Oh, Joy!

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I typed "The End" to my third romance series book this evening. I feel like poor old Atlas who finally got the nerve to shuck off that worldly weight he carried around.

Weight?

Oh, yes. Writing is work. It's a millstone around our necks. But we wouldn't trade it for anything! And that is total truth. We baby that millstone. Polish it. Make sure it doesn't get bumped and chipped. Guard it that no one steals it. Are paranoid if anyone comes around sniffing at it, wanting to look at OUR millstone. That's mine. Keep those mitts off, I'll thank you.

You can understand, you've encouraged me, and trod parts of this manuscript's journey with me, listening to my whines, and agonies. So thank you, dearest friends and family, for sticking in there with me. I love you all dearly.

Now, here's to finishing my cozy.


A Tongue-in-the-Cheek Quote:
You probably wouldn't worry about what people think of you if you knew how seldom they do. -- Olin Miller


Blessings!

Raining in Snugginess

Some thoughts about rain and other stuff.

Wow. The different shades of rain today. Vicious downpours that are scary. Tiny timid drizzles. Steady-to-be-trusted water works. I've experienced them all. Today.

I feel shut in, but the snuggly kind that promotes contentment.

Just finished tweaking a requested full manuscript from my agent, and need to get going on a revision of one, but can't seem to drum up the discipline to do that. So . . . I'm back to finishing my put-off-to-finish-other-things romance. Today, maybe.

Thinking about words, and a perfect title came to mind. Haven't exactly got a plot or characters to support it yet, but hey, a title is something, ain't it?

Back to the rain, why do I always think I'm going to get washed down off the hill we live against? Silly fear. One of many. Too unreasonable to explain. But who can reason away fears?

Ever tried to see if you'd drown by raising your face to the rain? Hmmm. I wonder. Maybe I'll . . . nah. I don't think so.

Is rain really good for your hair and face?

Can you imagine it raining for forty days and nights? Maybe I would float right off this hill. Could be a good way to go vacationing. Pennsylvania one week, then float on out west to Oklahoma, make a few stops in Montana, Indiana, and if I've still got the energy I'd float right on down to Virginia. No ocean-bordered states. 'Fraid I'd hit those big waters and never be seen again. Yikes. I'm scaring myself.

And finally, how would you like to live in a country (or a state) that had rain almost every day? I don't think so. My opinion? Rain is good. Rain is beneficial. Rain if all right--in small doses. But don't give me too much. I'd live in a permanent state of depression!


P. S. I had to laugh after I typed in the title to this blog. My blog grammar master underlined the word "snugginess." I promptly added it my private dictionary list. I just coined a new word. Hmmm.


Quote:
Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed. --Corita Kent


Blessings

26 Books

Can you imagine anyone reading 26 books in one month?

One of the members of my writing group posted on a certain segment of it that she'd read that many. And she's pregnant with her sixth (seventh?) child. Homeschools. Whooee. 26.

Now I love to read. Always have. Always will, I suppose. And I've always read a lot. Anymore, I do a lot of audio books, rather than straight out reading. Of course, I still read some, but mostly for research, occasionally one from an author I love, if I can't get the audio. I can't imagine having the time to read that much.

I write.

Lots of people show surprise that I have two or three manuscripts going at once, but that works for me. I get bored, reach a plateau, or get a new idea, I can switch. Gives me a breather, refreshes me to move ahead. And I get them done this way.

Here's what I've got going on right now.

• My agent is submitting my first (in a three book series) of my Tara Layne and Hickory suspense books. The first is finished. I'm plotting and researching the first and second ones now. Hopefully, will soon start the second. They are set in Montana.
  
• I'm within a couple of chapters of finishing the third in a three book romance series, set in West Virginia.
  
• I'm 3/4 done with a historical that carries a little suspense and romance in it. This will also be a three book series about three red-headed sisters, set in Cincinnati.
• I'm almost done with the first in who-knows-how-many-book cozy series, set anywhere in the United States.

Here's what's for the future (not counting what will continue from above. These are ideas given to me or that came to me, manuscripts started but not finished for lack of time or other excuses, or short stories I wrote but want to expand someday into a book.

• A historical set in the early 1900's about a lawyer turned hobo (single title)
• A missionary story set in Mexico in the heart of the drug country (single title)
• A psychological thriller (I can't wait!) with quite a twist in the plot! (single title)

Got my work cut out for me. And I can't wait to get started!


Quote:
Imagination is the highest kite one can fly. --Lauren Bacall


Blessings!