashes

“This tower is on the top of an extinct volcano,” the fire tower keeper, Brigette, explained to the group of nine 4-H members and their leader.

The kids ooh’d and eyebrows went up as mouths fell open.

One girl asked, “Will the volcano erupt again?”

Brigette shook her head. “The region has quieted. There probably won’t be another volcano here, ever.”

The kids looked reassured. That was just before the ground rumbled and the tower began to sway.

“What the…” she started to swear but thought better of it with all the kids around. What’s going on? This area is seismically stable. “Get down the ladder,” she yelled as the radios began to slide across the table and the humming bird feeders swung wildly in the air.

Kids ran down the ladder, the 4-H leader encouraging the ones who were frozen with fear.

“Let’s go sweetie.” Brigette took the hand of a little boy who was staring, wide-eyed. “Come on, we need to get down the stairs.” She pulled him toward the hole in the tower floor. The sound of the descending Leader and children echoed up the industrial steel steps.

They were half way down the tower when she saw her house begin to crumble. The ground was shaking and the kids already on the ground screamed. Brigette saw several of them fall. The tower swayed over her. “Let’s go, kid.” He latched onto the hand rail and wouldn’t move.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled. They had to hurry; she didn’t know how much longer the tower would stand in all the shaking. She half carried, half dragged the boy down three more circles of the stairs, the tower creaking from every rivet joint. Brigette dragged him to the Leader and turned to watch her house. The roof was caving in, the walls were tipping into the middle of the house. Boards snapped, glass shattered and the collapsing walls and roof roared. A huge cloud of dust rose over the house.

The Leader was piling kids into the mini-van. “Get in,” she said. “I’ll drive us down the mountain.”

Brigette shook her head. “No, my car seems fine. You go. I’ll be right behind you.”

The Leader shrugged and jumped into the car. “Buckle up everyone.” She did a three-point turn in the van and raced along the dirt road, dirt from her tires fountained into the air. Brigette raced to her car. At the door, she realized there was more to the noise of the house collapsing than just the wood and the glass.

She stared at the house. Is that roaring? Brigette opened the car door, the ding, ding, ding of the keys in the ignition alarm could hardly be heard. It looked like the house was trying to stand back up. “What…?”

As she watched, debris rose up and slid away from the house. A claw, the size of bus came out of the middle, shoving bits of wall and plaster out of the hole, then another, followed by a beak. Brigette blinked. A head poked up covered in red and gold feathers. It screeched as it pulled itself out of the ruin. As the sunlight hit the feathers, they began to light; waves of fire covered the monstrous bird.  A bit of egg shell flared into flame and fell off of the bird’s body.

Brigette got in the car and turned the key. The engine turned over and the bird turned its black eyes toward the noise. It screamed again. Chills ran down her spine as she shoved the gear shift into drive. “Holy crap,” she whispered as the giant bird spread its wings over the remains of her house. It flapped once, twice, screeching each time. Heat washed over her.

She sped out of the gate and followed the dirt road down the mountain as fast as she could negotiate the hairpin turns. At the nearest Forest Service office she tried to make a report. They were too busy. The area she’d just left was enveloped in forest fire. On the TV, there were reports of a giant bird flying overhead.

A reporter was interviewing an ornithologist from the University. “It’s a Phoenix,” he told the camera.

“But those are a myth,” the reporter said.

“Apparently not. From the maps, it appears that the bird has risen from an ancient volcano. That would seem appropriate, given its fire background.”

Brigette stared. A Phoenix? The whole southwest is going to burn. She grabbed a Ranger, “The TV says it’s a Phoenix. Look!” She pointed at the television. Pictures of the beast were being shown as people took pictures of it from the ground. Later in the day Emergency Defense offices opened. People were told to evacuate. The Governor appeared on TV during a phone call to the President. Aid in the form of the Air Force and Emergency Management was promised.

The next day there were reports of other Phoenix’ arising from extinct and dormant volcanoes around the world. It was now an International emergency. With only the clothes on her back, Brigette drove to Nebraska; an old college friend lived there, far away from any volcanic activity.

A year later, people huddled in caves or collapsed stone buildings, the land around them burnt and blasted. Brigette and her friend had joined forces with a few other survivors. They had a garden started and life was settling in. They learned to set snares for rabbits, no one wanted to be outside where a Phoenix, high in the sky, could see them and swoop down. The Phoenix were excellent hunters, people didn’t roam too far away from stone shelters.

One of the survivors told a child. “We thought they were a fable, a myth. They rise from the ashes, we were taught.”

Brigette stirred the communal pot of soup. “I wish they’d go back to the ashes.”

 

The End

998 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here: http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Published!

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Piano Poster by Elthenstorm via www.DeviantArt.com

Piano Poster by Elthenstorm via www.DeviantArt.com

I’ve been working like crazy on my books this month. Today, I got my 3rd Gulliver Station book, Hard Choices, up on Amazon (ASIN: B00KEVWYHW) and Smashwords (https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/439286).  Distribution to other distributors will take a week to two weeks to accomplish.  I’ve decided to give my readers a deal. Sign up for my newsletter and I’ll reward you with a free copy of Book 2, The Challenge. Sign up here. Use Control, Click to access the link. You all are getting this offer before even my newsletter people. Hurry, offer ends Sunday the 25th!

