​Good morning!
 
I hope you had a wonderful week and that all mothers had the day they deserved yesterday!
 
For me, Sunday was a work day.  This last week has been a hard push to get the last details done on Honeymoon for Four and that meant working sixteen hour days this week including Mother’s Day. We will however be doing a three generation celebration next weekend when my daughter is in town! Looking forward to that.
 
We had a bit of a scare with my mom. That woman is strong-willed, headstrong, whatever word you choose. She raised me alone in an era when that wasn’t the norm. There were times in my life where she worked two jobs to keep me living in a nice apartment and in good schools. She was the mother every kid deserves to have on their team.
 
Well that determination survives the deterioration of her mind with dementia. They expect her to have Alzheimer’s, so we’re preparing, but for now she’s healthy as a horse and stubborn as a mule!  She loves her independence and we have been blessed to find help to keep her in her own home, but Saturday the help took the afternoon off and Mom was up like a shot to get dressed and drive herself to go shopping. Sigh.  Needless to say at 86 with dementia she has no business behind the wheel of a car anymore but is aware enough to not want her car sold.
 
After Mom’s hospital stay during the great Texas freeze (not sure if I made that up!) we were able to install cameras in the main rooms to make sure she’s okay all the time. This of course is how we knew her intent. Bless my husband who was working hard in the yard, he grabbed his keys and hurried over to stop her and then took her shopping and told me she was so upset (I explained rather sternly she’s not allowed to drive anymore –again.) that he took her for ice cream afterwards. That man is my mother’s greatest reward for all she’s done in her life for me and everyone else she loves!
 
Sharing a few photos of my mother – she really is still something else!
 
Do you have any fun mother stories to share?
 
Take care,
CK 

First off I want to update on my daughter’s home projects. Seems the next generation got hit with a nasty cold that ran through the family so they’re only now starting to work on it. I think the first project is going to be changing a window to a patio door so they don’t have to go to the laundry room to go into the backyard. Will keep you posted as soon as there’s something to report!
 
Now what I did this week.  After I dusted the house – I swear dust breeds like bunnies – I hosted a plotting day in my living room! I have been blessed with the support of a lot of wonderful authors, but there are a handful I can count on to keep me writing on a daily basis, these four ladies who are comfortable walking into my home without waiting for me to come to the door are just a few of those wonderful author friends.
 
I’ve known Kathy Ivan for as long as I’ve been writing and let me tell you, that woman has the patience of a saint. She’s always there to talk through when I’m stuck and to scold me when I’m not staying on task. Same thing with Barb Han. There is many a moment when the next scene only came after doing knee bends and balancing on one foot and free flowing ideas. Some good, some not so much, but all lots of fun! Cindy Dees is my go to lady for out of the box. You know those crazy old men who were stealing cows to save them? Yep, Cindy! Then we have Kellie Coates Gilbert. The woman has behind the scenes skills that can keep us on the phone for hours. Can you name who is who?
 
Put all five of us together in a room for hours – and new series are woven together ready to go.  So here’s what we’ve come up with for me so far.  Some things may change but most likely our new family will be living in Honeysuckle Texas.  Thanks to Cindy the town will be famous for an annual festival – not honeysuckle either LOL (you might have to wait and read the first book to find out what it is).  The family head will be a strong widow who I have yet to name. She may have a few sisters, we’ll see what she tells me. My favorite part of this whole idea though is going to be the dogs. We’ll be bringing military K9s home and hope to have a lot of fun along the way!
 
So that’s it. You know as much as I do. Oh, the series name. Texas on my Mind. What do y’all think of that?  I’m pretty excited. I don’t know very much when I start writing and it’s always fun for to learn about a town and the characters as I go.
 
I wouldn’t mind more help. Do you have favorite things you love to read in a romance series? 


Have a great week!
CK

Good Morning
 
Sorry this is a little late this morning but I was rather distracted last night – though many would consider it this morning – I live in an older suburban neighborhood with big lots and houses. I also have a major intersection within view of my backyard.
 
