Happy New Year

I wish all of you a Happy New Year! As all of you, it's been an up and down year but I stay optimistic.

My biggest wish this year is swift justice to the Publishers who are stealing author's royalties. How unfair and what a blow to the industry! You'll get your due in the end!

Happy Holidays!

I added a new page on FaceBook to promote this book! If the relatives or the holidays get to you, take time for yourself and retreat into reading a good book!

Happy Holidays to all of you! Thank you for your friendship and support!

Love you all!

Pre Holiday!

The sequel to When the Runway Went South keeps gaining more material. I swear!  Can I ask a question? Do other people have these problems?

Took my husband's baby in for a state inspection. And they flunked it! Why? The window tint is too dark. I took it to another place and they said the same thing.

Um, this car is a 2009 and has never been flunked before. It's in prime condition! So now I have to take it to a Tint Company and for $85, they will scratch off the tint and prime it to Texas State Law.

Really? We've been driving it for three years....

Trying to Find Time to Write - Always a Challenge!

I need to work on promoting my books. I've gone on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Pintrist. I tell everyone I meet and hand them a card of my website. I've asked friends to share on FB as well. Sigh.

So, the sequel to When the Runway Went South is gaining more material. Texas is experiencing winter. We had a hard freeze on Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday, I woke up and was freezing and thought I didn't hear the heat turn on for the downstairs. My husband takes the first shower and he was at the thermostat immediately trying to figure out what was wrong. I got the "I'm from Chicago" speech, I can handle this, but you better call our guys.

Guy comes out Tuesday night and told us we had two options....one was to pour $800 into a 14 year old system which might not last too much longer or two, get a new unit. We opted for the new unit. Sales guy came out and it wasn't as expensive as we thought it would be, so we said yes and opted for a Thursday morning install.

Thursday, the salesman calls and said they have a top of the line furnace that's been installed but never was used in a model home. Would we be interested for a couple more hundred. Talked it over and said yes.

They arrive Thursday and said the job would take 6 hours. I told them I had to leave the house for a blood test at noon and they assured me they'd be done. They get it all installed and it doesn't work. They called for backup while I ran and had the blood test. I got home at one and it still didn't work. There is absolutely no heat in the house at all. Finally at 3:30 they got it to work! Yay! Heat!

I started to clean the house and my husband called to say he was leaving work early. He had to prepare for his Friday colonoscopy. Augh! He's hungry and cranky.

Friday, is the day. My nerves are shot. I'm worried about him, I'm worried about my daughter who had a bad day at work.

It won't get better next week. I have to take hubby's car in for rotating the tires and a state inspection which means he'll take my car. Which means I'll borrow my daughter's car and take her to work.

Wednesday he leaves for Nashville and comes home late Thursday.

Hopefully, I'll find writing time....my characters are not happy with me right now!!

Only Me

Just when I think life is boring, things happen to me that don't happen to normal people. I wonder why?

I think I'm a good citizen. I respect my fellow man, follow the rules and try to conduct myself in a Christian manner. Okay, I do suffer road rage but I'm trying to get that under control. I try not to get upset when important people in my life disregard my emails, but it's hard.

I try to advertise by books the best I can even though sales are shrinking....don't know what else to do....I post them on Facebook and Twitter and my friends share them to reach another audience.

I'm upset with my body as I age because I used to have a flat stomach and now when I look at it, I can't believe the mushroom top I have. Where did that come from? I exercise; I walk 4 miles a day, what is it? Grrr. After recovering from a broken ankle last year, I'm almost at my top speed of 4.0 on the treadmill which burns 611 calories when I do four miles. I've got to do more!

I live in a fairly safe town even though I know a lot of bad things are swept under the rug, I get it. But I do feel safe. Safe enough for the last four years to walk/exercise the many sidewalks around the town without being threatened.

So, after my hour on the treadmill, I write. Or try to. Between the damn telemarketers and the divorced biker guy who thinks he's 18 and rips his bike up and down the street at breakneck speed thinking he's cool, it can be hard.

Then, I walk, weather permitting, an additional three miles. I feel great and can go back to writing. The sweat pants I have don't have pockets and it gets cumbersome carrying my phone and a bottle of water. If I have jeans on at least I can slip my phone in my pocket and my hands are free.  I see my phone as identification; no need to carry my license. Well, did I get that wrong yesterday.

I'm minding my own business on my walk. Motorcyce guy really ticked me off. I'm ten minutes into my walk whe a Flower Mound Police SUV stops me. Huh? What did I do? He gets out of the vehicle and says, "Lois? Is that you?" I'm stunned, trying to figure out how he know my name. Did something happen to my husband? My daughter? "I said, yes. What happened?" He said, "Michaels?"

I'm not putting two and two together because my husband's client is the Michael's craft store. Did he think I robbed Michaels which is in the town next to ours? Now I'm flustered. What the hell is he talking about?

"Are you Lois Michaels?" he asked. Whoa! How ironic is this? Lois is a very unusual name and not too many people have it. "I said, no. I'm Lois Kasznia. What is going on?"

"Where do you live?" he asked. Now I'm flustered and I told him so. He's getting cocky.

"I think you have the wrong person. I'm Lois Kasznia and I live in Lakemont Estates right down the street."

"No, you fit the description of a missing woman." He shows me this picture of a woman who could've been my sister.

"I don't know who that is and but that's not me," I replied.

"Where's your license?" he asked and then called for backup and shook his head when I told him I didn't have it.

Now I'm really freaking out and mad. I hand him my cell phone and my hands are shaking. "Here," I said and pulled up my photo on Amazon of my author picture. "This is me. Lois Kasznia." He's not buying my story. Now four other cop cars show up and I'm pissed. The second cop comes over to talk to me and asks the same question. I told him my name and where I lived.

He turns to the first cop and says, "No, this isn't her." First cop isn't giving up.

Third, fourth and fifth cop ask me my name and where I live and I told them again. I heard one of them say, "Why did he stop her? The person we're looking for is Lois Anne Michaels and this isn't her.

Me? "Who is Lois Ann Michaels and why should I know her?"

Second cop says, "She was reported missing and she has dimentia. She left the house wearing a green sweater."

I look down at my ratty Chicago Bears jersey and laugh. "I'm not wearing a green sweater. Did you pull me over because of my Bears jersey in Dallas Cowboy territory?"

Now, the other cops are laughing but not the first cop. I think he's pissed he was wrong and he insists that he's right. Finally, I handed my phone to the second cop and opened up my three FB pages. "This is me. Here's a picture of my husband and me. Hers a picture of my daugher. I'm me. Lois Longo Kasznia!"

Second cop takes it over to the other three cops while cop number one is glaring at me. I'm being cooperative and friendly but inside I'm angry as hell. This was not necessary. Finally, cop number one concedes that I am not Lois Ann Michaels. Doesn't even apologize and gets into his car. The other four cops thank me for my time and drive off.

