Young Adult Urban Fantasy – Reverse Harem
This month, when Royalty Soaps opened their shop, I was READY. I was refreshing the page, put the two soaps I wanted into my cart, tried to check out less than three minutes after open... and one of the soaps was already out of stock. The other soap was fine though, and I added some … Continue reading Royalty Soaps – I Couldn’t Resist
My supplies finally came, and I got to make some soap bars! I picked melt and pour soap making rather than cold process because I don't have a safe, well-ventilated, dog-free space to handle lye. The soap comes in big blocks having already turned oils and lye into soap. Like so: The white base will … Continue reading Trying Out Melt and Pour Soap
I have a job that, this time of the year, is requiring I do a lot of 'field work'. By which I mean, working outside in miserable weather. Growing up in Texas, I learned a variety of tricks to handle this type of weather, and I have a good idea of when I'm heading into … Continue reading Hot Weather Working
Weeds wait for no one, even when the weather is miserable. Last year, my dad found a solution - he brought over his canopy tent, we brought a barn fan outside to blow on us, and we weeded comfortably despite 95 degree weather. His canopy is on its last legs this year though, so I … Continue reading Hot Weather Gardening
Mary has been a very sick dog with what we thought was a herniated disc, and we were struggling to get her to eat. Early last week she stopped eating, and she started not drinking. We got a syringe (NOT one for injections, one for feeding baby birds) and fed her water through it, rubbing … Continue reading Mary Didn’t Make It
If you know me at all, you know that I have a favorite author: Auryn Hadley. You can find her Amazon account here. I follow her on Facebook, and she's charming and funny, and I got my mom into reading her as well. She wrote one of my favorite series of all time: Rise of … Continue reading Changing Those Covers: Rise of the Iliri
I fell in love with this song, 'Crush' by Tess Violet. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that I fell in love with the music video. The micro expressions she makes during it are just plain charming. I've watched it a ridiculous number of times, even though the song isn't really my … Continue reading ITJFU: Tessa Violet YouTube Channel
I've posted before about the amazing YouTube channel, Royalty Soaps, that you can find here. Katie has, most recently, had some beginner videos for cold process soap, including handling lye safely, safety gear, clean up, and she walks you through making three different soaps. She also links to the cheapest supplies she could find, including … Continue reading Cold Process, No, But Melt and Pour?
It was a drizzly evening a few nights ago, overcast and cool, so I decided to take advantage of the weather and weed my garden. My cucumbers and watermelon were buried. It's pretty overgrown, but one bed was especially bad. I sat on our new cinder block frames (just the right height to sit and … Continue reading Sure, Go Ahead and Garden Without Me
Our neighbor knocked to let us know that we had a cute hiding in our hostas in the front yard! Here's a photo: She appears to be a Blanding's Turtle, and I reported her sighting to the Wisconsin Turtle Conservation Program. (You can report sightings here.) She was pretty big - maybe the size of … Continue reading What Did You Find in My Hostas?
Just a quick sneak peek at my editing. This is my second round of major edits, and I'm laying out what I plan to do next based on some feedback from my Beta readers and brainstorming with one of my closest friends. The first image is from Scrivener: The first round of edits are typed … Continue reading Just a Sneak Peek
Many, apparently. I cleaned my desk so I could work on revising more, and here's a peek: The stacked file trays are new, and I'm using them to sort feedback/different drafts of my novel: Top level is current draft, next my Alphasmart Neo, then supplies for revising, then feed back from an Alpha reader, then … Continue reading How Many Copies of My Novel Do I Need?
