UPDATE: The winner is…Gail S!
*~*~*

This is the last day of March! Where does the time go? Without any further ado, I’ll dive right into my recap…

March

Work-related:

1. I completed work on my latest Montana Bounty Hunter story, Mica! And I published it!!!
2. I’ve been doing minimal work on the Silver Soldiers anthology, which comes out May 9th! Mostly, working on a promotional calendar with the authors in the anthology.
3. I completed only 3 editing projects for other authors in March. The injury to my hand severely impacted my ability to work at my usual pace, at least for the first half of the month.

Health-related:

1. I continued wearing the brace on my hand until March 17th. The break is healed, but now I have to work on physical therapy to improve my hand’s function. My hand aches after I use it for a while, and my fingers get numb when I hold a paintbrush or pen for very long.
2. I had a visit with a cardiologist this month. He has me wearing a monitor stuck to my chest for a week to see how it functions day to day. It’s beating a little slowly and has a slight arrhythmia. My blood pressure is still way too high, but the cardiologist adjusted my meds, and we’ll see how that goes.
3. I haven’t been dieting like I should, what with my heart and blood pressure issues, and I haven’t been great about cutting my salt intake. My weight loss is stagnant! I think I was a little depressed by my hand injury. I could tell because I wanted to sleep way too much and didn’t want to go out at all. I don’t like to wallow in negativity, but it has been hard to motivate myself to move forward.
4. As for physical activity, I’m not doing enough. Again, I’m feeling tired all the time. Which I know has to do with my weight, meds, and inactivity. All my issues are interrelated. I just need to get my fat ass off this chair and move more often.

Happiness-related: 

1. I’m back participating with my local art guild or humanities council. We had some planning meetings for upcoming exhibits and programs. It felt good to get out and mingle again.
2. I am still participating in the #the100dayproject art online art challenge. As of today, I’m on Day 38. Here are a few of my March pieces…

April

 

1. To complete my short story for the Silver Soldiers anthology.
2. To compile all the Silver Soldiers stories into the anthology and get it formatted for release on May 9th.
3. To begin work on Cold Hard Cash, the first of the We Are Dead Horse series.
4. To complete 4 editing projects in April!

For health related, I plan:

1. To restart counting those points for my Weight Watchers diet (I hate that word) and hopefully shed at least another 5 pounds, remembering, as always: Slow is good!
2. To continue to reduce salt, processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas, red wine).
3. To get the pool cleaned up—as soon as the weather cooperates—so that the minute the water is warm enough, I’m swimming (hopefully by end of April).
4. To begin walking and counting my steps.
5. I’ll re-dedicate myself to doing more housework, too, because my art room is a disaster. And cleaning is exercise, right?

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To continue producing some small piece of art every day as part of #the100dayproject. I’m volunteering several times a month to sit in the Art Center to keep it open. I use those quiet days away from my computer just to paint!
2. Try to complete one of the many already paid-for online art classes I’ve lined up to do.
3. To blog about art (on my Emerald Casket site) just to keep myself honest!
4. To work toward re-opening my Etsy store!

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 in April…

Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Liz!
*~*~*

It’s Sunday. The day I review my plans for the week, and I always start by first drawing a card from my favorite Tarot deck.

This morning’s card is the Four of Swords. Not pentacles for once. Something changed, hmm? Well, I’ll start by examining the card and trying to figure out some personal message the card has for me. I don’t recognize this mythological character, so that’s not helpful.  He is sitting on a flat desert plain. Sitting cross-legged, like he’s meditating. His swords are lying on the ground. The meaning I pull from the image is that he may be tired of the battle and in need of some introspection. The sky is blue and the overall ambiance restful but lonely. So, I’m thinking this card is telling me I need to take time this week, away from my usual frenetic pace of work and family, to contemplate where I am and what I want. Let’s see what my little book says…

This is Orestes. I don’t know who he is, so I’m going to Google him. Orestes is the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon (of Trojan War fame). There’s a long story about his father returning home after the war with Cassandra, the seer, as his concubine. His mother conspires with her lover to murder Agamemnon, and Orestes, along with his sister, Electra, flee. He ends up living in exile (this desert plain) until he returns to avenge his father’s murder by killing his mom and her lover. He goes mad after that and is tried by the gods for the crime of killing his mother, but is acquitted. That’s who Orestes was. A son avenging his father and who goes mad. But this card depicts him when he was in exile, awaiting his chance to exact revenge. Interesting.

