Back

As promised (or threatened, depending on your POV) I'm back. The much-needed break jump-started my muse, and also let me properly prepare for the very busy year ahead. In addition to the work I caught up on I finished up some old projects from 2017, and got my home office cleaned out and tidied up. I hate working in a mess, and not being able to find anything, so having a neat work space really feels great.

I spent a lot of time thinking about and planning for the big changes that are coming this year, too. My guy and I have some major shifts ahead in our work dynamic. Now that we're empty nesters we'll also have more time to do the things that we've always put off while the kids were at home. After we get some necessary repairs done (our 22-year-old fridge and A/C unit both decided to start failing at the same time) we're planning to renovate some stuff we've never liked about this house. The bathroom prefab shower stalls and too-slick tile floors will likely be at the top of the list. Once all the dire needs are seen to, I personally intend to get rid of the old white bathroom tile counters in my kitchen -- the guy who built this place made some really weird choices -- and get proper counter tops to go with my still-lovely cabinets.

My daughter's pet bird and rat moved into the office with me, so we all have some company during the day. The rat likes me well enough, but then I bribe her with fresh banana and carrot bits and let her out to play regularly. The cockatiel is still on the fence, pardon the pun. We're settling into a comfortably antagonistic relationship since I started letting her out of her cage for an hour every morning. I think she's noisy but still adorable. She evidently thinks she should not have to live in the big cage. I think she'd be happy only if I ditched the cage altogether, fed her sunflower seeds nonstop, rubbed her neck and head for hours, and let her fly around the house like the bird of prey she imagines she is. Oh, and birds? Poop everywhere.

Since we're trying to cut our spending I've been cooking at home almost every night. Another challenge that comes with the empty nest is cooking for just two, which I've never done before now. We're tackling it by planning ahead with leftovers, freezing what we can, and trimming down our meals. I'm also searching for smaller recipes online, which has led to some delicious discoveries.

This year I'm slowing down and putting more thought into my quilting. I'm working on a lap quilt now, but I hope to get more into art quilting and work on smaller-scale quilts after this project. To keep everything tidier I've organized the notions and tools I use regularly in arty containers on a recycled bookcase. As with my home office having a neat sewing space makes me happier and more productive. If you want to see what I'm working on this year, you can follow my projects on my Tumblr blog.

I definitely don't want to harp on the negative, but the ongoing stress of just being a human being in these times of late has been especially frightening. We're all finding ways to cope, which is why I'm trying to be supportive of my family and friends in any way I can (and quilting every night, to work out my own stress.) I don't have any answers, except to fight it, and to fight for the people we love, by being part of the light however we can.

I'm learning at last that finding new ways to connect can make a big difference. I'm having such fun with my little writer's group; once a week I have a chance to spend a couple hours with my fellow scribes. They're all terrific people. To combat the empty nest blues my guy and I are trying to get out of the house and be more social as a couple. too. The last two weekends we've gone on outings that we usually never made time for, which we should have before now. The other night we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant with friends (this is something we've not done in years), and we had such a great time. We also planned to get together for a cookout. Life is not over, turns out, once the nestlings fly off.

So what's up with you all? Any news from your corner of the planet? How is your 2018 going so far? Let us know in comments.

Offline Endeavors Ten

Ten Things I Did While on Hiatus

Anger Management: It took awhile, but I channeled my temper in some positive directions, resolved an ugly, toxic personal situation without responding in kind, accepted that which I will never be able to change, and generally walked the Serenity Prayer path every step of the way. Sometimes you really do have to turn it over to your higher power, and I did. If you're ever at the same crossroads, this is a good way to go.

Baby Bunny Rescue: While my guy was doing the lawn he accidentally uncovered a nest of three tiny baby bunnies about a foot away from our back porch. The babies were so small you could literally hold them in the palm of your hand. Because of the damage to the burrow, and the threat of our dogs (who then knew exactly where it was) we couldn't leave them where they were, so we put them in a carrier. My daughter and I then drove for an hour through a pretty hellacious storm to get them to a volunteer at a regional wildlife sanctuary. This place will care for them until they're old enough to be released back into the wild.

Best. Zen. Revenge. Ever.: This also took some time, but I straightened out all the contract headaches caused by the fake reviews posted for a story I never wrote on that site I'm never again going to mention by name here (this to keep away Googling trolls.) In the process I sold translation rights for two stories that I actually did write and made a nice pile of money. These earnings will pay for a big chunk of my kid's school expenses this semester. So in the end the mess turned into something terrific for me, and very helpful for my college kid.

Edited Stuff: I finally got the chance to edit and post the final version of my Just Write novella Ghost Writer, which you can read, download, print out and share with friends for free by clicking here.

Flying Solo: I handled my first major contract negotiation with a publisher in another country; this without an agent or anyone helping me. I'd say I did very well, and oddly enough the universe did not collapse. Who knew?

Road Trip: My family took me to a beautiful little fishing village on my birthday, where we spent the day walking around and taking pictures and having fun together. Being with my crew and recharging my creative batteries is the best way to spend any birthday.