I was able to snap pictures of the five SUV's and called my husband who couldn't believe it until I sent him the pictures.

Needless to say, now when I go for a walk? I'm taking my license!!!

Holidays

Sigh, I give up. Do you know how hard it is to find 'alone' time to write?

I don't know about you, but we've been really busy this week. I don't know why. I've sent my Christmas cards, put up my decorations last week....what's the deal?

As I always say....if you want to hear God laugh...tell him your plans....

Next week I'll write. I promise!!!

Happy Thanksgiving, Black Friday and all that entails....

And the NFL and the NHL!!!!

Hockey Season

Things are heating up with the NHL! Written and edited by the biggest hockey fans ever!

Also, don't forget to check out my website: www.LoisKasznia.com!!!  Drop the puck!!!

The Aftermath

The election is over. I'm moving on with my life.

Things are still happening here. My daughter got a seasonal job with Kohl's while she waits for her full time job to open in January. Yup! She's in for learning experience with Black Friday and the Christmas season.

I had to borrow her car for an errand and OMG! The brakes are squeaking and when you step on the brakes, the car thumps to a stop. Why didn't she say anything???? Took it in and $777.77 later, it's fixed. New front brakes, two new tires, an alignment and a three year warranty on the tires and the alignment. Ouch!

I've been so busy putting out fires, I haven't had time to work on my next book which is about the NHRA. My characters are mad at me, because they've been talking but I'm not really listening. So, what I did yesterday was this. When my daughter's car was finished. I drove it to her work and I walked home. 4.7 miles! It calmed me down and I concentrated on the story. When I got home, I wrote it down and come Monday, it's back to work!

Wishing everyone a great week!

Ghosts!

I swear! There must be a ghost haunting me or someone has a voodoo doll of me. In the last three months, I've had to replace my dryer, my dishwasher, and my mower. The kitchen sink has stopped up, the toilet has overflowed, the garage door has broken and the car broke down.

Yesterday, the new mower spewed oil when my husband started it up and we had to take it back to Sears for a replacement. But, it's not the time for lawnmowers and they didn't have any in stock. We had to order it.

Then I went to print mailing labels and for some reason when it prints, the font is so small that all 30 addresses are on one label. In the many, many years I've printed labels, (my family calls me the Label Queen), has that ever happened to me. At this point, I'm so exhausted I don't have the energy to deal with it. There are three other computers in this house I can use!

On a brighter note, THE CUBS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!! Also, we attended the wedding of our best friend's daughter in Asbury Park, NJ and met the nicest people of all! In the fourteen years of living in Pennsylvania, not once did we ever go to that part of New Jersey. It's beautiful!

The Cubs were playing the night of the reception and the father wanted a 52 inch screen television at the reception, but the bride put her foot down. NO! It was just as well, since they lost that game, but still.

I hope you are enjoying The Sin Bin!

What a week!

 

The best news of the week, was The Sin Bin was released! This book has been two years in the making and i feel blessed it finally made it! It was a last minute flurry of activity and with the hard work of my editor, it got done! I will always appreciate what she did!

In the meantime, my new dishwasher wouldn't drain and flooded the kitchen sink. Had to wash everything by hand until someone from Whirlpool could come out on Friday. My lawnmower wouldn't start and ended up taking it to the repair shop to see what's wrong with it.

Tuesday, I worked on last minute edits and when done, ran errands and when i came home, the garage door spring broke. Couldn't get into the garage. They couldn't see me until Wednesday.

Tuesday night, my husband flew into the house after work. His beloved car broke down and was not driveable. The strut on the driver's side broke, so the bumper of the car sat on the front tires. It sat in front of our house looking drunk.I called AAA and they said they would send out a v-wheel tow truck first thing in the morning to take it to the repair shop.

Now it gets complicated. My husband takes my car to work, leaving me my daughter's car. But, my daughter has a job interview at 10 in the morning and needs the car. I HATE to be without a car. It's agreed I'll take her to her interview, even though she's embarrassed that her mother has this phobia!

Wednesday morning at 7:30, the AAA tow truck arrived and it's a regular tow truck. The driver refused to touch the car and told me to call AAA and ask for another provider. He took pictures of the car and sent them to AAA showing why he refused the job.

After seeing the pictures, AAA calls me to tell me that they won't cover the towing because it's a liability. I'm freaking out by now. This is a new car we're talking about and no one can tow it? I called the repair shop to see if they could recommend someone and they put me in touch with someone.

Now, this is all before 8:30 am. The v-wheel tow truck arrived at 9. After much speculating, the driver and his partner figured out that they would push the car to the truck. It took us (I rarely drive this car) about ten minutes how to keep the car in neutral for them to push it. Granted, they are now blocking my driveway and the entire neighborhood is watching them trying to get the car on the bed of the truck. They notice my crooked garage door and soon I'm swamped with texts from then, if I need some prayers. Uh, yes! Prayers work for me!

The tow men are still working and I'm looking at the clock. It's 9:45 and the interview is at 10:00. Augh! Finally, they pull away at 9:47. We jumped into the car so fast and flew to the interview with minutes to spare.

The entire time, I'm thinking I should've followed the tow drivers but then chided myself for being paranoid. Me and my active imagination. Interview went well and I went home to wait for the garage door company. They came at three and within thirty minutes and only $98 had a fixed door! However, I heard about the mower. The motor is dead and I need a new one. It's cheaper to get a new mower rather than to repair this one because John Deere doesn't make this model anymore. Great!

Whirlpool person came on Friday. The model I bought takes at least three hours to run a cycle. There is an hour cycle but it uses seven gallons of water. Guess which setting I used when the sink overflowed? Yup. Seven gallons of water rushing into a drain at once, will do it. Don't use that cycle!

Repair shop called to tell me that the repairs of $2500, plus the towing was all covered under the warranty. Whew! I picked it up and brought it home!

Saturday, my husband and I went shopping for a new mower and found one at Sears. I'll give it a whirl today.

To make the end of an unusual week brighter...THE CUBS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!

The Sin Bin

Bad boy NHL Star, Scott McGregor, goes through women like water. He enjoys his life and has no intention of settling down any time soon. When he’s introduced to his hockey idol, Sergi Zemtsov, it’s Sergi’s daughter, Kylie, who steals his attention. Other women fade away, and only Kylie fills his obsessive thoughts.

Professional golfer, Kylie Zemtsov is focused on her budding career and doesn’t have time for men. Her legendary father taught her all about players, and she knows she should stay away from Scott and his bad boy ways. It doesn’t matter how infatuated she might be with him, but when Scott pursues, she decides to give him a chance—give them both a chance.

