Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I'm still working on the edits and rewrite for Garrett's story but I do feel like I'm finally making progress. I have a busy week this week so I'm not sure how much I'll get accomplished but I'm determined to squeeze in a much time working on this book as I can.

Motivational Quote:  "You may be born without any gift at all, but that doesn't mean you can't work very, very hard and get to the top." ~ John Caudwell 

What I'm Reading:   I'm currently reading The Secrets We Hide by Karin Slaughter. It's the 2nd book in her North Falls series. I am a fan of Ms. Slaughter's writing and particularly of her Will Trent series.

Random Things:  While I don't have anyone I need to buy school supplies for, I always look forward to this time of year when school supplies are on sale. I stock up on composition notebooks, index cards, single subject notebooks, and a folder here and there. I use all of these things in my writing. I will sometimes pick up one of the plastic pencil boxes because they work really well as craft containers. I have one that holds my many pairs of deckle edge scissors. 

Random Photo:

                                      I saw this t-shirt and couldn't resist buying it. 
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I worked on edits for Garrett's story. I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. I found dangling plot thread that brought me to a screeching halt because I don't know how to fix it. I've been brainstorming with a fellow writing friend and think I have the problem solved. I'm hoping this week will be much more productive.

Motivational Quote: "Each day we have the opportunity to learn something new, apologize for our mistakes, and become better." ~ Lewis Howes (American entrepreneur)

What I'm Reading:  I finished Thrown for a Loop by Sarina Bowen last night. It's the first book in her New York Legends hockey romance series. If you like hockey romance books, I highly recommend her books. 

Random Things:  To continue on my post from last week about the Dunkin' in my area offering pumpkin spice drinks around August 19th, I found Halloween candy on sale in one of the local Wegman's stores. I realize Summerween is really popular right now, but I'm not at all ready to see Halloween candy for sale in early August. It reinforces the fact that summer is coming to an end and winter will be here all too soon. 

Random Photo:

                           The Halloween candy display at one of our local Wegman's.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I made incremental progress on editing Garrett's book. It's definitely not as much as I wanted to accomplish but I'm telling myself even a little progress forward is getting me closer to finishing editing the book. 

Motivational Quote:  "I prefer writing to real life...A novel, for example, can be cleaned up, altered, trimmed, improved. Life, on the other hand, is one big messy rough draft." ~ Harlan Coben (American writer)

What I'm Reading:  I finished reading Ode to the Bones by Carolyn Haines last night. It's the 30th book in the Sarah Booth Delaney mystery series. I've enjoyed this series and was sad to hear there will only be one more book before the series comes to an end.

Random Things:   An update on my brother. He had numerous appointments last week for x-rays, an ultrasound, CT scan and with a surgeon's physician's assistant to give him his options. He has an appointment with the surgeon next week to make the decision to either see if they can repair the break with some plates and screws or if it would be better to do a shoulder replacement from the outset because if his arm doesn't heal properly with the plates and screws, then he'll have to have the shoulder replacement anyway.

Random Photo:

                                                    I swear this is so true. 😄 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I didn't get anything done on Garrett's book last week. My brother broke his arm right below the ball joint of his shoulder with fractures up into the ball joint. He's staying with me right now because it's his dominant arm/hand so he needs a lot of help doing pretty much anything. I hope to get some editing done this week. 

Motivational Quote:  "See it through. It's your story." ~ Alan Rickman (English actor and director)  

What I'm Reading:  I'm currently reading You Can Tell Me by Melinda Leigh. It's the first book in the Olivia Cruz series. If you like romantic suspense, you'd probably enjoy any of the series written by Ms. Leigh.

Random Things:  I came across the above quote while reading an article about Alan Rickman. It relates to his decision to continue acting in the Harry Potter movies after receiving his cancer diagnosis. It reminded me that despite life really taking over right now, I need to continue working on Garrett's book. It's important to me for a number of reasons so despite it taking much, much longer than I originally planned, I need to carve out time to work on it even if it's only in small pockets of time.

Random Photo:

  
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I didn't work on anything writing related the last two weeks. We had family from out of town visiting. We don't see them often so we spent as much time as possible with them. 

Motivational Quote:  "Know what you're doing. Take time." ~ Rhiannon Giddens (American musician)  I saw this quote and felt like it was talking directly to me considering how long it's taking me to edit Garrett's book. I still feel like I have a long way to go before it's ready for publication. 