The thing about that intersection is that our city—well county actually—has been having trouble with drag racers. What they do is gather thirty to sixty cars and block a major intersection and do loud and of course dangerous, three sixties in the intersection. I bet you know where this is going don’t you? LOL.
 
Yep. Not too long ago I had my first experience with 'what the heck is all that revving engines about' and I looked out the window. It took me a bit to figure out that it wasn’t an accident it wasn’t a broken light – it was drag racers. So of course I called 911 and the line was busy because I wasn’t the only one calling. Long story short – about fifteen minutes later the sirens sounded and the dragsters (is that a real word? LOL) took off. (In defense of my local police department - twelve cars were dispatched, but sadly there were other criminal incidents tying our officers up) 
 
Well, as you might suspect, the story didn’t end there. The following weekend the muscle cars were back, except this time I got really mad, called 911, grabbed my phone and walked—okay maybe I stomped, to the intersection. Tried to take photos of the license plates of cars parked between me and the corner, and the people leaning against their cars and standing about. Have I mentioned I have a really bad camera in daylight? So no surprise that I got a lot of blurry grainy photos at night. I also got a really blurry video of one car in action. The amount of smoke was astounding. These people must spend a fortune on tires. I did wind up showing the police later when they had pulled over a red Camaro based on multiple caller complaints, but the officer looked at my video and noted it was a Dodge. Once upon a youth I might have known the difference at a distance lol.
 
So, weeks pass, probably a couple of months actually, and low and behold, last night I’m working late (on Honeymoon for Four in case you’re interested J ) and I hear a lot of engines, not revving, just engines. At twelve thirty in the morning that’s very odd. So I popped up, looked out at what I could see over my 8 foot fence and sure enough the intersection was crowded and blocked. The routine started again. I called 911 and got through immediately, but didn’t bother going over because I knew my stupid phone wasn’t going to do any good. The whole show was all over in about five minutes. Now the city is dispatching fire trucks and ambulances to help disperse the crowds. Sadly my husband told me in another neighborhood some woman brazen (and perhaps foolish) enough to confront the racers (I may be camera happy but I’m not stupid) and was shot and killed for her efforts. From the yelling and screaming and cussing of some of the crowd I observed last time who were caught in the backup, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later and my heart breaks for that woman’s family.
 
Now the plan is to borrow a better camera from someone and leave my 6ft ladder propped against the back fence (I had tried this after the last time, but the ladder got used and the person didn’t realize I had it there for a reason and, lord love a duck, put it away where it belongs! Can you imagine that? lol). The plan hopefully if they dare to come back, is to get better photos of license plates and cars and maybe people.
 
And that is the cap on a day in my life !
​
WHAT DID Y’ALL DO THIS WEEKEND?

Thanks for popping by!  CK 
 

I’ve done it – I’ve started a new weight loss program.
 
First let’s update you on my kids and the reno plans – I drew up some suggestions and now they’re getting bids and more suggestions to see what can be done with their budget to make their house work better.  If they move forward with the kitchen, I’ll share photos!
 
 This past weekend was busy as my daughter and her family were in town for a wedding and stayed with us. My grandson has reached the age of letting us know he’s headstrong. It will serve him well in twenty years, but it might wear the rest of us out sooner! LOL.  Unlike his grandmother who can talk a mile a minute about anything any time (lol) my grandson hasn’t found a good reason to talk to us yet. I expect he’s going to wait a while longer and spit out full sentences instead of first words.  My daughter is going to try a few new suggestions a friend gave her, but who knew too many toys and distractions could delay speech? Learn something new every day!
 
Okay – my newest weight loss effort. I’m on a diet plan (though they don’t like to call it that). The reason I opted for this one is that I don’t have to cook. There are lots of prepackaged foods which makes eating small amounts five times a day plus dinner much easier. Not all of them taste so great but in the first five days I’ve lost three pounds so that’s a great start!  It also forced me to discover that my favorite Italian restaurant makes a fantastic spinach salad with feta cheese and mandarin slices. Amazing, and on the diet! Also, they do great grilled shrimp! What more can a girl ask for on a weight loss effort?!
 