Their timing couldn’t be worse. Scott’s team is in contention for the Stanley Cups Playoffs, while Kylie is on a roll winning LPGA tournaments. Seeing each other means flying from coast to coast and seeing each other whenever they can steal the time. Under a great pressure, their relationship is tested, and if they can’t figure it out, they’ll both end up in the Sin Bin serving a penalty that will cost them a lifetime apart.

Now available on Amazon, AllRomanceebooks ResplendencePublishing!

Hard Work

The edits for The Sin Bin came Monday afternoon. This is my first time with this editor and she is amazing. I learned so much from her.

Of course I was up all night working on them. I went to bed Tuesday morning and slept on what I had done.My family thinks I'm insane which I am.

In my writing career of seven books (the first two are for my eyes only), I've had five different editors. It's a learning experience for sure. One says don't get too detailed about the sport you're writing about because it's a romance story and you don't want to lose the reader.

Than another says get more detailed with the sport you're writing about because fans want the detail. There is a happy medium which you learn.

Can't wait to get the story out there! So excited!

Count My Blessings

Life can throw you some curve balls and the balls can be hard to handle. I am taking a moment to count my blessings rather than dwelling on the negative. IE: Broken appliances, emails not being answered, my husband not allowing me to get another dog.....

I thank my loving family and friends for their support. I thank God, I had a normal checkup on my mammogram. I am now a PAN member with the Romance Writers of America.

I thank Facebook for reconnecting with my high school classmates. Didn't realize how much I missed them.

I have found the more I exercise and eat right, I can maintain a positive attitude! It's my bat for life's balls being thrown at me!

How to Handle Disappointment

Rejection always hurts. Need to take a deep breath, step back and refocus. And divine intervention from my English teacher, Sister Victorine who understood my writing. Oh, I can't tell you how many times she had me rewrite things but she knew I would because I had it in me.

Working on my next submission.....

Two years ago, this book came out! Wow!

Thanks to my BFF, I am getting ready to submit my next book! As usual, I'm excited about it! What makes it even better, I picked up on a manuscript I started last year and I remembered what I wanted. The characters were a little miffed at me for letting them hang for a year, but I've been through a lot this last year! They were very forgiving.

I am a creature of habit which is how I get things done. I time everything, trying to make the most of my day. I am devastated they are closing my favorite grocery store which is less than a mile away from my house. Kroger wants to build mega stores which sell patio furniture, clothes, etc. This little Kroger was perfect for me. It was small, the employees are like family to me and I could be in and out of there in a heartbeat!

I shouldn't complain because there are plenty of stores within a five mile radius. Two Tom Thumbs, a Super Walmart, Super Target, Whole Foods, Market Street, Sprouts and another Kroger who has a sexual deviant as a floor sweeper (but that's another story in itself). Tom Thumb has 'different' brands. Target doesn't always carry what I want, Whole Foods? $$$$$, Sprouts is natural but has good seafood, meats and produce. WalMart is okay but their produce is lousy. I'll have to adjust, I guess.....

Life Experiences

I hope everyone had a great week!

I had to take time out from my writing this week since my sister and husband, whom I haven't seen in seven years, came out to visit me in Texas! They came on Monday and left on Thursday.

I don't know if I told you, but in late August, my clothes dryer died. It was only seven years old. The matching washer is still going and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. (Remember? I said I had a sequel to When the Runway Went South?)

Come Labor Day, my dishwasher  of seven years, died. My husband kindly went online and researched new dishwashers. He found the best price at The Nebraska Furniture Store, owned by Warren Buffet, located The Colony, TX. Well, they were closed on Labor Day.

Knowing my company was coming in, we scheduled ONLINE for a delivery date of 9/13/2016. My sister agreed to us going out to dinner so I wouldn't have to do dishes, because the new machine would come Tuesday. (She is on a special diet and has lost 83 pounds and avoids restaurants!)

Come Tuesday morning, the delivery team calls me to say they are on their way with the new appliance. When they arrive, they cheerfully tell me, I never registered an installation, so therefore they couldn't do it and were not authorized to haul away the old dishwasher even though the instructions on the ONLINE order requests they do so. What?

I'm on the phone with Customer Service and was told rather than order online with them, I need to go to the store and see a sales person to ensure an installation for future orders. (Which there won't be!). I said why would I order an appliance without an installation and why didn't the ONLINE process catch something like that? She told me they were too busy to check each and every order that came in. The earliest date they could have someone install it would be 9/16. I told her that was unacceptable and asked to speak to her manager.

The manager gets on the line and apologizes for the mix up. She told me to look on the NFM Website and in fine print it does say, when ordering on a holiday, please follow up the following day to have your appliance installed. Missed that. Didn't have to do that with Home Depot or Lowes....

I told her I would never buy from them again. Then I got a robo phone call from NFM asking me to take a brief survey about the delivery team. Yes, they were very nice but they didn't do what I wanted. Then, I got another call saying that my appliance would be delivered on 9/13 between 9 am - 11 am. My first thought was that the manager was able to pull some strings and get an installer out because the order number was different from the ONLINE order. I'm feeling proud of myself until noon and nothing has happened.

I called them back and was told no, my installation date was still set for 9/16. I told the lady I had a house filled with out of town guests and really needed the dishwasher. She offered to put me on a stand by, if there were any cancellations, I would be top priority.

Tuesday night's dinner was a disaster with me cooking and my brother in law cooking, we must have used five pots and pans. For us to do those dishes took us about an hour and a half. When I woke up on Wednesday, my sister said they would take us out to dinner for their last night there because they didn't want me doing dishes.

During the day, I did get a call from NFM they would install the dishwasher between the hours of twelve and two on Thursday. Great. My sister's flight was at 9 in the morning, so I had to take them to the airport and wait for the installation team. The team was very nice and apologetic, but still. Nebraska Furniture Mart lost my business.

I guess the powers-to-be want me to write that sequel!!!

Me Time, Much Needed!

The 2016 NFL season has started! This is where I lose my Sunday afternoons to go to the sports bar to watch my team. And it's not looking good for my time, so it's going to be a long season. I will catch up with my fellow fans and their lives.

I have been such a space cadet this week. I've been working on a detailed synopsis of my latest book, Cruise into My Heart. I can't tell you how many times I've rewritten it. Which means I'm not getting enough sleep.

On Thursday, I ran errands and driving home, I noticed my watch was missing. ??? I back tracked and someone had found it in the parking lot and brought it to the store's lost and found. I've had this watch a long time.

Friday, I went to a store a couple of towns away because they were having a clearance on patio stuff. I chatted with the sales clerk because we got on the subject of Ontario, Canada. He used to live there and my sister lives there. Packed up my purchase and drove back home to the grocery store. Went to pay and noticed my credit card was missing. I left it at the first store. I frantically called and yes, he had it locked in the store safe. I had to drive all the way back there in rush hour traffic to get it.

I need a day off from me!