What I'm Reading:  I started reading Not What It Seems by Lisa Jackson over the weekend.  This is the fifth book in the Savannah series. I would classify this book more as a mystery/thriller than romantic suspense but I'm enjoying it overall.

Random Things:  I can't believe it's practically the middle of July already. My mom will sometimes say that the older she gets, the faster the years go by. I must be getting to that age when the years start to go by faster. It seems like it was just early spring and we're already halfway through the summer. Although it does seem like summer always flies by while winter drags on for forever. Probably because we have nice, sunny weather for about four or four and a half months then it's cold, wet, and snowy for the other 7 to 8 months. 

Random Photo:

I took this picture of the sunset from our backyard while we were outside enjoying the evening.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  Writing related things have slowed to a trickle due to the drowning of my old laptop. The good news is I have a new one. It took a little longer than I expected to find a new one that I liked, had all the features I wanted, and was a price I was willing to pay. My old laptop was from 2018 so I needed to upgrade eventually. I just hadn't planned on doing it this summer.

Motivational Quote:  "I think being creative, trying new things, being ambitious means at some point along the line you are going to 'fail.' And actually, it's our job to say this is one step on a much broader journey to success." ~ Mary Bekhait (British businessperson)

What I'm Reading:  I'm currently reading The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett. It is also a long novel with 634 pages not including the Author's Note after the story ends. Ms. Stockett also wrote The Help. I didn't read that book, but I did enjoy the movie. 

Random Things:  We had my mom's 90th birthday party on June 20th. (Her actual birthday is June 30th.) It was a great success. Everyone who was invited came, even a couple of families who had to drive about 2 hours one way and one niece who flew in from Florida where she's been based for work the last few months. My mom had a great time seeing and visiting with everyone. 

Random Photo:

     Some of the cupcakes from the birthday party. Roses are my mom's favorite flower.

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I have the feedback from all of my beta readers and have compiled them into usable notes so that I can tackle the items they flagged/mentioned. I have a busy week this week so writing will have to be squeezed in around everything else going on. I try to prioritize my writing but sometimes things crop up and the universe laughs at my plans. This is one of those weeks.  

 Motivational Quote:  "Once you've a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it." ~ Joe Abercrombie (English writer and film editor)

What I'm Reading:  I started reading Mistakes Were Made by Lucy Score last Tuesday instead of one of the books I mentioned in last week's blog. I received a notice from the library Monday that Mistakes Were Made was available to borrow and knowing it was a new release and I wouldn't be able to renew it, I set the other books aside to read this one. I'm about half way through it. It's 540 pages long not including the acknowledgements and Author's Note pages. It's the second book in the Story Lake series.

Random Things:  I'm putting together party favor bags for guests coming to my mother's 90th birthday party in a couple of weeks. It's been fun picking out party favors for the children and the women but the men were a little harder. Thankfully, most of them fish and/or are into sports so I was able to find things that I could put in their bags and stay within the budget we decided on for each bag. 

Random Photo:

                                      Mrs. Green enjoying a nap on my lap.
  

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I finished the last of the edits for Garrett's story. I'm going to take this week and give it one last read through so I can fix anything I might find. I'll then format it and get it ready to send to my beta readers over the weekend.

Motivational Quote:  "I'm inspired by a person's work ethic. Hard work motivates me to keep pushing through even when I am exhausted or overwhelmed or going through things." ~ Rita Ora, (Kosovan and British singer-songwriter)  

What I'm Reading:  I started Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry yesterday afternoon.  I've had this book on my TBR list for a while and was finally able to borrow a copy from the library.

Random Things:  Now that we're slowly moving into warmer weather, I've been doing a lot of baking on the cooler days. I rarely bake in the summer but still want homemade bread, muffins, and cookies so I've been making batches of different kinds of cookies and muffins and bread and freezing them so when it's 90 degrees with high humidity and I want a muffin or a cookie, I can just pull a few out of the freezer in the morning and have them with lunch later in the day. 

Random Photo:

I made Hermit cookie bars for the first time. I found the recipe in one of my mom's old cookbooks (copyright date was 1975). They turned out pretty good but seemed more like a gingerbread brownie than a cookie. I would make them again though. 
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I still haven't finished the last of the edits on Garrett's book. I'm trying not to be disappointed but... My mom was still not feeling well so a trip to the doctor and the lab to have blood drawn for tests and then a second trip to the doctor to get the results took up three days of writing time. The good news is that the tests showed nothing drastically wrong. She's a little anemic and is already feeling much better after being on medication for a few days.  

