I freely admit I love the ocean.  Don’t necessarily want to be ‘in’ it but love being near it or on it!  This past week was spent mostly on the shores of St. Pete’s Beach in Florida. Every couple of years I attend a writer’s conference held at a popular resort. Though it’s not my favorite hotel (especially this year with rats—yes rats—running around the beach bar area at night), the views are always stellar.
 
My good friend, author Olivia Sands convinced me to join her in the ocean on our first day. I honestly can not remember the last time I stood in the ocean above my ankles! It was warm and pleasant and we even had a dolphin swim past us. Of course my first reaction was to reach for my phone, which sensibly was on the shore LOL! That’s one of the pitfalls of being ‘in’ the water rather than near it—no photo ops!
 
Today I’m back in landlocked North Texas but delighted to be in my own home. As much as I love traveling, and I do LOVE it, it’s always nice to come home and sleep in your own bed and be loved on by two dogs who think the sun rises and sets around you! But if you ask what was the one thing I really missed about home while enjoying the sunny shores of Florida—my teacup warmer. LOL.  This morning as I slowly sip my tea that has been perfectly warm for two hours now, (it’s a mini mug size hot plate like thing that is on my end table and plugged in always) I realized just how much I missed that!
 
Here are a couple of photos of my working week, including a last day photo with the wonderful authors Susan Stoker, Elle James, and Olivia Sands!

Here's a view from my room - you can see why I say the views are phenomenal!  And thankfully the only rainy day was the day afternoon I arrived - after that it was all blue skies and sunshine! (and heat lol) 

​Are you an ocean or water person too? (even if like me you don't go in it lol) 

​This week is short and sweet – I have landed in not-so-sunny Florida for a writers conference. Even under the cloudy skies, it’s still nice to see the ocean.
 
Having grown up within a short drive to a handful of beaches on the East Coast, living so far away from water is one o the few downsides to North Texas. I’m hoping to get my fill of squawking birds and rolling waves to last me another year!
 
Will share more photos next week if the sun ever comes out
 
Just curious – anyone else enjoy walking on the beach?  

​Are you a techie person? I’m not. I even struggled with digital cameras when they first came out. I loved my 35mm. Had no trouble with apertures and other things, but figuring out how to take a photo without accidentally filming was not my strength. LOL.
 
It’s only gotten worse through the years. I am constantly having words with my phone. It does not cooperate. And my computer. Oye!
 
Well this weekend I got struck with technology mishaps in spades! We are trying to set up my website to sell autographed copies of books – well – we as in my help and the mouse in their pocket LOL.  Of course, everything is in building not-ready-for-prime-time stages, and I should know better than to touch any of it.
 
But, I got an email from a newsletter fan pointing out an error  with a cover. So in my eagerness to be expedient, I went in and changed the cover, hit publish, and set all the incomplete work live! O-M-Lord! Who is dumb enough to do this on a Sunday morning! Apparently ME! Lol.
 
A panicked call to my daughter who is much more tech savvy than me, and we worked through undoing some of what I’d done. Only accomplishing some meant I had to get on the computer with chat support, and after telling me that the part we couldn’t figure out couldn’t be undone, I was in full on freak out mode.
 
Fortunately, a few more minutes of interaction and the guy (assuming it really was a man named Daniel) undid it all for me and I didn’t have to lose too much of the work that had been done.
 
Are you a new gadget and technology person or do you run and hide under the bed, refusing to upgrade like me ? LOL. 

​Hello!  I hope you all enjoyed the long weekend. I love holidays that involve a little extra time away from real world responsibilities. Of course that means I’m a wee bit late with my Monday blog.  My daughter and her family were here for the weekend and went on their way this morning. It’s always hard to see them go.
 
I do have one good thing behind me. Last night I sent my most recent flirt to my review team. They get first eyes on my finished work, help with typos, miscellaneous errors and miscommunications. After that it goes off to the general public. I don’t write a whole lot of flirts, but this time I went back to the Aloha world for a few minutes.
 