And now – with all the family stuff going on, I’ve been a little behind on my next Honeymoon release. I’m making slow progress but I’ve taken a liking to the heroine’s new next door neighbor. One of three sisters, Mina describes a large family well:
 
Mina stuck her hand out, holding the sheet of paper. “The nice thing about a really big Italian family is that there’s always a relative around who can fix something broken. Of course, the downside is even when nothing is broken there’s still always a relative around.”
 
I’m liking her enough to consider a Honeymoon for Five book – though no clue how to make that one happen!
 
I think that’s enough of me yakking for today.  Tell me what you think of Mina so far (I’ll tell you her full name is Philomena), if you’re waiting for Angela and Honeymoon for four, and remember if you have something in particular you want to talk about, let me know. 

​Well not me. Last week I got an excited call from my daughter, she’d found the perfect next house. So, like a good little author facing a deadline, I did what every mother does, dropped my work and drove three and a half hours to see the perfect house. We also found the perfect closet space, the best treed street, the gourmet kitchen that would even wow kitchen haters, the perfect secret garden yard for little kids, and the perfect adult yard for those who are old enough to drink margaritas and know how to swim—not necessarily at the same time LOL.  There were bathtubs to drool over and fantabulous pantries big enough to camp out in.
 
Unfortunately, none of these things were in the same house. After three days of looking at all the wonderful possibilities, they came to a couple of conclusions. Pool yards are a live saver in Texas, but with toddlers, not so much. Then if you’re any good at math, fixing up the things you dislike about your current home may not be such a bad investment after all!
 
There’s a long list of things to do, but none are likely to cost more than a new house! So I’ve measured, and sketched, and re-measured, and come up with some good possibilities to fix the stuff that annoys us all. 
 
This is a photo of the perfect yard. I freely admit, when I saw the expansive lawn, I gasped like a heroine in a book and knew that was going to be a tough act to follow!
 
 
Will update on the saga as I can.  Feel free to share your unexpected reno projects and remind me why I thought it could be a great idea to help my daughter.
 
Take care! Love you all,
 
Chris keniston

​Good Monday Morning!
 
This has been one heck of a long week.  There is still a lot of adjustment with my mother being home from the hospital and rehab (for those who don’t know, Mom has dementia). The hardest part of course is that I am not the most patient person and anyone who has dealt with older family members losing their ability to process current events and remember them knows patience is crucial. I need to work on that. Sigh.
 
On the bright side, I made a little more progress with Honeymoon for Four. I think this is going to be a fun book. It could be just because I love cruising so much, but I’m hoping this turns out to be as entertaining as I expect.  And for anyone who wants a hint of where it’s going, we have to strangers (aren’t they always LOL) who are going to join forces to stop their widowed parents from getting hitched on the high seas after a brief online romance. I had a blast writing Shell Game years ago and I think this could be as much fun! We’ll have to see!  I’ve also taken a liking to the three neighbor sisters so we just might get a bunch more Honeymoon books J
 
Now what I’m waiting for arrival of food for a new diet. I’ve finally discovered that with intermittent fasting I can eat the way I normally do without gaining any weight. Of course because I’m allergic to the kitchen, and probably the grocery store too, lol, my eating habits are mostly take out, frozen, or eating out with friends. None of which is easy for weight loss. Still, I consider it a great coup that for close to three months I’ve been skipping that morning metabolism booster meal and enjoying my morning tea until lunchtime, continued my mediocre eating habits, and haven’t gained another pound.
 
Which brings me back to the new diet food. I’m going to have to eat breakfast again, but all the food is pre-made, pre-measured, and free of the things I shouldn’t be eating.  The goal is to lose thirty pounds this year. Forty would be really really nice, but I will embrace thirty and be happy with it! Then I will probably return to IF for maintenance. Saying a prayer and crossing my fingers too!
 
