This I know for sure...

My To-Be-Read (TBR) list of books is growing faster than I can keep up. It seems for every book I read, I add two or three or more to the list. Now that I have a Kindle, I'm amassing books on it that I want to read as well as that paper TBR list.

Not that I'm complaining.  I love the thought of all those books waiting for me. I just wish I had more time to read. I'd love to take a week or more of vacation time and do nothing but just read for hours on end. I have Monday off from the day job for the Easter holiday. While I have some things I must do that day, I hope to spend a few hours on the sofa enjoying one the many books on that ever growing list.

Dames of Dialogue

Ever hear of the Dames of Dialogue?  They are five published authors who chat about books, food, travel, and pets, as well as interview authors and other celebrities.  Today, I'm visiting with them and answering their questions. Stop on by and check it out.  Link: http://damesofdialogue.wordpress.com/ 

This I know for sure...

Wednesday was the first day of spring.  Today we are expecting approximately 3 inches of snow by the end of the morning. I'm not sure if any more snow is expected after that, but I will say at this point in our never-ending winter, even 3 inches seems like too much.

Where are the spring breezes, the temperatures in 60 degree range, the crocuses, snow drops, and other early spring flowers?  I think they're acting much like my cat this morning who poked his head up from his cozy nest of blankets, blinked at me, and snuggled back into his warm bed.

And yes, I am jealous that I can't do the same especially on a cold, snowy, windy morning like this one.

Steampunk Has A New Fan

Kiss of Steel by Bec McMaster is the first novel I've read involving Steampunk so I don't have anything to draw from but let me say, I loved this book. It's approximately 425 pages and I read it in about 6 hours. Not that I ever have 6 hours to sit down at read at once. I started it when I woke early Saturday morning and had about an hour and a half before I had to be up so read it then.  Later in the afternoon I had an hour before taking my mom shopping for my goddaughter's birthday gift so I sat on the sofa and read some more.  Throughout the day, I found myself picking up the book whenever I had a free few minutes and greedily reading as much as I could. I even went to bed at 9:00pm (on a Saturday night!) so I could read more and ended up finishing the book 3 hours later.

One thing is certain I will definitely be reading the other books in this series.  I'm also on the lookout for other authors who write Steampunk novels.  If you know of any that you'd recommend, feel free to leave a comment.

This I know for sure...

You only get one chance to make a good first impression.  I've heard this many times over the years as I'm sure lot of other people have but it was brought home to me this week.

First let me say I work in a small office with only 12 of us total including the owners so having a good working relationship and friendly atmosphere is important to myself and the other two ladies in my department. I have a new co-worker who within the first three days of being in our office managed to offend not only me but my two co-workers with thoughtless comments.

Having someone who spouts off without filtering her thoughts or gives her opinions in offensive manner does not make for a good working relationship. And it certainly does not make me want to be friendly or try to get to know her better.

Research and Where to Start

Today I'm visiting fellow author, Courtney J. Hall, and talking about how I started gathering the books I've used for research purposes while writing my novels set in the Regency period.  I hope you'll stop by and share how you got started.  The link is http://courtneyjhall.com/

Motivation

I've been suffering from a lack of motivation these last couple of weeks. I tell myself it's because I have a cold that seems to be getting the better of me. But to be honest, I think I'm suffering from the same thing everyone else is suffering from this time of year -- A bad case of Spring fever and failing at keeping New Year's resolutions.

I don't have the exact statistics but I do know that by this time, most people have given up on the resolutions they made on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.  I didn't make any resolutions per se, but I did set goals that I want to meet by the end of the year. Taking stock of where I am and where I wanted to be at this time, I see I'm falling behind in meeting those goals.

Am I giving up?  No, but I did feel like my motivation needed a boost so this past weekend I read a great book on writing, did some research I'd been putting off, and went in search of a quote that would help keep me motivated. I ended up finding quite a few of them that spoke to me so I'll be posting them on my Facebook page every Monday until I run out of them. 

I did find one quote in particular that spoke to me more than the others and I've put it where I'll see it every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to bed.  I don't know who said it originally so I'll post it here tagged as Author Unknown. It states:

"You are the sole factor between procrastination and progress."

Do you use motivational quotes to help you achieve your goals?  Have any favorites?

This I know for sure...

I've been fighting off a cold for about a week now. I thought it was moving on but today it came back with a vengence. I've been taking medication that allows me to sleep well but I still feel exhausted. My writing has suffered this week as I'm so tired when I get home from the day job that all I want to do lay on the sofa until it's time to do dinner.  Here's hoping this cold moves along soon.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

It's Read an E-Book Week so this week on my Kindle I'm reading Lost Memories by Sherri Thomas, a 130 page novella that's part of the Honky Tonk Hearts series.

Here's the blurb:
When your past is a blank, it's hard to trust the future...

A car accident leaves Darcy Brooks with amnesia, but she's determined it won't ruin her life. She finds a job on a dude ranch--hiding her brain trauma to get it--and falls in love with her work. Now if she can just avoid falling in love with her boss.

Nick Matthews knows his new employee is hiding something, and he's determined to discover what. He's failed to protect his family from disaster in the past and won't let it happen again. Now if he can just keep his attraction to Darcy from clouding his judgment.

Nick soon comes to value Darcy as an employee and a friend--even as the heat between them builds. But when a man claiming to be Darcy's husband shows up, Nick realizes just how much he wants to keep Darcy for himself.

I'm just starting chapter 4 and am enjoying the story immensely.

This I know for sure...

We've had some really crappy weather the last few days: rain, freezing rain, and snow - one after the other and mixed together.  On those days, I really wanted to be my cat, Isabella, so I could spend the day at home, curled up with a good book (although in her case, it was her new toy) instead of going to work.

Is it bad to be jealous of your cat?