Originally it was titled Night and Day but when the short story was done, it didn’t fit anymore so we changed it again. Now it’s The Cat’s Meow. J  For those of you unfamiliar with my flirts  - they’re snippets in the series world. I call them glorified meet cutes. They remind me of the old television show Love American Style. The first step to what we all now would eventually be a happy ever after.
 
Which means now I get to focus all my attention on the new series – I’m chugging along with book one. Have a pretty good footprint – although my daughter, editor and friends all agreed the first scene had to go and I need to start with the second scene. Oh well, I liked a lot about the original opener, but anyone who asks the advise of professionals around them and doesn’t follow it, is pretty foolish. So, we start at scene two and onward we march!
 
Make sure you’re signed up for my newsletter as those folks get a free copy of the flirts before they go on the open market J
 
Enjoy the rest of your week and share what you did this weekend! 

 And let me tell you this weekend, mine was a doozy.  I am one of those people who is always doing a million things at a time, always rushing around (how I broke my toe) and never has an empty to-do list.
 
I’m also the sort who loves my family and will usually put them first. Like most mom, it’s second nature for our interests to take a back seat to what’s best for the family. I truly believe my family knows I would do anything for them, including march into hell and back.
 
Sadly, you sure wouldn’t have known that this weekend. I have been wanting to get something long-lasting and maybe even a little fun for my grandson for his second birthday. Another friend told me that silver dollars were a great gift. One for every year. So they look forward to getting them, can play with them on their birthday, and will have an investment all at the same time.  So I went ahead and did that. Sorted through an old box of my father in law’s and picked out the nice silver dollars. In my mind, birthday responsibility solved. All I have to remember is a small cake when they come next week to celebrate my grandson and husband’s birthdays together.
 
All set- right? Wrong. Saturday was a long day. Nothing went quite the way I planned and I spend a couple of hours working on an action plan for my mom’s care for the next six months or so. Rather distressing to have it in plan, but that meant I was late for my weekly dinner with a friend. In my car, hurrying to meet my friend, I called my daughter to update her. She answers the phone greeting me as Oma which cues me that she’s with my grandson. I say hi baby boy, Oma loves you. Then I move right into, I’m running late and want to update her. My daughter in her sweet voice asks, ‘Don’t you want to say something to Carter?’ – and I’m like – and this is a quote – ‘Not really’. See where this is going yet? I continue, ‘I’m running late and don’t have much time and I want to update you on Gramma.” To which my daughter chuckles and says ‘That’s okay, you can wish Carter a Happy Birthday next year.’ OYE!
 
Fortunately, my daughter still loves me and if no one reminds him, my grandson will never know!
 
Does your family make a big fuss about birthdays? I’m going to have to get in the habit!
 
Enjoy your week! 

​Am I the only one that doesn’t have time to do important things but then miraculously finds four hours to spend rearranging furniture? Yep – that’s what I did this weekend. Broken toe and all, I spent hours with a friend moving furniture from side to side.
 
And how did that start you ask? Well, I’m a bargain lover and when I spotted these two lovely chairs for sale on my neighborhood page, I ran and bought them. While I think they were beautiful (it’s the striped chair in the photo that looks yellow but isn’t lol), turns out they were too big for the space that I wanted them for. I did not realize that my previous armchairs were as small as they are (though I should have since they’re uncomfortable and why I wanted to replace them) nor did I realize how big these chairs are – which is probably why my six foot tall husband thinks they’re perfect LOL.
 
So, now that I know they don’t fit in the existing spot, my friend volunteered to help me move furniture around and even with my broken toe we did just fine. Though we did wind up like that old joke, back where we started from a few times lol.
 
In the end the arrangement wasn’t really very different and yet it was indeed very different. We went from a predictable square footprint to a diagonal positioning. Though we had to downgrade from two arm chairs on the end to only the one new one, relegating the second new chair to a bedroom. Once we decided that the arrangement even though a bit different really showcased the rug and my grandmother’s barley twist table, then I found myself hobbling around the house adding little bits. Pulled some throw pillows from one bedroom, a foot stool from another (which means I have one less junk collector in that room lol), moved knick knacks around, shifted end tables back and forth or from room to room, and of course now I have a new list of things to keep an eye out for when garage saling to complete the room!
 