I saw this YouTube channel appear over and over in my friends' feed on Facebook. Most of my friends are SCAdians and post interesting things all the time. I wasn't initially interested in a Medieval version of these songs though, so I ignored it each time it popped up. But I finally gave in and … Continue reading ITJFU: Hildegard von Blingin’ YouTube Channel
It's spring, and our tree bloomed! It's all gone now, but here are a few photos I caught of it. First, our front sidewalk: Then looking up through the branches: And finally, a close up of one of the drifts of petals at the end of our driveway: The last one is so pretty that … Continue reading Just a Moment of Lovely
We (and by 'we' I mean my parents) have a new malamute named Mary. She came from a puppy mill breeder as breeding dog and has already had tumors on her mammary glands. So those were removed, she lost her girly bits so no more puppies, and she moved in with us. She's scared of … Continue reading Our DOG Has a Herniated Disc
I'm working with InaWong on cover art for my book, and she's amazing! Here is her DeviantArt commissions page so you can see what other art she's done. So far, she's sent sketch ideas, and I okayed one. Last night she sent a WIP to check on layout. It looks really good! Ya'll, I'M SO … Continue reading Working with a Cover Artist and Angst
In early March, I put in a commission request for Inawong on Deviant Art. They produce professional level work that I like, and a particular piece of theirs caught my eye. (Found here since I don't want to steal their image.) I gave a budget, a rough description of what I needed, and a request … Continue reading Imma Bleed Money But It’s a Good Thing
I finished the type in of the revisions I've made on my 'Ocooch: Still Water' novel! This was just the first round of revisions with my Alpha readers who see my book at its worst. But that step is complete, and I'm sending it out to new readers for a second round of feed back … Continue reading First Round of Revisions Complete!
There's been some new marketing advice going around the Indie publishing scene. Authors are advised to take their bad reviews and use them to sell their work. Bad review says too much sex? Use it. Bad review says they don't like X,Y, Z trope? Use it. There are readers who want fast burns. There are … Continue reading That Time When I Was a Bully Without Meaning To: Authors Pay Heed
When I got up today, my husband was puttering around the garage, and the lawn was freshly mowed. I yelled hi at him and did my usual chores. My dad stopped by and we ran an errand. He was still in the garage. I yelled that I was leaving and he yelled back okay. I … Continue reading My Husband Is AMAZING
I ordered 150 retaining wall bricks from the closest Menards to finally shore up our grow bags. They're starting to fall to pieces this season, and I wanted to support them with retaining wall bricks so the walls would be sturdy enough to sit on. My husband was a saint and placed them all for … Continue reading Guess Who Bought 150 Retaining Wall Bricks?
I saw a TON of cute doggo portraits go through the Alaskan Malamute rescue groups I follow on Facebook, so I had to investigate. Pawss Pet Art is where they are getting them, and as of TODAY 5/3/2020 they're still on sale. Can't vouch for tomorrow, sorry. You send in a clear photo, and they … Continue reading I May Have Bought Portraits of Our Fluff
I've spent the last three months or so writing in revisions on my current work in progress. I was somewhat delayed by the Corona Virus - I spent so much time stressing and watching the numbers climb that every time my husband caught me doing it, we sat down and played Guild Wars 2. Fun, … Continue reading Huzzah and Hey Hooray! Finished My Write In Today!
We've had a lot of down time lately, so I cooked another batch of Bean and Bacon soup. The post where I cooked it last time with the recipe is here. I soaked three pounds of pinto beans: I knew how much space they would take up this time, so I didn't have escapees. This … Continue reading Meal Prep: Moar Bean and Bacon Soup
I received my Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog several months ago and ordered then, but it turned out I forgot to order any tomatoes! So, you KNOW what this lead to. I made another order! Here are the tomatoes I picked: I ordered three types of tomatoes and saved three glow-in-the-dark pots for them, but … Continue reading You Knew I Couldn’t Resist: Baker Creek Seed Order #2!
See this creepy light in my closet? Let me explain: I ordered some pots recently to start plants in. I wanted to give more room for the plants to grow and not have to re-pot them multiple times before they went outdoors. Oddly enough, the blue and white pots were the same price, so I … Continue reading Glow-in-the-Dark Items Are Eminently Superior