Motivational Quote:  "I always choose to see each new week as a new opportunity." ~ Marcus Manning (American businessperson and coach)

What I'm Reading:  I'm currently reading Across the Vanishing Sky by Catherine Cowles. It's the first book in the Starlight Grove series. It's also the first book I've read by Ms. Cowles. I'm enjoying it a lot so far. I'm only about a third of the way through the book. 

Random Things:  I came across the above quote last week. It seemed to speak to me considering how this month has been going. I haven't finished the edits that I wanted to have done nearly 3 weeks ago now but this week is a new week and a new opportunity to get them done. I'm hopeful that will happen now that my mom is feeling better and I can concentrate on Garrett's book and not worry over my mom. 

Random Photo:

 Mrs. Green giving me her angry face because I wouldn't share my turkey sandwich with her. 
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I still haven't finished the last of the edits on Garrett's book. You know that saying that goes something like you make plans and the universe laughs? That's how last week went. I'm hoping this week will be back to normal so I can finish the edits and get this book out to my beta readers. 

Motivational Quote:  "You don't know where or what fate will bring you or when. You just have to keep going. You have to just keep the faith. You have to just get up and do what you can." ~ Joe Biden, US President

What I'm Reading:  I finished reading The Astral Library by Kate Quinn last night. I think it would fall into the fantasy category? I don't read a lot of fantasy so I could be wrong in saying this book fits that category. This is the first book I've read by Ms. Quinn and I really enjoyed it. 

Random Things:  It's supposed to be in the 70's most of this week with a bit of rain on some of the days but I'm looking forward to the warmer weather so I can have the doors and windows open and get some fresh air into the house. We have one scraggly looking hyacinth that's trying to bloom in the front yard that somehow escaped the landscaper's weed eater. (He cuts down everything in his path unless it has a decorative type fence around it.)

Random Photo:

 It was such a rough week last week that I stopped at a local bakery and treated myself to an almond danish Friday afternoon. 
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I didn't finish the edits on Garrett's book as I planned. My mom was under the weather for a few days so I spent extra time with her making sure she was okay. I should be able to finish the last of the edits this week. 

Motivational Quote:  "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness; that is life." ~ Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart, actor) from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

What I'm Reading:  I just finished First Sign of Danger by Kelley Armstrong last night. It's the 4th book of the Haven's Rock series which is a spin off from her Rockton series. Both are good mystery/suspense type stories but in order to understand what's going on in the Haven's Rock series, you do need to read the Rockton series first as some of the characters from Rockton carry over to Haven's Rock.

Random Things:  We had a quiet Easter holiday with just my mom and two of my sisters over for dinner. I made a homemade carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. The frosting was bought from the store (Betty Crocker). I have yet to master the art of making frosting that doesn't taste like you're chewing sugar or like you just took a bite off a stick of butter.  

Random Photo:

I forgot to take a picture of my carrot cake before we cut it so here is one that I found on FreePik that looks very close to my cake except for the little carrot on top. 

 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  Good writing week last week. I should finish up the last of the first round of edits/revisions by the end of the week. I will have to go back and rewrite part of the beginning due to changes I've made to the rest of the book. I hope to get that done by the end of the first full week of April.

Motivational Quote:  "There are only so many hours in the day, so some parts of your life will be out of whack. You can try to have it all if you manage expectations and redefine what joy, protection, and safety mean to you."  ~ Gabrielle Union (American actor and activist)

What I'm Reading:  I started reading Bloodlust by Sandra Brown last Friday. I didn't realize it was the second book in a series. Despite that, I don't feel lost at all or that I needed to read the earlier book first. 

Random Things:  Like most people, I'm looking forward to spring weather. Any day that's 50 degrees or higher makes me want to put away the winter coats, boots, and gloves. Not to mention the shovel and snow brush. I haven't put away the latter yet because I'm certain that as soon as I do, we'll get one last late winter storm. The winter coats will have to stay out a bit longer because we have temperatures in the 30's more often than not.

Random Photo:

This seemed appropriate since I'm working on first draft edits and finding more things that need "fixing" than I expected.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  It's been a busy couple of weeks but I've still managed to make progress on Garrett's book. I'd say I'm about two-thirds of the way through edits for the book, maybe a little less. I'm still on track to be finished by 4/4 unless something unexpected crops up. And given the way the last 2 weeks have gone, that's entirely possible.

