Ascending from Hell is LIVE!

http://www.books2read.com/ascendingfromhell

It's the big day! Ascending from Hell is now available everywhere! I'm very excited to get the second installment of Carina and Devon's lives out there. It was a fun story to write, and I will admit I shed some tears at times.

1 Day Left!

Good morning, everyone! I just wanted to pop in and remind you that there's only 1 more day until the release of Ascending from Hell (Devil Family, Book 2). Tomorrow's the big day, and that means today's the last day to get the preorder for only $0.99! The price will increase once the book releases, so get it for less than $1 while you still can. :)

https://books2read.com/ascendingfromhell

BLURB:

Carina’s life is yet again thrown into chaos when she finds herself torn between her newfound love and the desperate need to protect her new family from her father’s deadly threats.

Just as she and Devon discover their love for one another, Carina is forced to sacrifice that love in order to keep her new family safe, as well as keep their hold over Hell out of her father’s clutches.

Malvis pushes her day after day to train with Maurice to lure her dormant powers to the surface. He wants her by his side as he takes over Earth. Without her, he’ll never succeed, so he holds the safety of the Devils over her head until she complies with his requests.

Carina doubts her very identity when she finds out her powers come with a physical manifestation of her demonic heritage. Does this mean she’s evil? Can angels have horns, or has everything she believed been a lie? And when her missing mother shows up, wanting Carina’s help with the impending battle, she discovers her angelic side isn’t much better than her demon side.

Meanwhile, Devon finds himself engulfed in self-pity and confusion. How could his new bride leave him? Why does his family stand idly by, failing to rescue her from the clutches of the sinister Malvis? Desperate to bring her home, Devon’s pain and urgency are met with disregard by his father.

But just as hope seems lost, Lucian reveals he’s had a plan all along, one that hinges on Devon taking action on his own. Devon’s frustration with his father’s constant tests push him to leave his parents behind as he hatches a plan of his own. He will bring Carina home, one way or another!

As Carina grapples with her identity and newfound powers, and as Devon confronts his own emotional turmoil, they must find a way to navigate a treacherous path, where love, loyalty, and the fight against darkness intertwine in a race against time with Heaven, Hell, and Earth hanging in the balance.

Release Day: Battling Sorrow (Penny, Bk 2)

Today's the big day! Battling Sorrow, the second book in the Penny Montague series, finally released today. It's been six years since Devastating Sorrow (book 1) came out, so this has been a long time coming. 

In this newest installment we open with Penny on the search for witches in need of protection and education. Over the last couple of years she's been hard at working trying to slowly introduce witches into the immortal community without the centuries of prejudices they've hid from for so long. And then the Elders' Court sends her to bring in a young girl whose powers have been accidentally put on display for the world to see. 

Can Penny bring the child in and keep her safe from the Faction that only wants to destroy all witches in existence? 

Order at your favorite retailer today!

It's Release Day! Bound to a Devil is LIVE.

We've finally made it to the big day. A release day takes far more time than just the day. There are months (sometimes years) of work leading up to the big day. And it's always worth it when the book is finally handing out to the public. I love these moments!

Bound to a Devil is the first book in the Devil Family Series. I had a lot of fun writing this story and can't wait to jump into the next book. In the meantime, if you preordered your own copy, it should already be waiting for you in your eReader. If you haven't, go pick up your copy at whichever is your favorite retailer. :)

BOUND TO A DEVIL

Order Now

*** Blurb ***

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒌𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒂 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒍 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒔.

Carina is a half-breed angel being educated in all manners of becoming a proper angel, is plagued by nightmares of her own murder every time she closes her eyes. She does anything she can think of to cloud the dreams and get some rest, including going to Earth and partaking in all the human drugs and alcohol to dull her senses.

When her leader discovers the treachery, he sends Carina with the yearly Angel Delegation to Hell, though she isn’t actually assigned to be one of the delegates. Instead, he’s condemned her to become the official concubine to Devon Devil, the middle son of THE DEVIL.

Devon Devil is a bachelor, enjoying the limitless rewards his last name carries. A different creature (or two) in his bed every night, and always gone the next morning. Drinking, drugs, carousing with his demons. What more could a single Devil ask for? He certainly doesn’t want a concubine mucking up his playtime and slowing him down. And now his father is shoving the family business down his throat too! He has two older brothers in line for the throne before him. Why should he worry about it now? And how can he get rid of that meek angel they’re trying to thrust upon him?

