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Hi Readers,
I received the ISBN codes late this week; I was able to assign them to not only my e-book but to the paperback version as well. I thought everything would start sinking in on me once I got those codes… But no feeling could compare to ordering the barcode for the paperback and then adding it to the book cover! I swear I stared at it for ten minutes in disbelief! This is actually happening and it is insane. We are even closer now to posting on Amazon. I sent in my request for the LCCN too on Friday! However, the notification I received said I wouldn’t be hearing back until a week or two for that. So as excited and ready as I am to post right now, I know that I just need to tell myself to be patient a little longer and it will be all the more worth it! I definitely want to be able to list the LCCN on the copyright page and to do so I need to wait until I receive it. This coming week I will be doing some minor updates to my website but it shouldn’t cause any disruption for you guys! Also, as excited as I was for my original book cover – it seemed like there could or could not have been copyright issues regarding it. So instead of risking that I decided to take my own photo of what I visualized initially and then edit it on my own. Honestly, I am so glad I did it my way! I like it a lot better! I’ve been messing around taking some pictures and editing with my iPhone and ever since I am slowly but surely becoming obsessed with photography and this is leading me to get a beginner camera so that I can start meddling in a world of art. I am so excited to start learning about making beautiful creations! Nikon D3500 here I come! 😊 I hope you are all doing well! I will keep you updated along the way! Stay safe out there & as always I appreciate ya! Good Afternoon Readers,
Some things you just cannot make up and this one fits in that category… For lunch I brought something new which was in the form of a sweet potato. Super excited! I ate my early breakfast and then had like a snack in the middle and then it was time. I thought about that sweet potato for hours until finally noon hit! Now let’s back up a minute – a little birdy – left me a note on the container saying to heat it for 8-10 minutes. Seems quick and simple enough right? WRONG! JUST WRONG! ALL WRONG!! It was on the smaller side so I decided to go with 6 and then if it needed more time then it needed more time. I made sure to slice it down the middle as best I could with a plastic knife before putting it in the microwave. 6 minutes goes by and DING! Wait a minute or two for cooling purposes 😊 I get back to my desk stick my fork inside the slice and voila! Cardboard inside, smoked on the outside. (That burning popcorn smell) The outer skin was horrendously shriveled up and when I picked it up it was as light as a piece of paper. Upon further investigation…this bag of steamer potatoes is supposed to be 8-10 minutes for the whole bag. In other news… On a more positive note, I passed four of my French lessons with a perfect score on Duolingo 😊 It was a good feeling! I hope you guys are having a great day! Stay safe out there & as always, I appreciate ya! Hello Readers,
Just wanted to drop in for a quick blog… I think it’s safe to say I am going to be taking a break from eating eggs for a while… You know the feeling you get when something happens to you when you’re eating a specific food… When you’re grossed out at even the thought of it. You’re like sick to your stomach almost gagging. So, this morning I cut my hard-boiled egg up into I don’t know maybe three pieces so that it wouldn’t explode in the microwave when I tried to reheat it. You know just mastering the ways of eggs over here 😊 LOL! I know, I know – what is it with this girl and eggs? I am starting to wonder that myself…
Something was obviously not right – because an egg shouldn’t taste like that – period. So, I look down and I see a small round tan-ish or peach-ish color ball nestled inside the egg. It was partially in the white and partially in the yoke. I immediately start spitting it out and begin gagging because in my mind it’s a chick embryo. I swear I couldn’t get the taste out of my mouth for like fifteen minutes. Yeah, so anytime throughout the day when I thought of it, I start dry-heaving, even now writing this I am dry-heaving. I don’t get grossed out easily but sometimes a certain something will hit me the wrong way. I am happy to say that this has NEVER happened to me before… The only other weird egg experience I ever had was one time when I cracked one open in the skillet and blood came out of it. Any-who I hope you guys, have a great Tuesday! The lesson I learned here would have to be to look down at the food while eating. You know a little more of a glance never hurt anybody. Hopefully this doesn’t ever happen to any of you and if it ever does – I feel your pain. Stay safe & as always, I appreciate ya! Hey Readers,
I know it has been a couple extra days since I would normally post. I was thinking the next time I would be writing this that I would be telling you that it is finally on Amazon. We have to walk before we run right? Ha-ha! I have some good news though. I created three covers for the book and I was able to decide on one. So that helps to be one step further! The next step will be getting the proper identification numbers that I need for distribution and then…posting…? I am so excited it is practically all I can think about. It has been consuming my mind for the past month. That annoying itch that no matter how much you scratch it always finds its way back. Any-who I hope you guys have a great Monday and I will be talking to you all soon! Stay safe & always I appreciate ya! Anytime I feel blue
You're there when I need you You hold me when I cry And to you I'd never lie You like to use your time To listen to the wind blowing that chime I hope you always know How special you are to us though Happy Birthday Mommy! I love you! And Happy Birthday to everyone else out there that has an April birthday! I hope you have a great day! Stay safe out there and as always I appreciate ya! Happy Sunday Readers,
