2019 is almost over

Wow, what a year 2019 has been! It's been an odd one for me as I explored new hobbies and continued ones I'd begun a couple of years ago. The biggest thing I noticed throughout the year was that I never seemed to have enough time to do all the things I wanted to do. But then, that's pretty much every year! lol

Looking back on this year, I did manage to get one book published: Peregrinate (Annals of Ellie #3).

This book was a lot of fun to write, but also a challenge since I was writing about a part of the world I've never visited (Australia and New Zealand). But the story was about Ellie more than her surroundings, so it didn't turn out as bad as I was fearing.

Once I got that book published, I turned my focus to the next book in the Galactic Dynasty series that I'm co-authoring with my hubby and muse. We're still working on that manuscript, but I hope to have it published early in the coming year.

For the most part, though, I've been traveling and crafting this year. I'm still working on the afghan that I started a year or so ago as well as a cross-stitch that was also started more than a year ago. I'm steadily working my way through sewing classes and am now in the middle of sewing my first sundress! So excited to see how it turns out! I'll be sure to post pics on here when it's done. I've also crocheted Christmas presents (a slouchy hat and fingerless gloves) for my bestie, completed a paint-by-number for my hubby, and cross-stitched a little tree ornament stocking for my aunt and uncle.

As for traveling, I've been to San Diego and back, taking a month to travel with the hubby in our RV. That was back in January-February timeframe. I've been back and forth to Kentucky several times to visit my bestie. And I've been to Alabama and back to visit my aunt and uncle. There's also been trips to book festivals and a couple of house-hunting trips that ended up telling me that I wanted to stay right where we were instead of moving!

In all, it's been an active year. Not so much on the writing side of the house, but hopefully that will pick up again with the new year. I'm hoping to have the next Galactic Dynasty book out as well as possibly the next Annals of Ellie book out in the coming year, crossing my fingers and toes that my brain can recapture my love of writing that seems to have faded in the last year or so. I also intend to continue my book reviews of books I have on my TBR shelves. You can find a page called TBR Pile on my site which lists all of my books I've yet to read and follow the links to the ones I've already reviewed. 

As for crafting, I plan to hopefully have the afghan crocheted, the cross-stitch done, and my sewing classes completed within the next year. And who knows? There will probably be all kinds of other things I'll be experiencing and crafting and writing throughout the year.

So, no doubt 2020 will be just as busy as this year has been. But I don't think I'd want it any other way. Life is short and I believe that we should try to make the most of it while we can. And since all of these things are activities I love to do, that just makes life all the sweeter!

I hope everyone has an amazing 2020 and have a safe and fun time celebrating the passing of another year!

I'm Baaaaacccck!!!

I know, it's been freakin' forever since I last posted out here.  So, let me do a catch up and we'll see where we are when I'm done.

First, I did take a sabbatical, as my last post indicated.  From August until January, I didn't write a single word.  Instead, I practiced my creative skills in other arenas: crochet, cross-stitch, paint-by-numbers, learning to draw, and sewing.  I was feeling artsy/craftsy and amazingly enough, found I had a talent in those areas of creativity!  Here are some pics of what I've been up to!

Not all of these were done in those few months of sabbatical.  More like started but not finished until way later.  But just starting them made me feel creative in a whole new way and allowed for my mind to relax and learn some new things.  That in turn helped me to get back in touch with my characters and when the new year rolled around, I was ready to sit back at the computer once more and get back to writing.

Which brings me to the belated announcement that Peregrinate (Annals of Ellie #3) is now available on Kindle, Nook, and in paperback on Amazon!!!  I'd begun working on it before I went on sabbatical and ended up writing like a madwoman once I had my mind right again.  Peregrinate has been out for a couple of months (sorry for the late announcement), but better late than never, right?!  So, if you haven't had a chance to check out Ellie's ongoing adventures, be sure to get a copy of Vivication, the first book in the series, and get started!

So, that's been the last year, practically, and I'm still having fun with the various arts and crafts.  However, I am also working on the latest manuscript for the Galactic Dynasty series I'm co-writing with my awesome hubby and Muse!  This will be the fifth book in the series and I'm super excited about it!  Rosa's discovering all sorts of things and her friendship with Daemos is growing exponentially.  So, if you haven't started this series yet, get a copy of Starward, the first book, and see what all the fuss is about!

As you know, I do keep a word count on this blog so readers can see how far along I am on a writing project.  So, Book 5 of Galactic Dynasty is now up and the word count will be updated from time to time so you all can see how far along I am on the manuscript.  I'm hoping to have this book written and published by October, but we'll see!  It's always good to have goals!

And that has been the story of my life for the last year, throw in some traveling and such as well!  As always, I will do my best to try and be a more frequent poster out here, but we all know how that usually goes! lol  Regardless, I'll try to post pics of finished artsy/craftsy projects as well as updates on manuscripts and publication dates as I have them.  Hope everyone is having a great summer so far and if you're looking for something to read, be sure to visit the other pages on this website.  Maybe you'll find a new series to fall in love with!

Happy Reading!!!

Sabbatical

Hello world!

If you are a coder, you'll understand that.  If not, just know that I'm happy to say 'hi' to you!

It's been a long time since I last posted...*hides face in shame*... but I wanted to let everyone know I'm alive and kicking.  Just not in the writing department.  My characters demanded a sabbatical from all the mischievousness they were being made to get into, so I finally relented and said okay.  But only until after the holidays.  Then they'd better man (or woman) up, because I've got the third book in Annals of Ellie series to finish and the fifth book in Galactic Dynasty to start writing!

Anyway, over the next few months, I'm branching out into other creative outlets such as crochet and cross-stitch and who knows what else.  I'll try to post my progress on various projects I'm working on, just to keep things going here.  And hopefully this much needed break from writing will benefit everyone involved!

So, stay tuned for some different kinds of posts and be sure to check out the books I've already published if you haven't had a chance yet.  You'll find tabs for each of the series at the top of this site.  Maybe one of them will pique your curiosity and have you diving into all new worlds!

Happy Reading!