Sewed and Created My Brains Out: All the time I usually spend on the blog went toward sewing for fun and getting a jumpstart on my holiday projects. I made tons of pillows, taught myself the basics of silk ribbon embroidery (still need a lot of practice, but wow, really a cool way to embellish), designed and pieced a queen size quilt, and pattern-pieced a lap quilt, embroidered a silk needlebook with a lace jellyfish on it as a tribute to my birthday trip (see pic below), and even rehabbed an old Victorian photo album into an art journal. I also made a new and extremely creative, inspiring friend, and tried some stuff I've never done with vintage fabrics, silk and reclaimed wool. Basically eight weeks of creative bliss.

Slow-Cookery: One of my birthday gifts was a beautiful multi-function slow cooker that also steams rice, makes yogurt and even bakes cheesecake. It really does just about everything but set the table for me. I then found a slow-cooker recipe book at BAM, and I'm trying a new recipe every week. This will come in handy this winter, too, when we want more substantial meals.

Spruced Up: Another nice thing I did for myself was to clean up and clear out my spare bedroom and office. I'm now working on the closets in both rooms, which are way overloaded with stored stuff I'm probably never going to use again. Everything we don't want to keep will be donated to Goodwill or the Families in Distress shelter, as applicable.

Wrote: About 100K altogether for the clients, but also some poetry and lots of journal entries. I also finally cleaned out the last of my e-mail accounts.

I am still working on a few things yet to be decided, finalized, etc., but all things considered my two point five months away were very productive. My next post will be on this Friday, the 16th, at which time I'll explain more of what's ahead and everything that will be changing with PBW.

So what's been going on with you all? Did you miss me, or was it a nice vacation for you, too? Anyone read some great books? Publish their own? Please catch me up in comments.

Recovering

I'm finally back on my feet, thanks to my very smart doctor and some hefty drugs. The real challenge now is taking it easy this week as I finish up my antibiotics; I'm never very good at that first part. But since I've been almost continuously sick for more than a month now I think I'll make an effort.

After getting over a sickness you want to feel stronger, better and ready to jump right back into your life, don't you? I always envision myself bouncing back like this:



Even when I'm so weak and wrung out I actually feel more like this:



I also have Easter coming at me in less than a week, when I'll have a whole houseful of friends and family visiting. I have a huge dinner to plan, gift baskets to prepare, the house to tidy, etc. So I also feel a bit like this:



Rather than race around like a mad thing trying to catch up on everything I believe I'll prioritize what has to be done and let what doesn't wait. Then it's simply a matter of taking on one thing at a time, get it done at a reasonable pace, and then move on to the next. And ask for help, too.

What's up with you all? Let me know in comments.

Back & Books

I'm back from my catch-up hiatus, and the first news I got was that I scored this ARC from Library Thing's Early Reviewers program:



Since I'm a history buff who grew up in Florida, and loves the 1920s, I'm really looking forward to reading it.

I've also picked my book of the month for August, which was Running Wild by Susan Andersen. To give you the short version, this is a very well-written romantic suspense/romp through the South American jungle with lots of imagination and adventure, and I thought both the male and female protagonists were unusual and fun. I'll have more to say about this later on in the week once I get back up to blogging speed.

Finally, the book I've been waiting all year (and some of 2014, too) to read just released:



If you enjoyed author Anne Frasier's first two Elise Sandberg novels -- which were amazing -- you will definitely want to jump on this new installment.

So that's my news. What's up with you all?

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

I'm back home from my summer road trip. We drove from one end of the coast to the other, or a bit over four thousand miles in ten days, so it was fairly epic. I personally climbed on top of mountains, went caving inside them and otherwise pretended I was thirty years younger than I am. I did okay, too.

Because I can't let you escape without showing you some pictures, here's a slideshow of some of the delightful things we encountered along the way:



Some observations from the road:

1. All the hoopla about people from Maine being standoffish and crabby? It's nonsense. They were the warmest, friendliest folks we met on the road.

2. When your innkeeper recommends a local place to dine, listen to him.

3. Every tourist-magnet town in America seems plagued by three things: not enough parking, public restrooms or places to sit for five minutes so you can change camera batteries.

4. Bed & Breakfast inns -- even the ones you read about in those glossy travel magazines -- often offer rates as cheap or cheaper than chain hotels. Call them and check.

5. Also, in Maine? Wonderful glorious little indie bookstores everywhere, often two or three in the same town. All the ones I visited had at least a half dozen people browsing through their shelves, too.

Now I'm off to unpack and figure out where I put the laptop power cable so I wouldn't forget it, which of course I've forgotten . . .

Back & Not Free Dragon

I'm back up and running, thanks to Isaac only minorly messing with us. Please keep the folks in New Orleans and the impact zone in your thoughts and prayers.

I also have a heads-up on something that Lifehacker has been nattering on about; in this article they claim you can get the home version of Dragon Naturally Speaking voice recognition software version 11.5 for free (pay $40.00 and then mail in two $20.00 rebates) or for $20.00 on another site. Yet when I followed the links it seems neither Tigerdirect or Newegg are offering the deals any longer.

I know internet deals can be taken down as quickly as they're put up, but as of right this moment you can purchase the Dragon for $35.95 here on purplus.net, which is a 50% discount, and as low as I've ever seen it being offered.

Everyone else make it through the storm okay? Let us know in comments.