The newsletter for April is out if there are anymore interested subscribers out there. Just be sure to sign up before the end of the month to receive that issue. I know I haven’t mentioned it on here before – mainly because I don’t want to be constantly flooding you with novel news – but I think I am super close to getting the novel out there. With any luck and some more elbow grease I am hoping that this week will be the final one to wrap everything up! I am super excited and nervous at the same time! But it’s a great mix of feelings. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time and I just can’t wait to get this one out there and pick up with my next one. I literally have like ten in the works, all are in different stages, and they are not all in the same genre. It’s exciting to be so close to pick up something new! Also, I hope this weekend was as productive for you all as it was for me. I painted a chimney and painted the entire footer of a house. My arms feel like what I imagine spaghetti arms would be like. Last night I watched a movie called Fortune Cookie it was free on Tubi. Picture Final Destination but the cookies tell you your fate. Then in a strange turn of events today I had a craving for Chinese food. It’s one of my favorites actually! I just didn’t think I would want it after watching that movie. But I’m such a sucker for rice! Unfortunately, my go-to place doesn’t open on Sundays now until evening time. And I was starving by early afternoon so I had to pick a different spot which is okay. It’s probably good to switch it up now and again. Either way it satisfied my craving. If there’s something you’ve had a hunger for lately – treat yourself. You deserve something you want. I found out that one of my favorite’s stores were forced to close. I believe it was probably COVID related which is sad to think of. We used to visit a couple times a month back in the day. It’s upsetting to hear that they will no longer be there. Honestly, I can’t imagine it not being there anymore. I wasn’t ready for a change like that… In other news we will be celebrating a birthday this week. My mom will be 55! I can’t believe it. Darn adults grow up so fast! I keep telling her I remember when I was 55… They just laugh at me 😊 I hope you guys have a great Monday! Stay safe out there and as always, I appreciate ya! Bonjour Readers!
Both yesterday and today I had that ice-cream craving. The one where that’s all you want or need to be satisfied at the end of the day. I’ve not been having good luck with this journey though lately, as simple a task as it sounds… The whole drive I had my heart set on the place I wanted to go. I could visualize the building, the sign, the menu. I could almost taste the sweet dessert. Finally, when I got nearer, I could see it off in the distance and the drive thru wasn’t busy at all, there was like one car. I wanted to yell JACKPOT or YAHTZEE, BINGO, anything – because this just never happens! As unluck would have it, I drove to the place I desperately wanted my cookie dough treat from only to find out that their drive thru was down. Okay no problem. The cashier asked me to pull into a parking spot and they would take my order there. Ohhhhhkayyyy! So, I circle around the drive thru lane anxiously looking around for an open spot which I found there to be none. No biggie – lets go around the building again since I wasn’t paying attention to parking spots the first time. Again, there were no spots. Apparently, everyone else got the memo before me and left me nothing… ☹ Not knowing how long it’ll be until a spot opened up, I left and headed to my next place of choice. They couldn’t make me the size I wanted because I wanted extra cookie dough and apparently it wouldn’t fit in the cup. Which basically means…you either pay more for something you’re not completely going to be able to eat OR you get the size you want with never enough ingredients…hmm…pick a card, pick a card, any card! At this point my stomach is straight talking to me, my mind is mashed potatoes so I went with the most logical choice. Eat the money. Pay more. Throw out the rest. OYE! I hate me sometimes. Ok that happened…this takes us to today. I go to my third-choice place since one and two let me semi down yesterday even though three is hit or miss. So, we all know – heck even I know – where this is going! I get to three and they are COMPLETELY 100% SHUTDOWN. CLOSED. NOT THERE. GOODBYE. HAVE A NICE DAY. During this time, I’m having an “Ah-ha!” moment at myself because if I don’t, I’ll most likely breakdown and cry. This should not be this hard. I just want ice-cream for Pete’s sake! I leave there attempting to think through what my next move is going to be. OOOO – I know, I know! Let’s go to…no never mind that…they are just going to give you the same song and dance, telling you their ice-cream machine is down like every other day. And right now, we aren’t going to even take that risk. Being rejected a fourth time is it now? I don’t think that’s necessary. We should avoid that at all costs! Notice how I’m not naming names here because hey I don’t want to throw any businesses under the bus but… Ahhhchoooo! Excuse me. Uh-huh…I bet you thought I was going to name drop right there huh? I’d be lying if I said the thought didn’t cross my mind. I ended up going into a restaurant and ordering their Oreo sundaes. I hadn’t had them in years. I wasn’t disappointed. In the end I guess my luck made a turn for the best. In my eyes the lesson here folks…don’t give up on your dream…or something you really want. If you work hard enough for it or drive far enough for it, you’ll get there...eventually. And the end result will be so sweet and worth it! Stay safe out there and as always, incase no ones told you lately, I appreciate ya! 😊 Doors can open us up to the most wonderful and unpredictable things. They are the threshold between two places. They can be the key to you being in two places at once.