Holiday Weekends and Family!

Labor Day weekend! Woo hoo! Doing things around the house while I have time between writing. My sister and her husband from Illinois, are coming for a four day visit next week. I haven't seen them in over 8 years.

My sister has lost a tremendous amount of weight and I'm so proud of her. Eighty pounds in a two year period. She said she feels so much better and feels more energetic. I love to work out and walk, so I'm anxious to show her the walking trails around here.

But another good thing about their visit, things are getting done around the house. You know those chores you keep putting off? Windows cleaned, touch up paint jobs, lawn work, gardens weeded.

After our trip to Canada and meeting my family's new dogs, I'm hunkering down to search for one for our family. My husband is against it because he doesn't want to go through the ordeal of putting one down again. But meeting those two dogs and petting them, lowered his blood pressure and we need more of it. I thought of appeasing him by suggesting we name him, Ernie Banks. (My husband is a die-hard Cub's fan!) Good idea?

Updates!

I was on vacation last week! My family and I went to Creemore, Ontario for my nephew Brad's wedding to his beautiful bride, Samantha.

The theme of the wedding was Nashville and the guests dressed for the part. It was held on Sam's mother's farm. It was hot. I only remember Canada being chilly. Not then. It was 90 degrees.

You wonder where I get my ideas for my books and I'll tell you. Life experiences. On Thursday, August 18, 2016, we took at 5 am flight from Dallas to Buffalo, New York. The night before, we double checked our newly updated Garmin to key in the addresses of where Sam's farm was.

Guess what? It didn't work. Argh! Okay. My husband's work phone has International where mine doesn't. We would use the phone if our rented car didn't have a GPS system. When we arrived at Hertz, they had given our car to someone else. They offered us a Jeep Patriot with free GPS, but my husband is 6 foot 5 and didn't fit. They offered us an extended cab Yukon which he could fit it, but it was too big for me. Guess what? No GPS.

So in Creemore, they have a Route 7 and then a Route 7/18. That intersects with Highway 9 to get to the farm. After an hour on the phone with the groom and not finding the place, Brad met up with us 40 miles away from where we should've been. Turns out there's Highway 9 and County Highway 9. Not on the phone. (My phone is a paper weight at this point.)

After the wedding, we were invited to a cottage on a lake about three hours north of Creemore. Guess what? My husband's phone died. We needed two cars to get to the cottage, so we took my niece and my grand nephew with us because it was her mother's cabin and she knew the way.

It was beautiful up there and we had a great time. We followed the bride and groom back to Toronto airport where they took off for another wedding. This time, Brad had written down directions for us to get back to Buffalo. Always something.

Update to The Sin Bin. Heard from editor last night. She wants to release it when the 2016 NHL season starts in October. I'm fine with that! Gives me more time to work on the edits. She sent me the rough draft of the Cover Art. I absolutely love it. I can't share it with you yet, but once she gives me the okay, you'll see what I'm talking about!

Once again for your support and help! My friends are the best!

Late Summer Colds

I welcome myself back into the world of the living. Starting last Sunday, I came down with a sinus infection. A trip to the doctor and a prescription for antibiotics and I can finally say. Yay! It's gone!

As hard as I've tried to keep it contained to me, by washing my hands frequently and staying away from other people, I've spread it to my husband and daughter. To them, it's a summer cold. I guess I have sensitive sinuses.

Silly me tried writing while sick. I couldn't even string two sentences together. I've got a lot of work to catch up on because there's a lot to do. I'm in a bind and I have to do some research and seek legal advice how to get out of it. I swear, nothing is easy.

Frustsrated

I can't say I've had a bad week but I'm so frustrated. I know I'm a control freak and I don't like it when things aren't happening. Sending out emails and no one is responding. Argh!!!

Our Healthcare at Work

Hopefully, we're close to being finished with home repairs. But we had something else crop up that I haven't written about because it's never happened to us before!

A bad result on a blood test! My husband gets two blood tests a year. His weight is the cause of it, I admit. If he would lose at least 30 pounds, all of his problems would disappear. He takes medication to keep it under control.

Imagine our surprise when we got a call from the doctor's office to say one of his readings was off the chart and to have an ultrasound immediately. We panicked!

The call came in on a Tuesday and the ultrasound was performed on Thursday. The technician said we would receive a call from the doctor on Friday with the results.

We waited all day, our hearts heavy and scared. At four o'clock, I couldn't stand it anymore and called the office. His doctor is on vacation this week and won't be back until Monday.

I told them, that's not good enough. Could another doctor read it for us if it's that critical? The receptionist said she would see what she could do.

We got a call from the office an hour later telling us that his doctor will talk to us on Monday after he reads it.

He's going to be swamped on Monday when he gets back. Do they realize the agony they have put us through?

The Joys of Owning a Home

Why I chose this book today is because I'm ready to write a sequel to it. I have had ten days of hell with home repair.

Last August, we had a breaker blow out in one of our upstairs bedrooms. When the service man came, he encountered my husband (normally I'm the one to handle service men who work on commission) and he talked my husband into a free maintenance check on our heating and air conditioner for $150.  My husband is a salesperson and why he didn't see this, I'm clueless. When I came home, I said to my husband, what did you do? The company specialized in electricity, not a/c and furnace? This company continued to plague me and we had paid money which was not refundable, so I said, fine. Come out but only check one unit because the other one is still under warranty.

They came out and found everything wrong with it. They even performed a service on it without consulting me and cost me $500. I could have a band aid repair for $6000 or a new unit at $16,500. Are you freaking kidding me?

I called my trusty service and they provided me with a free second opinion check up. Taking the list from the first company, they painstakingly went through the service report and the only thing they found wrong was that the unit uses Freon gas and it needs to be converted to today's industry standard. The repair, even though expensive, was nothing compared to what the first quote was.

Next? My husband chose to work from home on Tuesday because he had a dentist appointment which involved out patient surgery. When I signed online before him, we had no Internet or land line service. I called Frontier and they tried to help me but couldn't. They arranged for a technician to come on Wednesday. What about today? My husband figured out how to get online by using his work cell phone and I too could use his phone for my work,

The a/c repair came the same day as this. He had to turn off the air in order to repair the unit. It was 99 degrees that day. Then, the bolt broke off the new part and he had to go to down town Dallas to pick up a new one. A long hot day.

A breaker blew out in our guest bedroom but I'm not calling that company and researching someone else who doesn't pay their workers on commission.

I'm not done yet!

Wednesday. The pool. The Polaris, (pool cleaner) is at least seven years old. Every year we've had it repaired because the price of a new one is $600 - $800. Guess what? It's not working. My pool man gets a kick out of telling me these things because I wear my emotions on my face. Not only that, the pump it uses is broken too. I called the office to okay the repair and the girl cheerfully tells me it will cost at least $600 for the pump and probably $250 to repair the Polaris.