Motivational Quote:  "The greatest relationship, the greatest one you will ever have is with yourself. Believe me. Have faith in yourself." ~ Sheryl Lee Ralph (American actress)

What I'm Reading:  I started reading Free Falling by Jill Shalvis Saturday evening. This is the 2nd book in her Colburn Brothers series.  

Random Things:  I made Ciambellone (an Italian citrus cake) for the first time just over a week ago now. You can make it with lemons, limes, or oranges. I used lemons. I've never made a bundt type cake from scratch before. The top of the cake cracked a bit when I tipped it out of the pan but overall I was happy with how it turned out. It had a good lemon flavor but I think it would have better with a lemon glaze. The recipe I was given calls for powdered sugar to be sifted over the top before serving. I would make it again but with a lemon icing or glaze.

Random Photo:

                                                    The Ciambellone that I made.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  Edits/revisions on Garrett's book are moving forward. I'm happy with my progress but wish I was further along. At the same time, I don't want to rush the process and turn in a sub-par book to my editor. 

Motivational Quote:  "I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope." ~ Rosa Parks (American civil rights activist)

What I'm Reading:  I started reading The Christmas Fix by Lucy Score yesterday afternoon. I didn't get a chance to read this during the Christmas season so I decided to read it now while it's still cold and snowy outside.

Random Things:  The temperature reached 50 degrees in my area this past weekend. It was bright and sunny and "warm." Warm being a relative term but since we've had days where the high temperatures were in the 20's or lower, 50 almost felt like summer. I'm hoping winter is winding down. 

Random Photo:

 

I meant to include this photo in my 2/16 post. This is a bouquet of roses there were available for purchase at one of our local grocery stores for Valentine's Day. I'm not sure how I'd feel if someone gave me black roses. 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I hit the 100 page mark in revisions. I still have two-thirds of the book to go. Despite that, I feel like I'm making good progress. I'm trying to do the developmental edits and line edits at the same time. I usually do them separately but this book is so far past its original publication deadline that I want to get my edits done so I can send it to my editor and beta readers by the end of March at the latest.

Motivational Quote:  "At the end of the day, you can't have it all. And if you take care of your mental well-being first, the rest will fall into place." ~ Simone Biles (American gymnast)

What I'm Reading:  I'm not reading anything at the moment. I'm going to the library this afternoon to pick a few books that I requested that have come in.

Random Things:  It was cold and snowy over the weekend so after I finished the usual Saturday housework, I did some baking. I made focaccia bread (our new favorite homemade bread) and tried a new recipe for peanut butter muffins. I love peanut butter so I had to try out the recipe. After I finished baking and cleaning up the kitchen, I curled up on the sofa with a book and a cup or two of tea. It was a nice way to spend the weekend.

Random Photo:

                                  Here's how the peanut butter muffins came out. 
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  It was a good week. I feel like I made good progress adding more words than I deleted while I worked on revising the first section of Garrett's story. 

Motivational Quote:  "Power is the ability to achieve purpose." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 

What I'm Reading:  I started reading The Summer We Started Over by Nancy Thayer yesterday afternoon. I haven't read anything by Ms. Thayer before.  

Random Things:  The quote above seemed really appropriate after last week. I used my power to get things done especially since I think I have a case of the winter blues. I didn't feel like doing anything but cuddling on the sofa with a book and a blanket and one of the cats last week. Despite feeling like that, I still made writing or I should say revising Garrett's book a priority and of course doing the every day things that life requires (cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping). Once I finished everything that needed to be done, then I indulged my desire to lounge on the sofa. I'm hoping this feeling of not wanting to do anything passes soon. 

Random Photo:

                                 I hope you had a fun and happy Valentine's Day

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I've completed the edits for the first 65 pages or so of Garrett's story. I've hit the point where the first of the major rewrites will take place to close the gaping plot hole I found during my read through of the entire manuscript. I'm not certain how much writing I'll get done as there are a number of appointments this week. 

Motivational Quote:  "You get to pick what your life has time and room for. Be discerning." ~ Taylor Swift

What I'm Reading:  I'm going to start reading Serial Killer Games by Kate Posey this evening. The book has an interesting premise so we'll see how it goes. I've never read anything by Ms. Posey so I don't know what to expect.

Random Things:  I signed up for a class on hand lettering. I always wanted to learn calligraphy. The class will teach a much more basic form of it. I'm hoping with consistent practice I'll be able to master it enough to use on my handmade holiday and birthday cards instead of always relying on a stamped sentiment. 