I really do love changing things up a bit, especially when it doesn’t cost much money! I’m thinking maybe it’s time to rearrange my bedroom and see how that goes!
 
What do you think? 

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Oh how I wish I were back in Paradise enjoying a breakfast of stuffed French toast! I love the beach (photo from Hawaii 2013) and I love the warm weather, so Hawaii is a perfect fit – no matter where you go, you are never very far away from the ocean.  And I do love the smell of sea air! Do you?
 
Anyhow, why am I reminiscing about the beach? Well, I thought it would be fun to go back to the world of the Big Island Dive shop for a short visit. While letting the new series ferment so to speak lol, I took a break and jotted down a little flirt at the Surf’s Up.  It’s at the editor’s now and should be available to my newsletter subscribers pretty soon. In the meantime, here’s a preview of the cover.  Isn’t it cute – a bit different from the earlier flirts but reflective of my mood I think.
 
For those of you not familiar with my flirts, I think of them as snippets of a TV show. A scene where you get to catch up on what’s going on in that book world through character cameos.  They actually remind me of the old television show Love American Style LOL.  Yeah, I’m dating myself with that one!
 
As for daily life here in North Texas, I made it through another week with the broken toe and no setbacks. It’s still purple and slowly healing but every day is a step closer to being done with the stupid orthodic shoe!  I especially hope the foot is healed enough for real shoes by the time I leave for Florida next month. Every year there’s a writer’s conference at Florida’s Gulf coast and whenever I can, I go. I just don’t want to be hobbling at the beach!
 
I also want to be in good shape for when the State Fair rolls around. This will be the first year my grandson is old enough to enjoy the children’s events and I’m looking forward to that. Do you have a popular State or County fair near you? Do you make it a point to go?
 
Heading back to work now, with my feet up of course lol, and will report in next week!
 
 

​Well this has been a very busy week. My daughter went out of town for a long weekend and hubby and I got to keep the grandson. Of course, just to make things more interesting, I broke my little toe the night before she left. So Oma (that’s me) has been hobbling in a post-op shoe and a sandal for six days!
 
Thankfully, it was only the pinky toe and not a lot of collateral damage. I’ve broken toes that have left me as challenged as with a broken ankle and I am beyond grateful that even though I hobbled slowly, with the help of ibuprofen and the right support, I hobbled! Including all morning at the aquarium with friends!  Considering my little one is not quite two, he did really well. He adored the big catfish swimming around him and then later literally ran circles around Oma while waiting in line for the lunch restaurant to open. Such a good kid. We’re blessed.
 
Next day Pawpaw (that’s a Texas thing and I’m still not sure how it should be spelled lol) did most of the play time including in the swimming pool. That old pool is held together with glue, spit, and love most of the time (hasn’t been replastered in the 25 years we’ve lived here!) but the little ones love it and I am very thankful to have it!  I’ve included a favorite photo because grandson’s face is so happy!  It looks like he’s inherited his Pawpaw’s love of water. I love being on or near water but not in it. The only time I usually get in the pool is when I need to do physical therapy for an injured limb lol. Though I don’t plan to need that anymore!
 
After several days running after a two year old, I freely give major kudos to all the authors out there who manage to write and care for young families. Despite my good intentions, no writing got done. I did manage to keep up a bit on business, but the creative side was too pooped to pop LOL. What I would love is a week away with a small group of authors in a peaceful place for iron to sharpen iron and get these projects hammered out, but I don’t see that happening any time soon - sigh.  I’m still struggling with the new series and if anyone knows anyone who is a dog trainer or a military k9 handler – have them give me a shout please.
 
Say a prayer and cross your fingers and toes that I get LOTS of work done this week. 