Frustrated, I'm doing laundry while all of this is going on and I throw the last load into the dryer. It won't start. I know my husband will explode when I tell him. I asked him to unplug it, since I can't reach it and that doesn't work. He doesn't say a word. After dinner, he went into his man cave and ordered me a new dryer to be delivered on Saturday. I was told not to do laundry at all until Saturday.

Are you kidding me? This household? Between the towels and the sheets, I can't maintain it. I don't want to spend 5 hours doing laundry. Oh? Flower Mound does not have a coin operated laundry facility. The closest ones were at least twenty miles away and in undesirable areas. I thought about it and remembered a club I joined when I first moved here, many women didn't do laundry at home. They sent it all to the cleaners, because they didn't have the time.

I don't operate that way. Thank goodness for the hot and dry conditions. I did my wash and draped the towels on my patio furniture to dry. It only took thirty minutes tops and they were done. A little scratchy but at least they were clean!

The dryer arrived on Saturday morning and works like a charm. It doesn't match the washer, but I don't care. I have a feeling it too will join the dryer in laundromat heaven.

NO MORE BREAKDOWNS!!!

Prayers for Dallas

What a sad time in Dallas. My heart and prayers go out to all whose lives have changed because of this.

To a brighter time. A couple of years ago, I had the good fortune to meet Lexi Thompson. In Grapevine, TX, there is a huge golf store, Golf Galaxy which carries everything pertaining to golf you need. Lexi Thompson gave a pep talk to young aspiring female golfers and challenged them to a driving contest. At the age of 19, she was gracious and kind beyond her years. I asked her many questions about her career and she answered all of them. I am so proud that she's ranked number four in woman's golf!

I should receive my first round of edits on The Sin Bin towards the end of July. Looking forward to them! Feels so good to be back in the saddle again!

Is Anything Easy?

I am so excited! I signed my contract with Resplendence Publishing this week! The Sin Bin, is scheduled for a 9/7/2016 release date.

It has been a hectic week and I lost my patience and broke into tears. I know people face worse problems than I have. But when little things keep happening and you try and fix them but can't, it is so frustrating.

I do my writing full time. That is my job. I also take care of the day to day running of a house hold. Grocery shopping, appointments, repair appointments, lawn work, laundry and other duties as assigned. This leaves my husband to do his job full time without any interruptions.

I have to admit, my husband is not happy with me being a full time author. I have published six books, but my publisher switched genres and my seventh book was rejected. It's been over a year while I've tried to find a home for it.  Yes, I'm getting small royalties but not as much as I had hoped. It was accepted by Resplendence Publisher but I wasn't sure about the release date. My husband would prefer I had at least a part time job. The hard part with trying to find a job for me is my age and the fact my husband has five weeks of vacation and uses them. Try telling that to a potential employer. They laugh in your face. I even said I would take them without pay and I don't need insurance because I'm covered under my husband's. This came about because a friend of ours, who is in the same business as my husband, was let go after ten years of service. He told my husband they were getting by because his wife has a job and they were living off of her paycheck. Hint, hint, hint. I hate to be nagged at...but I'm getting off track here.

Back to my frustrations. We subscribe to the daily paper. We are paper readers and always have been. We like to do all the puzzles in the paper and photocopy them so I can do mine and my husband can do his. For the last three months, we've been having problems with the delivery. First month, the carrier would throw the paper in the puddles in the street. Or they would only put one cover on during a torrential rain storm. I made three calls and the paper was delivered two hours later.

Second month was Russian Roulette. Would we get a paper or not. More calls to Customer Service. You think that they would see a problem here, but no. Finally I got a hold of a manager who oversees our area. He told me that he was having a problem with finding someone to deliver it. It was between him and his assistant to cover our area. The paper came for three days and then no more. I called again and the rudest and incompetent person answered. She kept interrupting me saying, "It is on it's way." I asked to speak to a supervisor and she said I couldn't. I hung up on her. I looked up the contacts in the Circulation Department and found a name. I emailed my experience with the delivery and a response came immediately. He apologized and said the problem would be rectified.

In the meantime, my husband's beloved car was issuing an error message and he was concerned. He looked it up in the book and asked me to call our repair shop. I did and it was a serious problem where the car had to be towed to the shop. I met my husband there and he used my car for two days while his car was being repaired. My daughter needed her car, so I was stuck without transportation for two days, I hate being without a car!

Since this happened all at once, I broke down into tears of frustration. I woke up the next day and I had a paper. I also has a contract for The Sin Bin and a royalty check from my previous publisher and the car was fixed; the repair covered under warranty.

Life is good until I start the washing machine and the start button falls off. Here we go....

Completion!

I am SO happy! I finished the rough draft of my next book! I've been working on it since August of 2015, but there were setbacks. Two rejections of The Sin Bin which I had to rework through and a broken ankle. But I did it!

Now comes the hard part of editing it and handing it over to the "Red Pen"! After that, running it through two software programs in order to meet publishing standards.

Then to my mentor, whom I cherish. And then finding a publisher who wants it.

But wait? What's the title? I am stumped!!

Trying to Write

It's been a productive week. I've been working on the rough draft of my Holiday Cruise Romance book, which I haven't yet decided on a name. Last night while sleeping, I woke up knowing just how to end it. I came upstairs to my office and jotted down the ending. I'll finish it up tomorrow and then my self editing will begin. I will then turn it over to my two muses who have helped me with my other books.

My car was fixed to the tune of $$$$.$$. Yikes. It's a 2002, with only fifty-five thousand miles on it and it still had the original spark plugs. You see, where we live in Texas, everything is within a five mile or less radius. I don't have to go far at all. I drove more miles when I lived in Pennsylvania.

It is hot, but not Phoenix hot. My neighbors are ready to kill me, but I mowed the lawn at 7 am on Friday. The temperature was 77 and by the time I finished at 8, it had jumped up to 84. I sweated through two frog towels and had endless bottles of water. I know I could hire someone to do it, but I like the exercise since I'm on a constant health kick.

I don't understand how people can run or jog in the heat of the day when the 'feels like' temperature in 101 or higher. What are they trying to prove????

The scariest thing with heat like this, is when you think your a/c unit isn't working properly. That happened on Friday, when the upstairs went up to 88 and the unit was running like crazy. Husband to the rescue. He set the thermostat back to 73 and pressed "Hold" (it's an old thermostat) and sure enough by night, it had gone down to 73. After replacing a unit damaged by hail three years ago, they ain't cheap!

The Heat has Started!

It's summer here in Texas! We are to be in the 100's by the end of the week. That means I'll be spending a lot of time indoors, writing. Maybe I'll sneak out to the pool every now and then to cool off. That is, if it stops raining.....

