UPDATE: This giveaway has ended!
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Just because, here’s a free story.
Click on the cover to claim your free copy!
Enjoy!

UPDATE: The winner is…Laura LeCapelain!
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Can you believe January is almost gone? I’m old enough I still can’t believe we’re 19 years into the new century!

January zipped right past me! And what did I accomplish? Not as much as I’d hoped, but I was still pretty darn productive…

January’s Work

First, I wrote and published Animal! Woot! Book 7 of the Montana Bounty Hunter series! Feels so strange to say that because I feel like I just finished Reaper (Book #1!).

I edited two fellow authors’ stories. One a novella, one a very long novel! I’m actually wrapping up that one today!

I’m teaching a plotting bootcamp with some very shy authors who haven’t taxed me nearly enough with questions!!!! So, time-wise, I guess I’m getting off lucky there.

And lastly, I’ve been reading, reading, reading stories for my Stranded anthology. Wish I could say I have my decisions all wrapped up, but I don’t. That may take me another week. 🙁

So, it was a busy, productive month for this very tired and stressed-out author-editor-teacher… I did manage to make time for some fun treasure-hunting trips (thrift store shopping!) with my dd, so it wasn’t all work and no play!

February’s Goals

February looks horrendous!!!! I’m almost scared to turn the calendar page to think about it. I have one novella to write (Big Sky Wedding), another to finish (Hot Zone). I have at least three editing projects booked. (Doesn’t sound like much, but when I bookend them with my own writing schedule… Gah!) And I have to finish a short story before the end of the month, because I want to wrap up the With His SEAL Team mini-series. We’ll see… And I do have to wrap up the Stranded stories and begin editing that whopper of a book!

Aside from the writing/editing gig, I want to re-open my Etsy store, so I’m hoping to make time to sit in my craft room and make pretty things. I don’t make any money doing it—certainly, not enough to pay for my passion—but it’s stress relief, and I need more of that! I want to add things other than jewelry to my Etsy store, like painted boxes, junk-store refurbs, etc. Fun things that will help make some of my thrift store hoard dwindle!

I hope your January is ending with a bang and that you managed to check off some of the items on your To Do list!

Contest

Tell me what things you checked off January’s To do list for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

My daughter introduced me to my new obsession, darn her! Have you heard of Poppy?

I hadn’t either, but last night while I was visiting at her house, she and the 14-year-old were cackling over Poppy’s latest. I watched one to see what had them so engaged. I didn’t get it. So, I had to watch another, then another, then… Yeah, now I’m a subscriber.

Poppy is quirky and downright creepy. If I were writing her into a story, she’d be an AI entity ready to take over the world and enslave mankind.

Have a watch! And you’re welcome. 🙂

My dd and I are best buds. Wasn’t always so, but these days, we could be together 24×7 and neither of us would get annoyed with each other. It’s a lovely thing to discover that we actually have so much in common.

Her hubby is away at the Police Academy for the next few months, and I do my best to spend extra time with her, keeping her spirits up. She was edgy today, because he had to qualify with his weapon today or be booted, and although I didn’t think he’d have any problems at all, she’s my worst-case-scenario girl, so when she asked whether I’d go shopping with her this morning, I dropped everything to keep her company. Of course, our favorite type of shopping is thrift store and flea market shopping. Not that we’re super cheap, we just enjoy hunting for hidden “treasure”.

The picture above is my haul from the two junk stores we hit today. And before you go, “Gah, it all looks like sh@t,” let me tell you what I see!

Starting from the left…

See the beige-colored pot? Well, I’ve been looking for something to hold all my paintbrushes. It’s in perfect condition, and once I fill it with dried beans, I’ll stand all my brushes inside it.

The ruby-and-diamond-colored crystal bracelet draped over the side? Well, if one of my granddaughters doesn’t want it to wear (they’re getting to the age where they love to wear jewelry, but I’m reluctant to buy “real” stones and gold because they lose shit all the time), then I’ll use it to decorate a box or take it apart and string it in an eclectic bracelet.

The large orange things at the bottom are part of a bib necklace. My dd loves retro costume jewelry, and with her long red hair, she can pull off a big gaudy piece like that, but if she never wears it, I’ll pluck apart the large plastic orange circles and use them to decorate a box. (Nothing goes to waste!)

See the turquoise letter holder? Well, the color doesn’t match anything of mine, so I’ll paint it with some Chinese red chalk paint and use it to stand my stencils in my art room inside.

