Today is the 12 year anniversary of my first date with my husband, the day we met each other. We'd talked back and forth through Messenger and things looked promising, so I had him over for dinner. We had tacos (spice like I like them!), and they made him so miserable because they just did … Continue reading 12 Years~!
My Favorite Author Has a Patreon!
If you've talked about books with me, you KNOW that when I say 'My Favorite Author', I'm always referring to Auryn Hadley. Her books are amazing, interactions with her are always positive, she writes SO QUICKLY, and her information on writing and publishing is a huge help that she doesn't owe writers at all. She … Continue reading My Favorite Author Has a Patreon!
R. J. Blain – Author Gift!
A while back, I won a drawing for a free mystery item from author R. J. Blain. They were giving out copies of damaged, proof books, books with old covers, that type of thing. I was stoked, and then life distracted, and I forgot. R. J. Blain writes a variety of fiction, including under the … Continue reading R. J. Blain – Author Gift!
My Parents’ Roof Is Done!
Thank you to all of the AMAZING people who donated to our GoFundMe to help my parents' finish fixing their roof. The original roofer fell through, and my parents were out a lot of money with no roof to show for it. It was an old tin roof, and we have photos of the house … Continue reading My Parents’ Roof Is Done!
Back to the Proofreaders
So, I've already sent my book once to my amazing proofreaders, and got feedback that needed to be addressed. Then a beta reader who had been unable to read my novel up to that point called, gave feedback, and helped me hash out some issues. So my book went back to revisions... revision #4 this … Continue reading Back to the Proofreaders
Is it Spring?
We've had some crazy weather lately. Our last frost is supposed to be ~April 28th, but we have had two frosts since, one LAST WEEK. Wisconsin, we need to discuss your weather. It's lovely out today though, and I slept in. I had the window open and the fan blowing nice warm air in, and … Continue reading Is it Spring?
Memorial Day
Today is a holiday, and there will be no post. I'm hoping your day is going well, and I'll see you on Wednesday!
A Chill Garden Update
It's Friday, and it's time for some plant pictures to finish out my week. I posted before that my tomato plants got hit by the last frost thanks to some VILE CREATURE lifting up my cover and then sleeping on top of them. I didn't tear them out, but I did buy new plants and … Continue reading A Chill Garden Update
Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth
I'm ramping up to publishing, and I plan to use the program Vellum for formatting my novel. It's one of the best in the field, and it allows you to preview your novel on different kinds of e-readers and devices. It provide a professional level product, which is the goal. Doing my own formatting is … Continue reading Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth
Making Melt and Pour Soap
I'm going to preface that I don't sell soap. I make soap for my own entertainment and use. There are TONS of awesome soap makers out there, and one of my high school classmates makes soap now too. You can find her here. Anywho, there was a sale a loooong while back on scents and … Continue reading Making Melt and Pour Soap
Watercolors?
I wanted to try painting watercolors from tubes, so I went and snagged all of my mom's watercolors and those of mine I left at her house. Hers... say watercolor on one side and tempra on the other so I don't know what, exactly, to think. I pulled the whites because lead - also because … Continue reading Watercolors?
Belated Garden Update
We had a freeze during which some vile creature dug under my covers and allowed some of my tomatoes to freeze. These photos are BEFORE that freeze, but the only plants that died were the tomatoes. This is my Dog Deterrent. Tundra has figured out that food comes out of the dirt and has been … Continue reading Belated Garden Update
A Novel Is a Living Document
I'm still plugging along on my novel's final revisions, and it amazes me all the depth my proof readers help me create and the problems they catch for me to repair. Every draft becomes richer and better realized until I hit publish at which point it stops growing. Or does it? JRR Tolkien was prone … Continue reading A Novel Is a Living Document
Oh, Wisconsin
The weather changed here, and suddenly we were expecting a frost. I was like 'I've got this', and I pulled out the clear table clothes I ordered, the plastic hoops, garden stakes, and a hole punch. I trundled outside and carefully covered up all of my plants during the warmest part of the day. I … Continue reading Oh, Wisconsin
Novel Turned In!
My novel is turned in! My brains are spaghetti, but I got it all turned in to my proof readers., and responses are positive so far. I got a call from a beta reader that was a huge help and very encouraging too. Before I turned it in, I reread and proofed it one more … Continue reading Novel Turned In!
2nd Covid Shot Done!
I had my second Covid shot last Thursday! It was the pfizer one. The guy who did the shot... was not a nurse. He moved the needle while it was in my arm, and I have a quarter sized bruise there. Sore arm the first day. The second day, I spiked a fever of ~100, … Continue reading 2nd Covid Shot Done!
Second Student Loan Paid!
I went to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, so I have student loans. When I first got SSDI, I received a lump payment and used it to clear all my credit cards, set up an emergency fund, and paid my smallest student loan off. That loan was directly through the University when I had a … Continue reading Second Student Loan Paid!
A Greenhouse and a Surprise!
I sometimes spend time browsing our local Facebook buy/sell/trades, and in 2019 or so, I found an ad for a greenhouse, in box, never opened. Of course I bought it. I think it was ~$50. At the time, the woman I bought it from said they'd bought it for her mom three years ago, and … Continue reading A Greenhouse and a Surprise!
When a Picture Is Worth 1000 Words
Tundra, you are VERY LUCKY that you're cute and we like you. We called the repair shop, but they're still looking for a seat. UGH.
A Second Grow Light!
I have a variety of plants in my closet right now. Most of them are seedlings, but a few are larger potted plants such as my sequoia, my coffee, or my tea plants. I have the grow light high enough that they can get light, but it was making my seedlings kinda leggy. So I … Continue reading A Second Grow Light!
Smallest Student Loan Paid Off!
We have been working on paying off my student loans. I had three - two that are consolidated into a federal loan and one through a private company. The federal loan ones are $24,000 and $9,000. You can't separate payments out for them, and they're in forbearance due to the Covid situation, so we focused … Continue reading Smallest Student Loan Paid Off!
Book Release Back End – A Brief (And Expensive!) Checklist
I'm looking at releasing my novel, 'Still Water', in July of this year, and while that's super exciting and all there's a lot going on on the back end side of things right now. I am in final stages of revision before it goes to proof readers, but these are more technical things on my … Continue reading Book Release Back End – A Brief (And Expensive!) Checklist
My Cover Mock Up!
So, the release date for my novel has been moved from June 15th to July 15th due to work due date conflicts, but I'm still puttering along with it. Here you can see my progress with no spoilers: You can see on the right that I've revised 7 of 15 chapters, and on the left … Continue reading My Cover Mock Up!
Let’s Talk Money and Managing Debt Repayment
If you know me at all personally, you know that I manage our budget and have quite a system for it. I use the You Need a Budget website: It has a monthly subscription fee but lets me manage my budget so, SO easily. I manually input everything, manually split out pay checks into categories, … Continue reading Let’s Talk Money and Managing Debt Repayment