Nothing is Easy

With all the travelling I've done, you would think I know how to plan a vacation. Ha! I need to organize the aftermath for when I get home. We got home on Sunday and I was off and running errands. Finally, I put my foot down on Thursday and said enough is enough! I need my writing time!

Sunday was grocery shopping. Monday, I mowed the lawn. Tuesday, I wrote for an hour. When my husband came home from work in a drenching rain storm, his baby had a flat tire. I called AAA and they came and put the spare on for him. On Wednesday, he took my car so I could take his baby to Goodyear to fix the tire, get an oil change and an alignment as if I didn't have anything else to do. He called me on my cell phone. He told me there was no answer on our landline and did I know the key fob for my car wouldn't lock and had I taken his baby to Goodyear yet? Really?

I told him to leave it unlocked. If someone wanted to steal it they could. No, I didn't know the phone didn't work and it's only 8:00 and I haven't even taken a shower.

Took the baby only driving ten  miles an hour in the pouring rain to Goodyear. I had a ride, so I came home and called Frontier on my cell phone. The wait time was 45 minutes. But they fixed it and all was fine. At two, Goodyear called and said the baby was done.

That left Thursday and Friday to write. I pray that next week is uneventful!

Vacation is Over!

I'm posting this book of mine, because it reminds me of how much I love the game of golf.
My husband I took a road trip to Sedona, AZ this past week. It's been a long time since we've done that and I looked forward to it.

The first day was horrible. We witnessed two fatal truck accidents which bothered me. I hate seeing them, but the way people drive these days, I'm not surprised. Needless to say, my nerves kicked in and now I know every truck stop on I-40 in New Mexico and Northern Arizona!

The next day was much better and we arrived in the late afternoon and checked into our timeshare. The weather was beautiful all week and had no complaints at all. We strolled around the shops and uptown Sedona. We ate at our favorite restaurants. We visited our relatives in Phoenix and played two rounds of golf.

We even struck up conversations with other time share owners and we all agreed the sales staff are sharks. What is supposed to be a forty-five minute meeting turns out to be four, wasting your day of vacation. Now that we are platinum members, we no longer have to attend these inane meetings. I was very proud of myself when I said, "No means no! I do not have twenty-thousand dollars to give to you! Back off!

I'm working on an eighth book and had a dilemma on how to end it. While relaxing, I did come up with a great idea, so I'm anxious to get back to writing.

Now that I've done the grocery shopping, laundry, yard work and catching up on my emails, I'm ready! It's good to know my mind never takes a vacation!

Great Customer Service

Have to say, I'm impressed with Nebraska Furniture Mart. I know even though I'm not a native Texan, people here are skeptical about outside businesses. NFM has been here a year and I read an article how they are catering their methods to appeal to the Texas customer. I think the funniest thing the article pointed out was that NFM now knows that Texans don't like the five story parking garage. They'd rather use the parking lot. Growing up in Chicago and living outside of Philadelphia, using a parking garage is like second nature to me. Oh well.

First off, the place is huge. NFM has hundreds of everything to choose from. Our mission was to get a new mattress. Granted, our is only four years old, but it sagged. In order to get out of bed, I'd roll off the bed because it wasn't firm enough to support my one hundred pound frame. Both my husband and I had back pains and the doctor suggested a new mattress. I even had a bone scan done and they too recommended a new mattress

We didn't have to wait for a salesperson to help us. He had us try eight different mattresses making sure we had what we wanted. Delivery? Free and the next day. We placed the order at 11:00 am on May 14, 2016 and on May 15, 2016, the assembled mattress is in my bedroom at 10:30 am.

Now I can go back to writing......

It's the Little Things That Make Me Happy!

I have had an awesome week! First off, I found a home for The Sin Bin! Can't wait to begin this new chapter in my life.

Second of all, I had a great weekend. Hubby and I went shopping for new pots and pans together. There are plenty of restaurants to chose from around here, but lately have had bad experiences with the staff such as wrong orders, cold food and long waits. We have done more cooking at home and found we like it. I received my pots and pans for my wedding shower years ago. The reason they've lasted so long is because I really didn't do much cooking.

When I lived in Chicago and Pennsylvania, there is a company called Market Days which sold prepared meals through the school system. Having a full time job and a baby, I loved this concept. All I had to do with heat things up.

There is no Market Days in Texas and I learned new recipes and am still having fun discovering new dishes. When my husband made a dinner recently, he commented on how used my cookware was. With the Mother Day sale at Kohl's, I got a beautiful set from Cuisinart. I also ran to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get additional items to spruce up my kitchen.

This morning, my husband treated me to breakfast at....don't laugh, Waffle House! It's a once a year tradition based on my favorite movie Tin Cup. It's where Kevin Costner, Renee Russo and crew argue over breakfast, which Waffle House was better. Was it in Midland or Odessa? When we first moved to Texas, I made a point to drive there just to see where. Only me!

Working on my next book, currently untitled but have made great strides with it. I'm feeling inspired!

eBooks versus Printed Books

I am a big supporter of my local library. (Libraries these days are something else but that is another story I'll get into later.)

I love books and eReaders because I love to read. Four times a year, our library has a book sale of older books, paperbacks, DVD's, etc. to help support the library. I faithfully go to these sales because I can find books I want to read that are no longer being printed. Let's say I've discovered an author who has been writing for quite a while and I want to read some of their older material. I can always find what I want.

However, last year I asked if I could advertise my book signing at the library, I was told no. They don't support it. Okay. I thought that a little strange but I've learned the hard way, things are done differently in Texas. It's better to shrug your shoulders and accept it.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the library for the book sale, there were two authors promoting their books. I guess the rules had changed and I felt miffed, but decided to let it go. When I spoke with the two authors; a women in her early twenties and the other around my age., I introduced myself as a fellow author. I told them I had tried to do the same thing last year but the library would't allow it.

The older women flipped through her phone looking up the books I've had published. She told me the reason why is because my books are only available on Amazon and B&N, so therefore I was not a real author. My books are not in print.

You could've knocked me over with a feather. I didn't even bother looking at her $14.99 'signed' copy and left.

One Year Ago

Intercepted was released. I do want to let everyone know I have not stopped writing. I am trying to find a home for my work. I have one completed book and am working on two more. I need to be adopted by a nice publisher. I am a hard worker and easy to work with. I meet my deadlines and don't freak out if an editor wants me to change something. If you know of someone, let me know.

Score: Mother Nature - 1, Lois - 0

I love animals. I love to garden. Can you see where this is headed? Rabbits. They are a lot smarter than I give them credit for. I've always thought of them as cute little bunnies who are preyed upon by the stronger species. In the last decade, I have learned differently.

When I lived in Chicago and was a new mom, I didn't have time to garden at all. Yes, I helped my parents with their community garden raising vegetables, so I had training.