Those flowers at the top are old enamel clippie earrings. I love them! They will either be glued to blanks to make up a charm bracelet or they will end up as drawer pulls on a small cupboard.

The two retro rhinestone necklaces? One of them has missing crystals, so I’ll cut it up to use for boxes or to add to another bracelet.

The one that’s intact, I’ll probably give to my dd, because again, she loves to wear retro fashion.

The two gold pieces in the center with the flowers? Those are huge gold-tone hoop earrings. My dd will wear those, and if she doesn’t, I’ll take them and bend them up to use in a leather bracelet.

The white Chinese bottle? I collect old snuff bottles. This one’s missing its stopper at the top, but I couldn’t resist it because it depicts two dudes smoking opium.

The neutral-tone tin box on the right will be cut up to make disks for earrings. And the leather bracelet on top of it will go to my granddaughters.

So, not junk at all. Treasures, all! And I didn’t pay over $20 for the lot. My daughter leaves the refurb-able (I know it’s not a real word!) jewelry to me. She loves to pick up small pieces of furniture to recover, repaint, and repurpose. So, it was a perfect morning for us! Now, it’s back to work!

Question: Do you love to go junking?

Dragons are creatures of myth, Do you wish there were really dragons. Of course, in the early stories about dragons, they’re not the good guys. We read those old myths and learn dragons were evil creatures who gathered treasures they fiercely protected. In those tales, dragons also kidnapped and feasted on young women until a hero came into the picture and slew the dragon and rescued the maiden, often a princess. St. George slew the dragon, so it’s been said.
Where did these myths appear? There are fables about dragons on every continent. Asian dragons have no wings. Those from Europe and other places. Dragons can breathe fire. Many can fly. They can be found inland or flying over the oceans. Dragons hoard treasure.

Years ago, I found a coffee table book called Dragonology by Ernest Drake.

I used this book when designing dragons for my stories. There are many stories about dragons these days. I’ve read many of them. My favorite being Anne McCaffrey’s Dragons of Pern. Naomi Novak used the Regency period for her dragon stories. Mercedes Lackey also has a series featuring dragons. There are many more.

On the shelf above my computer are about forty dragons. All manner of dragons. Ones from cloth, glass, metal and plastic. Every year I receive a new dragon ornament for my Christmas tree. I finally delved into writing about dragons. The first is a novella where a snooty princess is turned into an amber dragon. This story is found in a series of novellas in The Amber Chronicles. The second and third are part of a series about the island of Fyre. The Dragons of Fyre and the third is still under construction hopefully for release in March—The Children of Fyre.

Question. What are your favorite dragon authors and books? Let me know and I’ll enter you in a contest to receive a print copy of one of my books about using dragons as characters. You’ll have to let me know your email address so I can contact you.

MY PLACES
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BUY MARK
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Just a reminder that the following contests are still open! Be sure to enter before they close!

1. Mary Marvella/M. M. Mayfield: Her Deception (Contest)
2. Sierra Brave: Bridling Lucy (Contest)
3. What’s bubbling? (Contest)

I hope you’re having a lazy Sunday! Here’s a little puzzle to keep you from being bored… 🙂

I’m in the doldrums. That space where, as a writer, I stall for a bit before the wind picks up and I’m sailing fast again.

Last week, I finished a story. One I had to push hard to reach The End. Adrenaline helped, because I was staring at an immoveable deadline. As soon as I wrapped up production and uploaded the sucker, I revised my plan and my bullet journal, and aimed at the next couple of hard deadlines, but then the wind died down. Ugh.

Lots of things are percolating, bubbling up like a fictional witch’s green, smelly goop. Stories I want to write, stories I have to edit. I took a bit of “me” time to hang with my daughter, which included a couple of days of shopping and junking. I played at cleaning up my workspace. Now, I have to get serious. Make myself afraid I’ll miss my dates. That’s the only way to motivate myself. I am an adrenaline junkie, and I’ve convinced myself over the years that I’m most creative when I’m riding that high. Huh. I need to change that internal narrative, because someday, I do want to be that plodding, methodical writer, who has “balance” in her life—not that I’ve ever met her.

Now, so many days have passed since I revamped my plan, that I have to revamp again, increasing my daily writing and editing page counts, in order to meet those hard dates. Here goes again…

Offer your thoughts for how I can goad myself into pushing through this slump to get back on track, and I’ll offer two stories, to two winners, readers’ choices!