A war is coming, and it’s sooner than anyone thinks. A demon lord hasn’t bothered hiding his desires to hold the Devil’s throne. He’ll do everything in his power to take control, and that includes snatching Carina from Devon’s grasp. Only he knows she’s the daughter of the most powerful angel soldier in history. Unbeknownst to her, she holds more strength than she ever knew. Malvis wants to control that power, and he intends to use it to ensure victory over the Devil family.

Welcome to the world!

Please welcome my beautiful grandson, Grady Lee! 

After two days of induction, he finally entered the world Saturday, the 23rd, at 12:15am. It was his actual due date, as well. I was on video chat with my daughter for those two days and was lucky enough to be able to see my grandson born. I wish I could have been there in person, but at least we had that much.

What a stubborn little boy we have here. However, is quite the cutie pie! :)

I think he looks so much like his mommy when she was a baby. A lot of friends and family are saying the same thing, so I guess he will be just as adorable.

In the meantime, you may not hear too much from me over the next week or two. I'm spending a lot of time helping my daughter with her little man and making sure she's eating and drinking without too much effort on her part. I've been cleaning, sweeping, doing laundry, showing her little tricks to newborn life, and anything else she asks for.

Grady Lee is named after his father's grandfather (Grady) and my hubby and his father (Lee). It's a nice tribute to both sides of Grady's family.

Once I held that little boy in my arms all the quarantine, mask wearing, hand sanitizing was more than worth it to make sure I could hold him the day he came home. He has my heart and always will!

I'm still alive... I promise!

Well, here I am again. Things are settling into a nice swing and I'm able to pick up a decent writing schedule. I'm still working on the 7th installment of my Liz Baker series and have hopes it'll be ready for release by the end of the year. Woohoo! I know a few readers have been chomping at the bit for the next book and I hope they'll love it just as much as they loved the previous ones. :)

The last few months have been insane. I thought things were calming down when the new year rolled in, but then my oldest daughter sprung the Army on us. She joined a few months ago and shipped out to basic training on May 15th. Nine days later, my middle daughter graduated high school, which was also the anniversary of my mother's passing. A week after that, the new graduate had orientation at the college she chose and we spent 8 hours there doing paperwork and going from building to building. In between all that, my middle daughter got her braces off (YAY!) and the youngest got hers put on (BOO!). I had to order senior pictures, print graduation announcements, throw a graduation party...all while panicking over the oldest being in basic training 14 hours away.

Sooooo.... yeah.... it's been crazy around here.

I'm still rockin' the day job and loving it. I adore my bosses and co-workers, and even most of the customers. LOL! It's fun and we laugh regularly. We all just have a good time together, and that makes for a wonderful work environment.

Aside from all that, I just hit my 1 year anniversary at the gym. I've lost a good bit of weight and just as many inches. I still have more to go, and it's moving slower these days, but I enjoy going to the gym and will keep at it. It's a great end to a busy day and helps me chill out with some mind numbing cardio or an hour of focusing on weight training.

Even with all that going on, it has finally settled again and I'm jumping back into my writing. Hopefully life will grant me a reprieve from the insanity for a while and I can get back on track. I miss my writing time and I'm excited about the upcoming books. And, I should mention, that personal office I've been pining over for years (regular blog readers will know) is finally happening next month! *Gasp* I'm actually picking paint colors and planning the layout now. *Faint*

Be on the lookout in the next few weeks for pictures of the office and updates on the writing.

Love to you all,

Working Outside & Inside the Home

This past week has been a new experience for me. I've never had an outside the home job AND children. I was able to leave the public working class when I was six months pregnant with our first child. I worked from home for many, many years... 20 years to be exact. I was able to always been 100% accessible to my entire family, including all the pets we have. Now, for the first time in all these years, I'm not available at all hours of the day. And everyone is having to adjust to that new arrangement.

I've had numerous texts throughout the days I'm at working asking how to do something, if I can talk, where something is, can so-&-so go somewhere, etc. Even my dog has decided to get an upset stomach, out of the blue, during my first week at work. WTH?!

I knew it would be an adjustment, but this is crazy. I still haven't been able to figure out my writing schedule because the new job is still working on getting things in order so there will be two of us working part time instead of me doing full & the other just doing Saturdays. Once that's worked out I'll have more time at home & truly be working part time.

Soooo, keep your fingers crossed that both my family & I will survive this transition without me committing some sort of murder. LOL!

Oh, and BTW, the hubby and I celebrated our 23rd anniversary on Sunday, April 9th. We had a nice day together and I got to enjoy some yummiliciousness at The Cheesecake Factory. Mmmm!