I remember telling an elementary school teacher of mine that I could be in two places at one. Impossible! They said. So, with my little dress and bow in my hair I walked to the classroom door – opened it – and stood with one foot in the hallways and the other foot in the classroom. See? I’m in the hallway and in the classroom! Together we all laughed at that, a big smile on my face because of the silliness and yet somehow the genius of it all. I like to believe if you can think it, nothing is impossible. Maybe it’s more of the fact that we just haven’t reached where we potentially could be or need to be with technology to get us there, to make the impossible possible. If you think about it like this, your front door is where your house ends and your front yard starts, eventually leading you further into the outside world, same with your garage door and your closet door. Even the doors on display at your local hardware store…what if when you opened them you didn’t see shelves or racks behind them or see the next door in the assembly? What if you opened it to something else? In Narnia, the wardrobe door led them to another world. Mr. Thomas! In Monsters Inc. their doors led them to a child’s room so they could scare them. In Coraline, the little door in her house took her to a strikingly similar place she had known. But that’s not all doors have to offer. They can bring happiness and sadness. They offer the gift of a visitor – a friend, family member, lover, longtime no-see-er. They bring news that you sometimes wish never to hear. I know you’re probably wondering what’s up with the door speech? LOL! My parents do this thing where when one leaves without the other – the one who remains – stands at the front door and waves them off. Sort of a be careful, I miss and love you send off. Such a sweet gesture and something that the one looks for when they have to leave alone. I’ve even found myself doing it. When they leave without me, I run to the front door and stand. What makes it even funnier for me is usually I’m there without my glasses on and since I can’t see without them, I could be waving at the Easter Bunny for all I know. HA-HA! I do enjoy being at the front door though when they think I am still sleeping. Surprise on you!! Just some food for thought to keep that mind wondering about the simplest things. Also I watched a one and a half year old try to push the lever of a riding mower back into drive once he saw it put back into park. Then he tried to turn the ignition key back on after he watched it being turned off. I tell ya...they are SPONGES at that age! I'm still in shock! I hope you and your families are doing well and staying safe out there! As always, I appreciate ya! 😊 Hey Readers,
There are days when I am getting ready, knowing I have to run a million places, and I have that thought of…I wonder if I will run into anyone I know today. Then in the next breath I tell myself no of course not while laughing it off. It’s usually on those days when it happens though...when I see someone I haven’t in years. It’s always when you don’t expect to, when you’re out on one of your excursions, or hope that you don’t, that you do. The last time this happened to me it was someone I really cared about. It was one of my friend’s mothers who I basically grew up with throughout my childhood. She was always a kind hearted woman. I hadn’t seen her in I can’t even remember how long. If I had to guess I’d say at least ten years. I don’t know why I was so self-conscious that day to go over and see her. I was just…sort of stuck in my head about it for some reason. For the rest of the day, I beat myself up about not going over to her. God only knows when or if I’ll ever see her again and yet I didn’t take advantage of it. Ever since that day I told myself if it ever happened again, I would not be afraid or nervous I would go and see that person. Well…it happened again today. I was in a store checkout line when I noticed a woman’s face from across the way. Through the sea of people, I could see that she had her hair in a ponytail, a black mask covering her face, and she was carrying birthday balloons for someone’s special day. One had a big yellow smiley face on it and it made me smile to see it because that was just her personality. I wasn’t surprised at all that she had chosen that as one of the three. Though she was much older than when I last saw her, she appeared unchanged. I recognized her immediately. She was one of my teachers from elementary school. One of my sixth-grade teachers to be specific. Even more than that she was one of my favorites from that school. We had shared a close relationship through all six of my years there. I had heard last year that she had finally retired in April. One wonderful chapter closing but another wonderful one to begin. In that moment I wanted so desperately to say hi. To ask her how she was doing and how the boys were. To see how her retirement had gone thus far. Instead, yet again I did nothing. I watched as she walked through the sea of people to get to the other side of the store and just like that she was there and then she was gone. I froze up again. I got stuck in my head about what I was wearing and how my hair looked. If she would even remember me…maybe in the end I would just make a fool out of myself and then feel embarrassed. It was depressing. Once more I climbed into the car and regretted every second of it. One of my peers who meant a great deal to me. Who I looked up to for so long throughout my life and I didn’t even have the courage to say hi? How cowardly of me… If I could tell you one thing and teach you one lesson from my mistake it would be this:
Moments like this remind me of a quote I got used to hearing…to make every moment count. Trust me, you don’t want to live in regret Happy Easter to you and your families and if you don’t celebrate, I still hope you have a great day and great weekend! As always, I appreciate ya and thank you for listening! 😊 |
Thank you.For taking the time to read through the blogs, contacting me, visiting my website, and most importantly reading my novels. Archives
December 2022
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