Of course, I was working on other writers’ projects yesterday. Then my dd, SIL, and the 18-year-old went to a concert in Hot Springs, which left me with the little ones (9 & 13—so technically, not that little 🙂 ) to babysit. Because I would be away from my computer, I set up at the kitchen table to paint. It’s soooo relaxing, and I don’t get to do it often enough. I have an art show to prepare for that happens in September, so I guess this is really “work” but it sure didn’t feel like it.
This one is 6×9. Smallish. (My preferred size actually, because I can complete one quickly.) I played with the colors. Don’t you love that brown at the bottom? The color I mixed granulated as it dried. I tried to make the pot look like a pinch pot—you know, with the fingerprints showing on the side. Not sure that came across. Maybe it just looks blotchy. LOL
Then I painted a quick postcard with some shiny peach mixed with red paint for the flowers. My favorite part is the pot. I dotted the reddish peach on the side of the vase as the shadowed part. The colors are ones I love.
Anyways, you see what I do when I’m not writing or editing. I think I’ll be doing more of it. Practice makes, if not perfect, better.
“Will you. Won’t you. Will you. Won’t you. Will you join the dance?”
~Lewis Carroll
I think about this quote when the 8-year-old and I are in the pool. She loves to use the time to be “creative.” She sings Disney and BTS songs while acting them out. She does what she calls “splash dance,” which is her splashing water with her hands while she sings. Sometimes, she makes me guess the song while she splashes in a rhythm, and of course, I can’t guess, so I give her the most ridiculous answers I can. I love to watch her eyes roll. When she joins her hands with mine and tries to dance or do some synchronized swimming routine that she has in her head, I get twisted up like a pretzel. It’s magic, of course.
No, we don’t look like this, but her expressions are just as fierce! LOL
I will hate the summer she decides playing with Nina is no longer fun. Heck, I was crushed when the three older kids got to the point where they weren’t dying to hit the pool every day. When she “outgrows” me, I’ll be the only “kid” out there, trying to come up with my own synchronized swimming routine. More like, I’ll add some water-aerobic exercises to my daily dozen. sigh
So, tell me what keeps you young at heart? Do you play with the kids/grandkids? Do you swim like an eel in the lake or pool? Do you swing on a hammock or practice aeromancy (cloud divination) or stare at the stars at night and imagine all the billions of strange worlds out there and what it would be like to visit them?
Comment below for a chance to win your choice of download from among my backlist of books!
I used to be a last-minute shopper. You know, the one who hit the mall the night before Christmas to buy all the gifts. No kidding. It was horrendously stressful, but I hate shopping (unless it’s at a flea market!), so I procrastinated over Christmas.
These days, with online shopping, it’s soooooo nice. And I can stretch out the expense over several months instead of having all the bills hit at Christmas. I start early. Typically, in August. I list everyone I want to purchase a gift for then methodically start knocking it out. This year, I have six people in the house and my aunt to buy gifts for. I really, really try to consider Christmas cards for others, but again, I’m a horrible procrastinator. This year, I’m going to do better. I have a list. It’s getting “codified” in my planner. It will be done.
So, my question for you is whether you’re a procrastinator or do you squirrel away gifts over the year to give at Christmas time? A second question! Do you have any ideas for what I can do for my readers through my website or my Facebook pages? I was thinking about giving away free stories (downloads), mailing hand-painted bookmarks, and maybe doing one mailable gift for one lucky winner. Any ideas would be appreciated! I want to send some small handmade items to a couple of folks who’ve been part of my Team Delilah, too. I’ll put it in the plan!
So, for a chance to win your choice of one of my downloadable books, comment below!
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Another month gone! 2022 is flying! This month, the kids go back to school and my weekdays will be quieter. Soon, twice daily swims will be reduced to one as the water cools. 🙁 But there’s the string of lovely holidays coming with fall, so I won’t be sad for long…
July
Here’s what I managed to accomplish…
Work-related:
I completed writing and published Gabriel, Book #7 in my MBH: Dead Horse, MT, series. Fig finally got her man!
I completed 2 editing projects for other authors in July.
Health-related:
I have not climbed back aboard the Weight Watchers wagon. However, I maintained 25 pounds of my loss since January. Motivation is still lagging…
As for physical activity, I’ve upped my steps and make multiple trips up and down the stairs! I’m swimming at least once a day, usually twice.
I visited the dermatologist this month. I had a spot of skin cancer in the past, but this checkup was all clear. Yay!
Happiness-related:
I volunteered to serve on the board of my local art guild, so I HAVE to get out of the house and mingle with real people. Along with my board position, I committed to twice monthly “art days” where I paint at the art center with my artist friends.
I committed to participating in this year’s Festival of the Arts, so I must get some decent paintings done to sell in September! Yikes!