The last thing for the day – we have figured out – we think – how to add a notification for when the blog is up. If you want to be notified, then sign up to the right or click or whatever the instructions are LOL. (Can you tell I hate technology most days?) Otherwise I’m doing my best to stick to an every Monday schedule for now.
 
So, honest opinion- how am I doing? Does anyone want to share their health tips? Snack foods that work? Anything that will help us all live to be a hundred and moving on our own steam! J
 
Have a good week,
CK 

Well I actually know where my feet are, LOL, but what to chat with y’all about is
something new for me. Since Morgan is about home renovation –well sort of – I thought
I’d share my frustration with a friend of many many many (well you get the idea) years
new kitchen project. For a very long time they’ve been saving and shopping for a small
summer home, a central place convenient for all the adult children to gather, and they
finally found one – the catch – the kitchen is tiny tiny.

​Since I’m allergic to the kitchen, tiny works fine for me, but since she loves to bake and
cook—not so much. After weeks of designs and re-designs they agreed the one wall
needed to come down for space and flow and an island was needed for more counter
space. Of course in a tiny u-shaped kitchen the island needed to be sideways instead of
across – but it works. Except when the wall came down the opening was a foot shorter
than expected. Well, my friend was calm—I was not, lol. To me a contractor should
bring a needed design change to me before he does the work. This way I’m the one to
brainstorm options, costs, and what matters more to me, the end result or the budget.
That’s not what happened. So, in the end, the kitchen will be beautiful, my friends will be
happy, and I’ll have calmed down LOL.

It’s not hard for me to get riled up when things don’t go as expected. And I get riled up
easily for myself and the people I care about. Maybe we can convince my friend to share
before and after photos.

So this brings me back around full circle to what direction to take this in. Do y’all want
me to write about whatever is happening in my world? Or would you rather know only
about my writing? At the moment that would involve the next book, Honeymoon for
Four. It’s started and I’m excited about it – I think it’s going to be fun. I love cruises, and
it looks like there’s going to be a little make believe going on. If y’all want I can keep
you posted some on that!

​I think until I find my stride, we’ll call this a day. If you have a minute just say hi so I can
see who finds me here, and feel free to make any suggestions about things that interest
you!

Take care,

​CK

​For my very first blog post I feel I should have something wonderful, astounding, and brilliant to say.  Somehow I think “I don’t know” falls a tad short!  But it’s the truth. Anyone who knows me knows conversation isn’t a short coming of mine. I can easily ramble on here for hours on—well rambling LOL.  But what I’d like to know is what do y’all want me to do here?
 
There are certain things you have to know, starting with I’m allergic to the kitchen. There will never be any great recipes or fabulous cooking stories here (though I don’t promise there might not be a day when I’ve burned the thing down). Unless maybe I ask for recipes, so if that’s what you want – tell me!
 
Another thing is I am committing to posting her at least once a week. So if you pop back every Monday there should be a new post up.  Depending on what you want from me, I could pop in more often, much like I do on Facebook, but you’ll have to tell me if you think that would nice or obnoxious and I promise not to get bent out of shape if you do!
 
So, here’s your chance to get in on the ground floor. What would you like? What are some of your favorite types of blogs to read? I know coming here is more work than just scrolling Facebook so I want to make it worth your while.  Do you want me to pop in with the occasional daily update on what ever boring thing I’m doing in my life even if it’s not book related? Are we going to keep this only book centric?  Do you want updates on book progress no matter how small the detail? Which brings me to another point – a reminder – if y’all aren’t signed up for my newsletter but want an email of when my new book is out then sign up. I only send those for new release notices (usually). And how often I send is another thing to be discussed some day, but not today!
 
Normally I release new books on Wednesdays, but for lots of reasons Morgan is coming your way on Tuesday- one day sooner! Hurry and pick up your copy – the links should be on the right of this page.  And PLEASE tell me what you think of the blog idea and what you’d like to read!
 
Happy Spring.