When we moved to Pennsylvania, I had time to garden. I learned what to plant so that rabbits and deer wouldn't eat my flowers. We lived on an acre and had a wooded back yard where deer and fox coexisted with all other creatures.

One day, while working in my home office, I noticed this rabbit carrying her babies and placing them in the front garden which consisted of colorful bushes. When I looked closely, the babies had no heads. I admit, I was grossed out. What was going on? I called my husband at work and he told me to suck it up and throw them in the trash. Nope. Not happening. Then I watched as the crows descended on the babies and this fierce mama bunny WENT AFTER THE CROWS! I had never seen anything like that before. I called my neighbor, a retired doctor, who came over and explained that foxes like to bite the heads off the baby bunnies. This mother bunny in her grief was trying to protect her babies. He told me when rabbits are provoked they will attack to protect their young. And I thought the killer rabbits in Monty Python was a joke. Ha!

Fast forward to Texas. I have a garden and so far I've had no rabbit problems until last year. They ate everything. My farmer friend said to use paprika because they don't like the smell. It didn't bother them at all. (Texans like spicy food.) Maybe they told their relatives because I have rabbits eating my grass and I haven't planted any plants yet. What?

At Lowe's, I noticed this small animal spray specifically designed for rabbits and squirrels. The scent is to drive them away and it won't hurt them. I tried it taking caution to spray the soil of the garden and the holes under the fence where the rabbits slip in. I looked to see if there were any nests in my yard but I couldn't find one. The scent was so overwhelming, I had to close the screen door and my windows.

Sure enough, the bunny came out and went flying and hopping around the yard as if it were on drugs. I had a repairman working and he stopped to watch because he had never seen anything like that before! Then it was gone. I did a happy dance thinking my problem was solved.

Wrong! It is pouring down here like a monsoon. We are to get six inches of rain. Guess what? The bunny is back, munching away because the rain has washed away the spray. Sigh. I can't win.....

Behind the Scenes

I know this book isn't selling very well, but the story comes from my heart and my experience with the LPGA.

As you know, my husband is an avid golfer and frequents a golf store in Grapevine Texas. He wanted his clubs re-gripped, so he brought them in to have that done. When they were done, the store employee called me to let me know they were ready. When I went to pick them up, one of the LPGA's leading player was there holding a contest for the longest drive. I stopped and looked around at the crowd and it tugged at my heart. There were about two hundred preteens in attendance, most of the dads (the golfer is extremely good looking) and the adoration in their eyes brought me to my knees.

I stopped what I was doing and paid attention. The LPGA player gave the girls an inspiring story of how she got started and urged the girls to never give up and follow their dreams. She insisted that they could do it.

You know girls at that age are very insecure and need role models such as she for inspiration. I was very impressed and researched her story. It is an amazing one and I'm very proud of the LPGA!

No, my story is my story and not hers but I wanted to bring the organization to everyone's attention!

Double Standards

The Sin Bin is done with the editing! I've run it through two software programs, my daughter and an angel who offered to edit it for me. It has taken me three months. I've never worked so hard on a book in my life. Maybe a term paper or two. My husband has his Masters Degree in International Relations. I typed  and edited many term papers for him which were very tedious. I gave myself a pat on the back when 'we' received an A.

In my Music Theory class while working on  my Masters, I had to write a paper comparing two Russian composers, measure by measure which turned out to be exhausting. You'd think I'd be a pro at this.

And let's not forget my daughter's term papers which we received good grades and compliments.

I think the most frustrating part of writing fiction is the strict adherence to no adverbs and passive voice. Every book I've read by popular authors are guilty of this, yet their editors don't seem to mind.

Double standards is an unfortunate way of life.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I know my family is scattered all over the world but I know they are with me in spirit! We are taking a day to reflect on the good things in life and thankful for what we have.

I'm wishing all of you a time of peace and love.

Need a Mental Health Day

Have you ever had a time in your life where you are constantly putting out fires? It has been that way for the last ten days and I'm beat. I need a day off.

Hopefully, this week I can find some time to work on my books! My head is crammed with so many ideas and I want to record them.

Thanks for listening and understanding.

I am a Workaholic!

My vacation is almost over. As usual, I acted in a typical workaholic manner by working on my book three times over the week. When we vacation, my husband usually plays golf three times. He goes on as a single and meets interesting people and enjoys their company.

You have to understand, he is a salesman for a craft company and interacts with women all day long. He is a guy's guy who loves sports. He can only talk about doilies for so long with women. The friends we have in Dallas are not golfers, so he enjoys meeting guys who are golfers and share similar interests that do not involve doilies.  If he's happy, I'm happy.

I will read and hang out at the pool while he's on these excursions. This time, the weather was too cool for swimming and I sat inside reading. I felt guilty and turned on the laptop and edited The Sin Bin. At first, I said I would only do a page and that was it. One page turned into two, then three.

After the first round of golf, my husband came back to the condo and caught me red handed. He made me feel guilty because this vacation was for me to relax and not worry about the book. I promised him I would put it aside and I did. That lasted three days, but I did finish a chapter!

Our daughter watched our house while we were gone, so I felt relaxed about things. Tuesday, at six in the morning, someone knocked on our door. Scared the living daylights out of me. I looked out the peep hole and saw a small man with dark hair with his back to the door, muttering like crazy. I called for my husband but the man ran away.

I went back to bed, but felt uneasy. Then I heard my phone ding with a text. I got up again to look who would be texting me at this hour. It was my daughter. A straight line storm had gone through our town, with the tornado sirens blaring. She was in the closet underneath the staircase, scared for her life. I called her to make sure she was okay but the house had damage to it. The winds had gusted to 86 mph knocking down trees and our fence. But when this storm moved to the town next to ours, it had blossomed into a tornado. We were lucky to have minimal (but expensive) damage.

For the rest of the vacation, I went with my husband while he golfed and met the nicest people. Palm Springs is a beautiful city but I couldn't afford to live there. We called it Bentley City because that was the most popular car on the road!

I'm home. The first day back, I dealt with home repair and yes, I'm working on the book too. And what's with the time change? Yuck! I do not like 'springing' ahead. I like to sleep!

Taking a Break

I am taking a much needed break from editing and indulging in writing and reading. I know I want the most polished manuscript to submit to a potential publisher, but I've been working on it and I need to take a step back.

This presidential campaign is the craziest I've ever seen. I am beyond words.

I'm also indulging in watching hockey, golf  and the NBA. In essence, I'm being a slug. Let's see how long this lasts for someone who doesn't sit still?

Frustrating Week

Still working on The Sin Bin. It's a long, tedious editing process making the manuscript as professional as can be. I'm using a trial software program which catches adverbs, grammatical errors, writing styles, sticky sentences, cliches, sentence length, overused words, etc, etc. The downside is when I write, it's my voice. I never realized I spoke so poorly.

