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!
Hum the subject line to the music of “Singing in the Rain”… That’s what I’m doing in my head.
That picture isn’t me, my girls, or my pool, but that’s what I was doing today. I took a break from an editing project and hit the pool. The temperature was in the mid-90s until some clouds rolled by and dumped a bunch of rain. Since there was only thunder in the distance, we all ran out to the pool. Lord, it felt so good.
That’s all I’ve got. I finished up the edits a little while ago, and I’m going to close down my computer and do NOTHING for the rest of the evening. I’ve earned some laziness. I don’t even have the energy to break out the paints.
I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend—that you’re recharged and ready for another week. I start on my next book tomorrow! Whee!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! And if you have a dad sitting beside you, please pass along the greeting!
I’m thinking about my own dad today. The art above reminded me of this picture I took with my dad in 2018. It was for my birthday, and he felt silly holding that photo booth sign, but he still did it. I had no way of knowing he wouldn’t be with us for another birthday or Father’s Day. I miss him terribly. He was quiet, so quiet, but always busy fixing things or building things. He’s my guidepost when I think about how a man should be.
I wish a Happy Father’s Day to my SIL, Dexter, and my son, Connor. They’re the inheritors of my dad’s legacy. They’re both living up to the high standard he set. 🙂
It’s Saturday after a long week of rushing to THE END of a book and finishing up edits for other authors. I took the last three days to clean my desk and office, re-jigger my calendar (so I’m ready for the next rush to THE END!), and make a really big To Do list.
I mentioned the string of bad luck we’ve had here at the Devlin house, right? Two long power outages, losing internet for an entire day, the AC crashing for days—well, add to that the dishwasher going on strike, too. Apparently, I’m the only one who knows how to wash dishes by hand. 🙄 I think I need to sage the entire house…
Anyways, today I plan to get two swims in, while cleaning our slightly greenish pool, work on a couple of sets of edits, and make some notes about what I want to have happen in the next MBH book—what funny takedowns my bounty hunters can do—wait, a second! Maybe you can help me with that…
Saturday Puzzle-Contest
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, give me an idea for a fun or exciting takedown of a criminal that my bounty hunters can do! Doesn’t have to be a good idea, doesn’t have to take much thought. This is for fun, folks!
In the meantime, you do know I have a book coming out next Tuesday, right? Victoria’s Six is set in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Get a feel for the setting of the book by solving this puzzle! And if you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy, follow this link: Victoria’s Six
It’s sooooo hot here; a fresh heat wave is coming today. And wouldn’t you know it? The AC doesn’t work. My SIL’s very handy, and he’ll look at it after his shift with the local PD ends. However, I already have a service request submitted through our home appliance insurance to get someone out here. We’ll probably be roasting for days.
So, I’m thinking cool thoughts and keeping in the basement because the temperature down here never gets dire. I’m really thinking about an escape, wishing I could head to some beach. My sister and I have been playing with the idea of taking another trip to Hawaii next year. I’ll have to dream about sand squishing between my toes and swimming with the sea turtles until then.
In the meantime, we need a contest, right? Something fun!
Because I love reading about what’s going on in your lives, let me know. Tell me what you’re cooking. Tell me what you’re reading or watching on TV. Tell me about any trips you have planned. You choose the topic. Comment for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
In the meantime, I’ll be here, working on edits that are almost overdue, and putting the final touches on the story I have to get to my sister… Have a fabulous Sunday!
We had a 7-hour power outage yesterday due to heavy thunderstorms. It started in the morning and lasted well into the afternoon. We pulled the generator out of the shed to power the refrigerator and make cups of coffee (priorities!). Working by candlelight in my basement office was impossible. It’s a daylight basement. From the front of the house, you think it’s a one-story home. From the back, you see two stories. Well, my office is tucked into the way back of the basement and has no windows. I call it my “mole hole” and that lack of windows is perfect for a writer with W.A.D.D. (writer’s ADD).
However, my basement craft room has windows, so that’s where I settled. The light that reached my worktable was dim, but I had to do something. I’ll be cutting out the watercolor flowers for collaging so the ugly marks around them don’t matter (I didn’t like looking at all the white space!). The ink drawing was kind of fun. I used the dropper on my ink bottle to draw it. I’m going to practice with it more. So, not a wasted day. I learned something.
Puzzle Contest
For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you want to read right now!(My picture clues you into the genre of book I wish I had right now!)