This month I’m continuing the writing habit with my writing site’s May Story a Day. I’ve written seven stories so far in addition to working on my 2YN novel, well on my way to 10 stories this month. In addition, I’ve challenged myself to write at least 1K of words per day in new writing five days per week. I’m doing well with both challenges.

My blog has been undergoing a makeover. My friend Brianna Jill Soloski, has given the site a face-lift and fixed my Books page. See it on www.conniesrandomthoughts.wordpress.com. If you like what she did, she’s ready to hire at: (http://girlseeksplace.wordpress.com/hireme/). Blogs, Etsy pages, whatever you need in editing and a whole lot of other things.

The weather has been fine and we’re now up into the 80’s. I don’t expect any more frosts. I put in seed for Serano peppers, Rutger’s tomato, summer green and yellow squash, a bird house gourd, butternut squash, peas, green bush beans, green pole beans and yellow beans. Potatoes, herbs and swiss chard are already growing on their own. I’m going to buy more tomato, basil and pepper plants. I’m lazy and didn’t get seed started in time. I put my bay leaf tree and lemon tree out in the yard. So far they’re fine.

The town has been a hive of activity again this weekend. For the fine arts people, a classical piano recital by a 13 year-old girl was held on Saturday night. I didn’t go but friends I walked with on Sunday morning said the young lady was quite accomplished. She even threw in some Gershwin, just to keep it interesting. On the other end of the scale, the Spring Rodeo was in town on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. People both local and from far away traveled into town to see the riding, bronc bustin, and ropin’. Saturday is a big yard sale day. My hubby and I picked up a nearly new oak dining room table and six matching chairs for an amazing price. The yard sale people even delivered it. Yay! There’s something for everyone in my little town.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Please sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Want to know how to get a free copy of each new book? Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. Or sign up here. Use Control, Click to access the link.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

Hard Choices: A Gulliver Station Story, released May17th! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Flash Fiction Friday: Hell

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Hell by graph93 via www.deviantart.com

Hell by graph93 via www.deviantart.com

http://graph93.deviantart.com/art/Hell-2161159

The prompt was Hell. Write anything as long hell was mentioned. This came to mind.

HELL

I never meant it to happen.  It was an accident, a mistake, and I’m sorry, I really am. It doesn’t matter though, I’m here now and there’s no going back. Regret is its own special kind of hell, isn’t it? All of the major religions tell us that hell is waiting for sinners. I was never much of a believer. Sunday was my day to go hiking, to sleep in, anything but go to church.

All of those church-goers, looking down their noses at me, judging, whispering behind their hands, what do they know about it? Yeah, I was only seventeen but weren’t they kids once? They never made a mistake? I gave the baby up for adoption. It seemed like the best thing to do. The adoptive parents were nice, the baby would be better off with them.

College was a drag because I had to work, too. I got off work at the local megamart at midnight. Of course it was raining. By the time I got to my car I was soaking wet. I wanted to get home, get warm and dry and go to bed. Class was at eight in the morning. Who the hell schedules college classes for eight? A sadist, that’s who.

The roads were flooded and I was trying to avoid the worst of the water, squinting against the glare of lights through the rain and off of the puddles. The wipers could barely keep up, even on high. I couldn’t have been doing more than twenty miles per hour.

The other guy though was going a lot faster. How do I know? He’s here too, for killing me. He’s apologized a hundred times at least for being drunk, for driving so fast, for not letting the bartender call him a cab. That doesn’t matter either. I’m here, along with my regrets. Would I have repented, given enough time? I don’t know. It just seems unfair that I’m here because I was an unwed mother.

The End

332 Words

Find more of the Forward Motion Flash Friday Group here:http://www.fmwriters.com/flash.html

Merry May

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Mr. Low's Corvette

Mr. Low’s Corvette

Families at the Park

Families at the Park

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day yesterday. My daughter gave me a gift certificate for a massage. I love having a massage but I’m too cheap to buy one for myself. So many thanks to the girl for an excellent gift. I called my Mom. My oldest brother and his wife were there for a visit. She’d already been to breakfast with the second brother and was getting ready to go to dinner with the third brother. My sister, who lives in Florida, had already called her. I was the last one to check in. We had a nice long chat, over an hour.
This month I’m continuing the writing habit with my writing site’s May Story a Day. I’ve committed to writing at least 10 stories this month. In addition, I’ve challenged myself to write at least 1K of words per day in new writing five days per week. I’m doing well with both challenges. I have six short stories written already and have moved forward on a novel I’m writing in my Two Year Novel class. I finished the final edit for my next book to be released, Hard Choices. Now it’s time to get that puppy formatted and released. The last book in the series, Revolution, still needs to be edited. Busy, busy, busy.
The weather is warming up. I put a purchased tomato plant in the garden two days ago and it’s doing just fine. Time to get the rest of the garden in.
Saturday my hubby and I attended a Classic Corvette car show. One of our friends was displaying his car in the show. That’s a pic of his car at the top of the post. A lot of people were there enjoying the day. Then we went to the Wildlife fair in Green Valley park. In addition to various vendors, several organizations brought animals that people could pet as well as raptors, snakes, and other critters. The fair rented kayaks for people to paddle around the pond in and fishing poles for kids to try their hand at fishing. The park was full of families having a good time outdoors.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Please sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Want to know how to get a free copy of each new book? Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. Or sign up here. Use Control, Click to access the link.
I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here. Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.
The Challenge: A Gulliver Station Story, released March 23rd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