However, a program isn't all you need. You still need to have a human being (who hasn't read the darn thing over one hundred times) read it so it makes sense. I have my mentor looking over what I've corrected and has thankfully pointed out where I can still keep my voice and have it grammatically correct. Darn. Too many adverbs.

On another topic, what has happened to customer service? If you're a professional and have clients who depend on your services, shouldn't they be treated with respect? If you say you're going to do something but don't, would it be too hard to say, "Sorry, I can't do it." Or if an emergency came up and you had to cancel an appointment, is it so hard to either text or call your client that the appointment has to be cancelled? And not leave the client sitting there waiting for you, wondering what happened?

MIlestones

There have been a couple of accomplishments this week. They are small, but I'll take what I can get!
Editing is a slow process. I'm using software which has found tons of errors. I need to be careful as to not lose my voice. There are just things we say which can't be corrected by a program. A good example is a round of golf.  If you end the sentence with the word round, the program picks it up as error because you've ended the sentence with a preposition. There are other examples where I have to say (and I talk to myself), I don't agree! But I'm getting there. I'm also using a mentor to review my changes...a human being.

Second, my walking is getting so much better. It's been over two weeks since the boot came off, but I'm forcing myself to take walks every day, going a further than I did the day before. The muscles still look like a bowl of jello and thank goodness for jeans to hide it. Because I'm a short person, I wear heels all the time. The doctor advised me to put a hold on that until I get my full strength back. I own only two pairs of sneakers versus thirty pairs of heels.....I feel so short!

On a sad note, I hope you will say a prayer for an online friend. When we lived in Reading, PA, we joined the Chicago Bears Fan Club in Lancaster. For fourteen years, every Sunday during football season, we would drive to Lancaster to watch the Bears' games. These people became our family. We all still keep in touch. This young man, Sean Powell, joined the group after we moved. He made it to the game when the Bears played Dallas and our Lancaster family asked us to take care of him. I chatted with him on FB, but we never connected at the game. He got lost and then texted back, he would meet us the next time the Bears played Dallas in Arlington.

This week, on his way to the Daytona races, he was in a horrible car accident. He was unresponsive and air lifted to the ER. His mother came out okay, but the prognosis is not good for Sean. He's in his upper twenties and has so much more of life to live.  Prayers!

Deliveries and Editing

Stay warm to my friends in Chicago, Toronto and the East Coast!

This has been a crazy week. Every day, it's been one thing or another. Car repair, car registration renewal and waiting for deliveries. I need a day where nothing is going on. Ha!

We belong to two wine clubs; one in Williamsburg, VA and the other in Fredricksburg, TX. Both had deliveries scheduled for last Monday. One used UPS and the other used Fed Ex. In the seven years I've lived here, not once has the delivery been before five in the evening.

On Monday, after an intensive morning at the library working on The Sin Bin, I got home at noon to find a note on the door saying that I had missed the UPS delivery. I couldn't believe it. Before noon? The note said they would deliver it the next day. That's fine.

Tuesday, I'm working again on editing upstairs in my office when the door bell rings. Now, you remember, I'm recovering from a broken ankle building my muscles back up in my leg. Stairs take some time. By the time I got downstairs, the driver had taken off. Now I'm angry.

I called UPS to complain and also to tell them I wouldn't be home on Wednesday because I have an appointment with the car dealership and I don't know how long it would take. Could I please have the delivery moved to Thursday instead of Wednesday. It will cost me six dollars. She suggested they could deliver it to their distribution center in downtown Dallas. Not an option. Also, if I didn't receive it by the end of the business day on Thursday, it would be returned to the sender. Pressure!

Fed Ex came at 11:30 and UPS came at noon. Note to self; you are at the mercy of others.

Writing or should I say editing. I am determined to get this book published if it kills me. I have painstakingly taken apart each sentence to make sure it's grammatically correct. I have found some free software to help me along. It's not perfect and I don't mind another set of eyes to look at the chapters I've done. It's taken me a week to do three chapters. There are twenty-four chapters.

The houses want perfect manuscripts and that's what I plan to deliver to them!

Fiction Writing Lessons Better Late than Never

Is everyone ready for the Super Bowl? In this house of sports, we are. Our favorite teams are not playing but we like both the Broncos and the Panthers. We are just hoping for an exciting games and the commercials. We have friends who are having parties, but they are in Illinois and Pennsylvania and it would be too expensive to fly out there for only a day. We'll just watch it from our couch.

Good news is I'm somewhat back to normal. The boot came off Wednesday and the doctor said the bone has healed as it should. I have to ease my way back into my exercise routine; no power walking outside, but at a reasonable pace. As far as the treadmill, nothing higher than one. The biggest hurdle to overcome is my core. For the last three months, I've relied on my left leg and now my right leg is available. It will come.

I drove for the first time yesterday and now I understand what the doctor meant by the reaction time. At first, I felt I had a brick attached to my foot each time I'd go from the accelerator to the brake pedal. But being the experienced driver I am, I adjusted. I just drove around the neighborhood at fifteen miles an hour. Didn't knock out any parked cars are houses, so we're good.

Setback with The Sin Bin. Back to the drawing board. I didn't realize the extent I overuse adverbs. When I write, it's my voice, the way I talk. I talk from what I read. After this was pointed out to me, I paged through fictions books written by best selling authors and lo and behold, their stories are filled with adverbs. How come they can get away with it? Life is not fair!

After a mild attitude adjustment, I did some research. Writer's Digest had a great article about how to overcome using too many adverbs. It's the verb. A good example is the verb, knock. He knocked softly. The better verb to use is tap. You know a tap is a light knock. He tapped on her door.

Another tip from a great editor is in fiction, you show, not tell.

There is also software you can use to help you clean up your manuscript. It's expensive though, but in the long run, it might be worth it. I feel, as an author, I am concerned with my character development, the plot and making sure the reader knows where I'm headed with the story. I have had people read through my manuscripts looking for errors. I, myself, have poured over it time after time, but I don't catch everything.

I felt with six published books under my belt, I could work with anyone. I'm willing to revise and revamp my manuscript to make it a better story. Welcome to the real world. Not everyone is willing to do so.

Discipline

Heard from my music school mates! Talking about our college days and how much fun they were. We miss our professors and were truly blessed to have such good and patient teachers. A lot of my friends are still performing and teaching!

Back to my new career of being an author. I did it. I totally rewrote and finished The Sin Bin. I submitted it to the editor who rejected it. She gave me very good advice and I tried to follow it as she explained.

Other news, my ankle. I go back to the doctor this Wednesday for the next leg (lol) of this journey. To me, this was bittersweet. Never take things for granted. I miss exercising and driving like crazy. I have modified my work out routine so I can still do some things, but not everything. Because of it, it forced me to face my demons and rewrite my story.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, please? My story and my ankle turn out okay!