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 started writing the first book in the Eden's Crossing series. I'm going to refer to it as Garrett's book going forward because I rarely come up with a title until after the first draft is written. I didn't set a word count goal for last week but wrote a decent amount considering I had a lot of other stuff going on and the first few chapters usually take me longer to write than the rest of the book. 

Motivational Quote: "Do what you can do." ~ Mary Oliver, American Poet  This is good advice in general and for anyone feeling overwhelmed.

What I'm Reading:  I'm reading Track Her Down by Melinda Leigh. This is the 9th book in the Bree Taggert series. If you like suspense with a little bit of romance, I highly recommend this series. 

Random Thoughts:  Last week I mentioned getting a bread cookbook. I made the Vermont Cheddar Bread recipe yesterday. I didn't have high expectations because I've tried a number of different cheddar bread recipes and have always been disappointed. Either the cheese melts into the bread and can't even be seen, much less tasted, or the bread itself is really dense. This recipe came out well. I've posted a picture of it below.

Random Photo:

                                          The Vermont Cheddar Bread I made

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I met my weekly goal and picked up the pages I was behind so it was a good writing week. I'm pretty sure I will finish the first draft by this coming Friday. I'm don't remember if I told you all the title of this book, last book in the Echo Company series. It will be Coming Home.

 Motivational Quote:  "...We must be ambitious, and we must have the will." ~ Kailash Satyarthi

What I'm Reading:  I'll be starting On Her Watch by Melinda Leigh tonight. This is the 8th book in the Bree Taggert series. It's shelved as romantic suspense at my local library, but I consider this series to be more suspense with a dash of romance than the usual romantic suspense type books.

Random Thoughts:  I made another ginger cookie recipe yesterday. It's a molasses ginger cookie. They're good, but I think my gingerbread chocolate chip cookie recipe is still better. I think maybe I need to stop looking for a different one especially since everyone in my family loves the gingerbread one. 

Random Photo:

                                              The molasses ginger cookies
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related:  I hit the 200 page mark in the current book I'm working on. I settled on a title - Coming Home. This is the last book in the Echo Company series and is Jimmy and Callie's reunion story so the title seemed very fitting. I think I should be able to wrap the book up in about 100 to 125 more pages. I'll have to see how things go.

Motivational Quote: "Life is changing every day, things come and go, but always be yourself and stay focused on your dreams." ~ Tilda Moyo-Karizamimba

What I'm Reading: I started reading Catch Her Death by Melinda Leigh yesterday afternoon. This is the 7th book in the Bree Taggert series. 

Random Things:  We did go to the pumpkin farm last Friday. I bought a pumpkin to carve and two smaller, almost gourd like, ones. We also bought a few acorn squash. I'll probably carve the pumpkin next weekend and bake the seeds at the same time. I don't want to carve it too early. I'm not so worried that it'll be moldy or rotting by Halloween as I am that the squirrels in the neighborhood will have it half eaten by then. 

Random Photo:

Here's a picture of the pumpkin I bought. It's pretty good sized, not that you can tell from the picture. The farm we went to doesn't charge for their pumpkins by weight. Every pumpkin is $5.00 or less depending on the size. I paid $4.00 for this one.
 

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related: Augh! I didn't finish Ivan's story last week like I'd hoped, but I definitely will have it completed by the end of this week.

Motivational Quote: "You can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears." ~ Gillian Anderson

What I'm Reading: I started reading Right Behind Her by Melinda Leigh last night. It's the fourth book in the Bree Taggert series.

Random Things: I try really hard not to complain about how hot and humid it is in the summer because I absolutely hate the winter season. That being said, I'm wishing we'd have fewer 90 plus degree days. It was 91 degrees on Saturday, 92 degrees yesterday and the forecast is saying it will be at least 90 degrees today all with high humidity. I'd like a week or so with the temperatures in the 70's.

Random Photo:

                  Somebody hogging the fan trying to cool off along with the rest of us.
 

  

Monday Check In

Last week...

Writing Related -- I had hoped to get quite a bit done last week, but it didn't work out that way. I had a terrible migraine Wednesday that came on as I was driving home from work so I ended laying down for a couple of hours until the worst of it passed, then tried to play catch up and do everything that should have been done while I was laying down. Friday, I ran errands for my mom so no writing done.

Motivational Quote: (I'm repeating last week's quote.)  "A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work." ~ Colin Powell 

What I'm Reading: I started Seconds to Live by Melinda Leigh Sunday before I went to bed. This is the third book in the Scarlet Falls series. I thought the first book, Hour of Need, was okay. I couldn't finish the second book, Minutes to Kill. It was really dark and dealt with human trafficking. 

Random Things: It was finally cool enough in my area to do some baking. (Who wants to bake when it's 80 degrees or more?) I made sour cream blueberry muffins. Here's a photo of one. (I put them away before I thought to take a picture. The photo is of the one I had for lunch with a cup of tea.)

 

 

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work In Progress): Still working on rewriting the ending. I've added sixteen more new pages. I had a couple of things crop up after work last week that took up some of my writing time. I'm hoping to get more done this week. 

Quote of the Week: "We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are." ~ Bill Watterson

What I'm Reading: I started reading What I've Done by Melinda Leigh on Monday. This is the fourth book in the Morgan Dane series. There are only two more books in the series before I'm caught up to what the author has written. I'm hoping she continues to write more books in the series.

Random Thoughts:  I really need it to cool down for a week or so. I'm about two months behind in working on my temperature blanket because it's way too hot to crochet with the blanket over your lap. 

Random Photo of the Week:

                I came across this quote and really liked it so I thought I'd share it here.

 

 

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work In Progress): Still working on rewriting the ending. I've added twenty new pages. I feel like it's much better, but the book is going to be much longer than the 325 pages that it was originally. 

Quote of the Week: "...habit is overcome by habit." ~ Erasmus

What I'm Reading: I started reading Bones Don't Lie by Melinda Leigh on Sunday. This is the third book in the Morgan Dane series. I'm really enjoying the series.

Random Thoughts: I found a four new cookie recipes that I'm looking forward to trying. Now, I just need it to cool down out of the 80's so I can put the oven on.

Random Photo of the Week:

                        I scolded Somebody and he went and sat in the corner.

What's Up Wednesday

This week...

My Current WIP (Work in Progress): I did 22 more pages last week. I will not be doing any work on my WIP this week. My mom's birthday was yesterday so we spend Monday and Tuesday doing things she wanted to do. I have one last appointment for my hand after work today. My nephew is stopping by tomorrow to bring my mom a new rosebush for her birthday. We are going to stay on the porch while he plants it in the yard. This way we'll be able to visit with him, but maintain social distance. 

Quote of the Week: "Keep the promises you make to yourself" ~ from a Dove Promises chocolate wrapper

What I'm Reading: I started reading "Cross Her Heart" by Melinda Leigh Monday night. This is the first book I've read by Ms. Leigh. I'm not very far into it yet, but I'm liking it so far.

Random Thoughts: My mom and I went to our local library last Friday. I can't tell you how much I missed going to the library. The library is limiting the number of items you can take out to 5 books per member. That was hard because we both usually get out between 8 and 10 books each. I had to decide which book I wanted to read more than another. I do understand the limit though as they are putting every book that is returned into a quarantine room for three days before it's checked back in and available for someone else to borrow. Our library is pretty busy so I can't imagine how many books are going into quarantine on a daily basis even with the limit of 5 books per member.

Random Photo of the Week:

I planted some old unlabeled seeds in a tiny clay pot I had just to see what would happen. It's actually growing. I just don't know what I'm growing.