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Antro-Calendar- Cinco de Mayo by Golden Druid via www.deviantart.com

Anthro-Calendar- Cinco de Mayo by Golden Druid via www.deviantart.com

Cinco de Mayo in America seems to mean having a big party with tex-mex food and margaritas or Mexican beer. I’m all for parties, tex-mex and margaritas, don’t get me wrong. But it’s a celebration of Mexican victory over France’s imperialism. I’m all for independence so yeah, a celebration is in order. Hubby and I will be having chicken tacos/burritos for dinner. The lines blur at my house over those two things. Not to worry. It will be tasty no matter what flour or corn conveyance we use.

This month I’m continuing the writing habit with my writing site’s May Story a Day. I’ve committed to writing at least 10 stories this month. Yep, we don’t hold ourselves strictly to a story a day. What I love about this is that at the end of the month, I have a lot of stories drafted. Some I publish right away on my blog, if they’re flash fictions. But I don’t hold myself to flashes. Some stories go longer and those or my favorite flashes, go into my pile of stories that I send out to magazines, ezines and contests.  Still trying to make a name for myself and attract an audience/fanbase. In the meantime, I’m still writing. While I am writing, I’m doing the final edit for my next book to be released, Hard Choices. I am still looking to release the end of May so as my daughter says, I need to get crack-a-lackin’.

April’s Camp National Novel Writing Month, https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in  is done and I made some sort of math error so didn’t write 50K words, which was my goal. No matter. I finished my novelette, 2 short stories and made a big dent in my novel.  I’m still writing on that and on my 2YN novel about Mrs. Claus.  I’m solidifying a habit to sit down and write 1000 to 2000 words per day. Editing though, not my favorite thing.

The local area has entered the summer season. The first craft fairs have been held, the local artist community has held its annual tour around town to various artists homes, and yard sales are proliferating like mushrooms after a rain.  Things get busy in my little town in the summer.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Please sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information.  Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. Or sign up here. Use Control, Click to access the link. I don’t send newsletters out often so sign up and get those cool things I save just for newsletter recipients.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here.  Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

The Challenge: A Gulliver Station Story released March 23rd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!

End of April

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Cherry Tomatoes by Night Owl Dreamer via www.deviantart.com

Cherry Tomatoes by Night Owl Dreamer via www.deviantart.com

It occurred to me the other day that I put up goals for the year on the Forward Motion writers site and I didn’t remember ever giving a status. Sure enough, I’ve been so busy this year that I hadn’t gone back, even once, to check on whether or not I’ve been meeting my goals for the year. Good news! January, February and March I did what I had planned to do.

This month though, I’ve fallen a little behind. While I have completed the cover for my next book to be released, Hard Choices, I haven’t finished the editing. Not good. I hope to release the end of May so as my daughter says, I need to get crack-a-lackin’.

April’s Camp National Novel Writing Month, https://campnanowrimo.org/sign_in, has only three days left, counting today. I’ve been plugging away on my novel, still unnamed and of yesterday, I’m at 46,400 words, well on my way to my goal for 50K words. Just 3500 words over the next three days and I’ll meet the challenge! My novel however will not be complete. I’m probably only a third of the way through it so I’m hoping between April’s NaNo challenge and next month’s Story a Day challenge, I’ll have solidified a habit to sit down and write 1000 to 2000 words per day. I can get a lot of writing done with that pace. Just need to find time to edit!

Saturday we had a sleet/snow storm here in Central Arizona. I’m glad I didn’t have my garden in yet. The one tomato plant I have is still in a pot. My favorite cherry tomato, a Sun Gold, is under the overhang of my back patio, safe from a late night frost or bitter wind. It should start warming up here now so it will be in my raised bed soon. I’m looking forward to the sweet, delicious bite of that tomato, still warm from the sun.

My project to collect my mom’s history by using To Our Children’s Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come by Bob Greene and D.G. Fulford is ongoing. We’ve finished the second chapter of questions. Chapter three is coming up.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Please sign up for my newsletter where you’ll get first dibs on any promotions, book announcements, and other information. Want to know how to get a free copy of each new book? Go to the button on the right side of the blog or go to my Newsletter tab to sign up. Or sign up here. Use Control, Click to access the link.

I have an in depth interview on my Smashwords Author page. You can read it here. Don’t see information about me you’d like to know? Leave me your question in my comments and I’ll try to answer it.

The Challenge: A Gulliver Station Story released March 23rd! I’m pretty excited about it. You can buy at: Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, or Smashwords today!