Back to the book (The Mythic Tarot), it says simply, that this is a time for “quiet recuperation and introversion” while I “build up strength in preparation for further efforts.” So, am I supposed to stay off the Internet? Keep my door closed to family while I contemplate my life? The recuperation of my hand continues. That fits. Keeping my head down, focusing on what I need to do while ignoring the “noise” around me? I can make that fit. The meditation and contemplation? Well, I do kind of go inside myself when I’m writing, so I can make that work, too.

For a chance to win your choice of one of my downloadable stories, tell me whether you ever take time away from “the noise” and what that looks like for you.

UPDATE: The winner is…ButtonsMom2003!
*~*~*

I haven’t done a recap in a while, and I think I need to reinstitute the habit! It keeps me honest about what I’ve accomplished, and if you’re paying attention, it gives you something to nag me about!

February

Work-related:

1. I began the month working on my next Montana Bounty Hunter story, Mica, but halted work abruptly due to an injury I’ll talk about below.
2. I did complete editing all the Silver Soldiers stories, and my sister and I worked on a cover for Silver Soldiers! Plus, it’s up for pre-order!
3. I completed only 2 editing projects for other authors in January. Again, the injury severely impacted my ability to place my hands on my keyboard.

Health-related:

1. On February 10th, I fell down the basement stairs and broke a bone in my right hand. I spent the rest of the month wearing a splint (thank goodness the doctor gave me the option of a splint rather than a hard cast!). After that, I had limited use of my hand. I could edit, but writing wasn’t an option. I was just too slow.
2. After the fall, I also experienced more issues with my blood pressure. It’s been spiking horribly. To the point, I have to keep Clonidine in my medicine cabinet when it does get above a certain level. I was also given a higher dose of my hypertension medicine. Since then, I’ve gone back on Weight Watchers and cut salt dramatically. So far, I’ve lost 5 pounds, and I’m beginning to see my BP come down. Not enough, but it isn’t scaring me now!
3. As for physical activity, I’m not doing enough. I’m feeling tired all the time. Which I know has to do with my weight, meds, a little depression due to my hand injury. I’m trying not to nap during the day, and that need has waned.

Happiness-related: 

1. I haven’t been to local art guild or humanities council meetings. So, no mingling with real people. I use the excuse that I can’t do my hair right, or I’m grumpy because of my splint, or that work takes me longer to accomplish each day because I’m in splint. All excuses.
2. I did decide to participate in the #the100dayproject art online art challenge despite my injury. Art has been the only highlight of the month. Here are a few of my February pieces…

 

 

March

For work-related, I plan:

1. To complete Mica! It will release March 28th come hell or high water!
2. To complete a short story for the Silver Soldiers anthology. And to prod my sister into finishing hers!
3. To complete 3 editing projects in March!

For health related, I plan:

1. To keep counting those points for my Weight Watchers diet (I hate that word) and hopefully shed at least another 5 pounds, remembering, as always: Slow is good!
2. To continue to reduce salt, processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas, red wine).
3. To get the pool cleaned up so that the minute the water is warm enough, I’ll be swimming (hopefully by mid-April).
4. To begin walking and counting my steps.
5. I’ll re-dedicate myself to doing more housework, too, because my art room is a disaster. And cleaning is exercise, right?

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To continue producing some small piece of art every day as part of #the100dayproject.
2. Try to complete one of the many already paid-for online art classes I’ve lined up to do.
3. To blog about art (on my Emerald Casket site) just to keep myself honest!
4. To work toward re-opening my Etsy store!

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!

Good morning! I got a later start than usual because I spilled a full tumbler of water on my desktop. My cursing scared the cats. My desktop is a little crowded, so I was quickly moving items to the floor before I ran for a towel. Then because the desktop was clean, I got out the Old English and gave the desk its annual “oiling.” I had to toss a couple of notepads, and I’m drying some photos with paperweights to flatten them back out. I don’t need that kind of excitement. Isn’t it sad that soaking my desk constitutes excitement in my life?

