Stay True to Yourself

August has not been kind to me, but I'm tough, right?

I went to an all girls' Catholic High School and a Catholic Junior College before I went on to get my masters degree in Music Education. My grades were not really that good, but I plugged away. I will tell you why. The nuns that I had as teachers were the best at helping you reach your potential. Yes, they were tough and I got angry at them when I felt they pushed me too hard but at the end? It was worth it. My piano teacher, my vocal instructor and the principal were behind me 100%!

One of my hardest subjects was Journalism. I remember my teacher's name. Sister Victorine. She would give me C's on my papers. We had to write about a variety of subjects. I wrote to get good grades. Finally, she told me the secret. Stay true to yourself. When I discovered my voice, my grades improved dramatically.

I had to make a very hard decision this week and it had to be one of the hardest things I had to do, but it wouldn't be me.  Thank you, Sister V!

Busy Writing

Busy working on my next book. Watching lots of Funny Car qualifying and eliminations. I'm hooked!

Still no word about The Sin Bin, my romantic comedy about hockey. Waiting is so hard.

Yay! School starts tomorrow. The library will be quiet again!

Sequel to When the Runway Went South

This week of my life reverts back to this book. What else can go wrong with things in our house? I'm afraid to ask. My husbands wants to stick a "For Sale" sign in the front yard and use the clause, 'as is'.

I ask myself if we are the only other home owners who have problems?

So far this year, money wise, has been the pool. I love my pool, but what a money pit! New pump, new O-rings, the Polaris gone wild, you name it. And that's just the motors! The surface needs to be redone and the pool's interior needs fixing.

Stopped up sinks to the tune of $250. Ouch!

Landscaping - previous owners planted trees outside our bedroom windows for privacy and noise reduction because this room does face the street. Guess what? One half of it's dying and we pay for grass, tree and shrub treatment.

Our rose bushes of six years have caught a disease and they're all dying.

Our fence sorely needs to be replaced.

The ceiling in the master bath over the window needs to be fixed from some water damage from the 'historic' rain fall we experienced this spring.

And just when I thought that was it, the garage door is not working.

Dealing with service men here in Texas is a nightmare. Not only do they cost and arm and a leg, they're always trying to sell you service contracts. Yes, they advertise coupons for $50 off repair services but then turn around and charge you a fortune for the service call.

My week ahead, as I'm trying to write my next book, is dealing with all of this.. ugh!

Maybe I will have a sequel to When the Runway Went South!

www.loiskasznia.com

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I don't know if you have been following, but I have a new website! www.loiskasznia.com, designed by Monica Dyess. I think she did a fantastic job!

Part of the old systems person I used to be, I do want to be able to update certain pages of it such as my blog and books I'm currently reading. Monica has been kind enough to teach me some basics to do so.

Since I assisted in the Help Desk area of Dimensions, back in Reading, PA, I used to love trying to solve computer problems and learn new things. The downside of the job was the temperament of the VP's who would carry on like crazy if they had computer problems and they wanted it fixed RIGHT NOW! The rest of the employees were so much more understanding when their computers acted up.

Therefore, when we moved to Dallas, I kind of shunned away from computer related issues and concentrated on my writing. When my laptop crashed in the middle of writing Not Just an Act, I was forced to learn Windows 8.1 with the purchase of a new laptop. I know just enough to get by but not like I knew Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7!

Please check it out and let me know what you think!

Stimulating My Brain!

As an author, I do need my alone time with my characters to tell me what to write. I told you last week how busy my family has been with vacation and playing catch up.

I finally got a breather this Friday and it was wonderful. I was able to devote over eight hours of uninterrupted quality time with my new work in progress!

Of course, that all changes with the weekend. Mowing, gardening, house chores and more parties. Taking this Sunday to do what I want. Read some of my favorite authors work and keep up with my writing skills! I call it a Brain Refresh!