Here are a few of my recent pieces…
August
Do these covers excite you?
For work-related, I plan:
To complete a story set in my sister’s Brotherhood Protector’s world! The cover is coming soon!
To revise and compile the Danger Zone trilogy into a single bundle and get it ready for publishing in August!
To plot and chart out Hard Knox, my first We Are Dead Horse story!
To complete 5 editing projects in August!
For health related, I plan:
To restart Weight Watchers (count those points!) and hope to lose at least 5 pounds, remembering: Slow is good!
To swim at least one time a day while I can! Mid-September is when the water gets a little too nippy…
To begin some low-impact aerobics. I’ll do more housework, too, because my art room is a disaster!
For happiness-related, I plan:
To inventory the art I have and determine what I need to do next to get ready for the show!
To produce at least four finished pieces of art every week!
To blog about art (on my Emerald Casket site) just to keep myself honest! (No one actually has to read it! No one except my pal Susan does!)
Contest
Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier. Tell me what you plan to read…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
Today, I’m reading through Gabriel one last time to catch my ugly nits—you know, grammar issues, misspellings, clunky sentences. As many times as I’ve read the chapters, you’d think there would come a time when I’d find ZERO to fix. Hah! I have things that are published now, and if I go grab a scene for something, I find another error. It happens. Even to writers who write for big publishing houses. I know, because I used to do that. Now, I’m on my own. I have three trusted beta readers who help me find some of my errors, but the rest is up to me.
If I were one of those authors who actually wrote their books months in advance of publication, I might have several chances to skim through what I’ve written, but I’m my own publisher now. So, it’s ALL on me.
Sometimes, I wish I was one of those authors who could sit without pressure and write pages and pages, following a production schedule plan. That’s not me. I require adrenaline to produce. I have to be staring at the deadline to upload my book before I can kick my ass into gear. It’s not just the problem of forcing myself to sit at my computer and type, it’s an issue of inspiration. I swear to you, I write better, my stories make more sense, and my scenes pop when I’m on a caffeinated frenzy to finish a book. The language of my books tends to be more realistic, too.
The book I’m wrapping up today to format and load before TOMORROW’S deadline wouldn’t exist without adrenaline. Fig, my heroine, wouldn’t be as tangible. The action scenes wouldn’t be as crisp.
Yeah, sometimes, I wish I was one of those writers, but today, I’m happy I’m not.
Let’s just get started on my recap! I have a bunch of s**t to do today! ‘Kay? 🙂
June
Here’s what I managed to accomplish…
Work-related:
I completed writing and published Victoria’s Six—which I hated while I was writing it but love, love, love now! It’s funny how that works.
I completed 4 editing projects for other authors in June!
The bad news? I cancelled the release of Wild Thing. I simply could not squeeze in another book in June. My goal now is to push the book toward the end of the year, releasing it in November or December.
Health-related:
I have not climbed back aboard the Weight Watchers wagon. However, I maintained 25 pounds of my loss since January. Motivation is lagging…
As for physical activity, the pool is finally sparkling clear and warm! I’m swimming at least once a day, usually twice. The little ones don’t have to do more than show up at my door with a quivering bottom lip to talk me into joining them.
Happiness-related:
After the #100DayChallenge ended in May, so did my artistic ambition. I puttered but painted very, very little. I’m embarrassed to share the “best” of what I produced, but here it goes…
July
Come hell or high water…
For work-related, I plan:
To complete and publish my next bounty hunter book, Gabriel!
To revise and compile the Danger Zone trilogy into a single bundle and get it ready for publishing!
To begin work on my next Brotherhood Protectors romantic suspense story.
To complete 3 editing projects in July!
For health related, I plan:
To restart Weight Watchers (count those points!) and hope to lose at least 5 pounds, remembering: Slow is good!
To swim at least one time a day!
To begin some low-impact aerobics. Maybe, I’ll do more housework, too. Gah.
For happiness-related, I plan:
To participate in an online #fodderchallenge beginning July 5!
To produce at least two finished pieces of art every week!
To blog about art (on my Emerald Casket site) just to keep myself honest! (No one actually has to read it!)
Contest
Solve the puzzle then comment on anything you’ve read in this post, share something you plan to do in July, or just tell me what you plan to read…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
“Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me”…! Well, I prefer the Beatles’ birthday song! If the Stones had only done one… LOL
Yes, that’s me a 64, sitting at my desk, getting a few wrinkles, letting the silver in the blond just happen, and yes, that’s the devil looking over my shoulder. What you can’t see is God on the left and Jesus to the right! Of course, the watercolor painting of the little girls is my sister and me!
My dd is trying to make the day special. I’ve already gotten a bag of goodies from her, and she’s talking about a trip to the flea market (the only shopping I love—oh, the “treasures” we will find!). I hope you all have a wonderful day!