A Night Out with Journey
 
Anyone who knows me well, knows that my idea of a night out is a nice dinner and plenty of conversation and maybe even a fancy drink that tastes more fancy than drink (like my chocolate martinis!).  This Friday night a couple of friends invited us to go hear a Journey cover band at the club attached to a local hotel.
 
Of course, the night owl in me said sure! The old lady in me maybe should have asked more questions LOL.  When we arrived what I had pictured as a quiet little lounge with a few old coots playing memorable tunes I could sing along to on a small platform wasn’t quite the case. It was a huge cavernous club, as in night club from the days of old, with industrial ceilings, insanely loud DJ, and no place to sit. The no place to sit was most likely due to the hundred or so people with tickets in front of us.
 
Yeah, I neglected to mention the line out the door on our arrival, (apparently Journey enjoyed a resurgence a decade or so ago thanks to a television show) but I digress. Being the lazy sort all of us did our best to cajole, sweet talk (I started with excuse me, handsome when addressing the manager) and even bribery, but no extra chairs were to be found and hauled into the place. So, in 100 degree weather (that’s not an exaggeration!) we made out way outside to the equally huge deck overlooking the lake. Fortunately for me, I have little aversion to heat. Which is why I no longer live in New York as I have a very large aversion to cold lol. We found a nice table for four right by the water that I thought was quite pleasant.
 
To my surprise, when the band music began streaming through the outdoor speakers, I was thrilled. Not only because I could hear the music and talk to the person beside me, but it turns out the stage (yeah not a platform) was a full on light show and I had a perfect view through the large plate glass windows from my table. All in all, a much better experience for me than inside with all those people and the deafening sound levels. I actually enjoyed it so much that we might even go back in a few weeks to hear some retro 70’s music. We’ll have to see! 
 
I know that you can’t really see the lake, but it all that black behind hubby is rippling water, which was really nice.  The other photo of the band should give you a good idea of the light show!

Oh - and if anyone is curious - the winner was the DOG!  You can see all the new Hart Land covers on your favorite storefront! 
 
Are you a Journey fan? What band would you love to see if given the chance? 

nyone else having trouble with how fast summer is rushing by? I can’t believe that it’s already almost August!  Where I live this means scorching hot days for the next six weeks. So far this summer we’ve been blessed to have below normal heat. On the fourth of July it never hit 90 and we had lovely breezes. Spending all day outside was pleasant and so not the norm for Texas in July LOL.
 
For months, maybe longer, I’ve been wanting to get a comfortable recliner for our sunny upstairs multi-purpose room. The idea being to turn it into a writing corner. I bought some foot rest storage cubes at a garage sale to keep my stuff in so the room doesn’t look too sloppy, and I repurposed a magazine rack from my room so keep papers neat and slip my laptop into when I’m not working. The idea is to only write from that chair so my mind knows when I sit down it’s supposed to be in creative mode!
 
Well, Saturday on my way home from my mom’s I decided to stop at an estate sale in my neighborhood. About fifteen or so years ago (could be longer, who knows lol) I needed a sleeper sofa for that multi purpose room. I found a super bargain on Craigslist. Apparently in the new millennium no one wanted a tuxedo style slate blue leather sleeper sofa. I on the other hand found no reason not to decorate my room around a blue sofa so for a whopping twenty dollars (yep you read that right) I bought a new sofa. Back to Saturday. What do I see in the living room? A wingback recliner (my favorite because it’s not bulky and takes up less room) in the exact same shade of leather as the sofa. So for fifty dollars I now have a perfect recliner to write from! I am so proud of my little find!
 
Now we come back to the business end of writing. Every so many years publishers change up the covers on books to refresh them or follow trends. Since my Hart Land series is set on a lake, a currently popular trend, they are getting new covers. I am blessed to have input and the ability to tell the designers that I hate something. Well nine covers are tough. We’re stuck on Hyacinth where I’m not loving either so I thought maybe you could help.
 
Which cover do you prefer – Table or Dog?

Can’t wait to here from you!
 
Maybe next week if you want I can show you the new chair LOL.