Anyways, work is coming along. I didn’t get to write any new pages yesterday, but I made great progress on an editing job. I also played with paint, which was my day’s shining highlight. I’m sharing one of the results below. Sorry, I know you’re readers and would rather hear about books, but this is my blog and my life. So there! 🙂

Open Contests

1. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: A Phoenix Rising from the Ashes — Hannah Elias (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest! Happy World Pangolin Day! — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Sunday Tarot (Contest) — Win a hand-painted bookmark!
4. Gabbi Black: Romances Around the World! (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
5. Little Update, Minimal Whining, and Giveaway Reminder! — This offer ends soon! Everyone, pick up your free copy right now!
6. Sliding-Puzzle Challenge: Woman Fleeing Dragon (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift certificate!

I promise not to share my art every day, but I’m at the start of the 100-day challenge, and I’m excited!

#100DayProject — Day 2

Broken hand…splint in the way…what could I do? I decided to get out the Gelli plates and used my daughter’s wilting flowers to smash into paint and see what I could get. I love this. The picture doesn’t do it justice. There’s so much detail in the chrysanthemums’ petals. Plus, there’s glare from the overhead light, so you can’t really see the depth of color (magenta, Indian yellow, cadmium orange). For most of my monoprints, I only plan to cut them up for collaging, but I’m tempted to cut a larger section of this to glue to a piece of thick art paper and frame it. But it will need a title. Any suggestions? 

UPDATE: The winner is…Tara Leavitt!
*~*~*

I went to the ortho guy yesterday. He was set to give me a hard cast for my right hand, but I told him I’m a writer and I really needed mobility in a few of my fingers. So, instead, he gave me a removable splint. I have my thumb and forefinger back! Mousing is still slow as a snail, but I’m much less frustrated having to mouse with my left hand. Yay! As the swelling goes down in the hand, I might get my middle finger back. I saw the ex-ray, too. The break is in the bone that connects the wrist to the finger and is closer to all those tiny wrist bones. He said my bones look surprisingly good. He didn’t add “for an old lady.” 🙂

Anyways, I can edit more easily, but tapping out lines of a book is still difficult. However, the good news is that Amazon took pity on me and allowed me to move my release date for Mica out a month. So, all my book release dates are being pushed a month so I can heal without stressing about the deadlines or losing pre-orders. Not good for readers, I know, but I hope you all understand. Have your pre-ordered Mica…?

I’m still wearing loose clothes, so I can pull my own pants up. TMI? And my hair is frightful because I can’t blow-dry and style it like I usually do. Everything is harder to do one-handed. Took me 15 minutes this morning to straighten my bed. I’ll have to remember all the inconveniences, big and small, the next time I write a disabled character…

In the meantime, I’m rejiggering my work plans and editing a story for someone very close to me. A story you’re going to love.

I have a question for you. Answer for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card.

Since I have been able to move some book releases around, I might have room to fit another title in during early summer. Would you prefer a Brotherhood Protector story, like Guarding Hannah? Or Dead Horse, Montana story? Or something else?

Hey there. I was sitting here, wondering what to talk about today, and I have this new little girl sitting on my desk. My sister, Elle James, was in Norway not long ago and purchased this for me. She knows I like weird things—and LOVE trolls—so, here she is. I wrote a troll book a while back…

Before I set her on a shelf, she needs a suitable name. How about you offer some suggestions? For a chance to win a download of your choice from my backlist, give this sweet troll a name! And if you have a “story” about how she came to be here, share it!

UPDATE: The winner is…Shirley Long!
*~*~

I’m posting late today. Honestly, I nearly forgot to post at all. My daughter and I headed out with the 9-year-old this morning to spend time at the flea market and then eat a meal out. I bought junk I didn’t need—according to her.

I bought a tin with lemons painted all over it that will make lovely cut tin earrings; a vintage yellow enamel soap dish; a white and charcoal-grey flowerpot that will be perfect for holding more paintbrushes; a stack of music books with yellowed paper that will be perfect cut up for collage fodder; and three small, framed prayers that will be disassembled so I can use the matching frames for my art.

Before we left for our flea market jaunt, my dd shot her monthly “senior pictures” of the 18-year-old. I can’t get over how gorgeous my baby looks or how well my older baby works her iPhone camera. Check this out!

The background’s red for the Valentine’s Day theme, but baby girl didn’t need to dress up to look fabulous.

I used another photo for the jigsaw. Wait until you see it!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you’re up to this weekend!