Random Photo:

I'm not sure which thing Mrs. Green was happier about - that the Chewy order with her treats arrived or that she had a new box to take over. 
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I didn't make much progress on my revisions of Garrett's story. I found a major plot issue that is going to require major rewriting. I'm torn between leaving it for now and doing the other edits first or doing the edits until I get to the area that will need the complete rewrite then going on to finish the rest of the edits. I'm worried if I do the other things first, then the major rewrite, that the rewrite might cause other things to have to be changed or rewritten as well. I'll have to think about it for a bit, but honestly, it makes more sense to do the big rewrite first then fix/edit anything that comes after that.

Motivational Quote:  "Even if we are busy, we have time for what matters. And when we focus on what matters, we can build the lives we want in the time we've got." ~ Laura Vanderkam (American speaker)

What I'm Reading:  I started reading The Summer that Changed Everything by Brenda Novak on Friday. It wasn't a book I had on my To Be Read list, but I saw it at the library and the cover caught my eye so I added it to the small stack of books I was already going to borrow.  

Random Things:  I came across the motivational quote above in mid-December. It almost seemed as though the Universe was trying to tell me something as I had been complaining to a friend how I never seem to have time to do everything I want to do or need to do without feeling like I'm always falling behind in something. As I mentioned in last week's post, I'm trying to be more intentional in how I spend my time. It's too early to tell if the changes I've made are working as it's only been about 2 weeks, but I am feeling less stressed. 

Random Photo:

I didn't get a chance to post photos of the coffee cup I bought to use in the month of December so I thought I'd post it this week before I put it in the back of the cupboard until next December.

 

Monday Check In

 Welcome to my first Monday Check In of 2026. 

Last week...

Writing Related:  I spent the last week reading through the draft of Garrett's story and making a lot of notes. Leaving it alone for about a month really helped me see what needs fixing. There are some plot holes that need filling, some areas that need fleshing out in terms of description and emotion, a sub-plot that kind of meandered off into nothing, and of course way too many uses of the word "just." It seems to be one of my favorite words to use in my writing. I'm not sure how much time I'll get to work on revisions this week as both my mom and I have doctor appointments, I have a four hour class, and we'll be having family visiting on Thursday that may take up most of the day. 

Motivational Quote:  "We have to believe that we are never too old, never too jaded, and never too broken to take our first steps toward change. We wake up every single day with the ability to start fresh - it is never too late to take advantage of that." ~ Bianca Sparacino (Canadian writer)

What I'm Reading:  I started reading Beyond What is Given by Rebecca Yarros yesterday afternoon. It's the third book in her Flight & Glory series. 

Random Things:  I really want to make good use of my time this year so I'm trying a new to me way of scheduling my day. I'm hoping it'll help keep me on track not only with my writing career goals, but with some projects around the house I'd like to have checked off by June. I'm going to follow the new process for the 1st quarter of the year and see how it goes. It'll be hard to see if the process is working this month as my family has a lot going in January. No slow start to the new year for us but things will slow down drastically in February and March which I'm pretty happy about. Those are the worst of the winter months where I live so I'm fine with not having a million things to do outside the house during that time. 

Random Photo

One of my sisters gave me this coffee cup as a gift. I think applies to reading and when I'm writing and have to stop for one reason or another while the words are flowing. 
 

 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I've received feedback on Coming Home from my editor and all of my beta readers. Thankfully, they all liked the book. There are a few minor tweaks I'll need to make and/or fix but overall, there won't be a lot of rewriting or editing to be done before the book is released in early January 2025.

 Motivational Quote: "To fulfill a dream...to be given the chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life." ~ Bette Davis

What I'm Reading:  I'll be starting Beach Read by Emily Henry tonight when I go to bed. I've heard good things about it so I'm looking forward to reading it.

Random Thoughts:  Cookie baking will commence today and continue throughout the week. We make 12 different kinds of cookies and about 10 dozen of each type every year. We pack them in containers and give them out to friends and family. Every year I say we're not going to cut back and not make so many different kinds, but we always end up with 12 anyway. Some recipes are tried and true that have been made for years (since I was a child) and some are newish having been made at least 3 years and some are new, new being made for the first time. It's a lot of work, but I look forward to it every year.

Random Photo: 

The frosted sugar cookies we make every year and have been making since I was a child.