My Writing Life: Where I Create Magic!

Well, I have a whole new place to create my magic these days than I had a few months ago. It used to be my bedroom, notebooks, Post-It notes, and my laptop spread across my desk, with a mug of hot tea or a glass of Diet Mountain Dew to the side somewhere. However, the hubby changed jobs and the new job is night shift. Ugh! That means he's taken over the bedroom during my optimum writing hours. And until I get one more kid off to college there isn't anywhere else for me to close myself off.

Sooooo, I get the dining room table. Yep, here's where I am for the time being. My laptop, notebooks, and drinks still work here, but now my Post-It notes are stuck inside my notebooks instead of plastered all over the wall. I keep everything in a neat pile when not in use so I can quickly scoop it all up if we have guests.

My second daughter will be heading off to college in the fall of 2018. When that happens I'll finally get my very own office. I'm looking forward to having a space of my own, with all my bookshelves, all my notebooks and ink pens (I have a big obsession with pens and paper), and all the quiet time I can stand. I'm excited at the prospect of creating my very own sanctuary to enjoy my characters. I'm already thinking of paint colors, what furnishings I want in my office, and where to put all my book shelves. I've even warned the hubby that he'll be building me at least one more book shelf to fit in a specific spot. All mine!  Woohoo!

In the meantime, I'll keep working at the dining room table, but be sure when the day comes that I get my office I'll be sharing pictures with all of you. :)

Tattoos

As I was writing yesterday's post I realized I never shared my tattoos with the blog readers. I'm sure most of you saw them on Facebook, but I'll post them here too for anyone who isn't on Facebook.

Last year my husband and I got these.....

Our anniversary tats.

Then after Mom passed away I got this one......

My "Mom" tattoo.

The hubby has a few more than I do (I think he's addicted, LOL), but other than our anniversary tats this one is my favorite....

It's my actual signature that the tattoo artist thickened. My husband is now branded. LOL! All his idea, too.

I have plans for another tattoo, but haven't worked out all the details just yet. Maybe by the end of the year.

When it rains it pours.

Well, we're on the 18th day of the month and I'm no where near the finish line for NaNoWriMo. I do believe I will fail in my 50K words this year. :(  I've had so much to deal with lately I knew it would be near impossible to take on the challenge this year. But that's me, I jump in and see what happens.

As I've already posted about, my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer last month, and since then it has been a wild ride of nonstop doctor appointments, chemo treatments, and scheduling/filling/picking up scripts for all her prescriptions. Plus my "regular" life of raising children and caring for my household (dogs, cats, chickens, & even a husband!). And now, my paternal grandmother is at the final stage of her life. It won't be long before she'll be gone, and I've only known her for two years.

Yeah, it has been rough around here. I feel like I'm being pulled in more directions than my body can actually manage to be pulled in. There have been days where all I want to do is scream into a pillow and punch a wall (but I haven't...yet).

Not to mention, the longer I go without writing, the more frustrated I become. Frustration has become my middle name. :(  Writing is my break from the real world, a time to enjoy a fantasy world, and a way for me to vent without it actually being all about ME.

I texted my husband the other day on a particularly hard day and said, "I don't know why I even bother anymore."  To which my supportive man replied, "Because you love doing it."  And he was right. I do love writing! I love creating worlds from nothing. I love seeing what kinds of troubles my
characters will get into. And I especially love my readers!

I have been trying to hold onto his words: Because you love doing it. I needed that reminder. I needed that second of remembrance to feel connected to my day job. Even if I haven't been able to work like I'm used to. Writing is one of my joys and I certainly don't want to lose that.

So I'm going to resign myself to being a "loser" of NaNoWriMo this year. That's just the way it has to be. I don't have enough hours in the day to even come close to catching up and still do everything else I'm responsible for.

I will continue making handwritten notes while I'm sitting beside my mom watching poisons being pumped into her body to combat an enemy far worse. I will continue to type snippets into my cell phone notepad while I'm waiting for one of my kids to come out of school at pickup time. And I will continue to feel extremely frustrated about not having the hours and alone time to bring those notes and snippets onto my manuscript's pages. One way or another things will get done, even if it isn't on my timetable (and obviously it's not). I just have to remind myself to breathe, not panic, and just move along until things calm down enough to get back into my routine.

Mom is improving tremendously. She's beginning to take care of herself more and we're hoping it won't be long that she'll be able to take care of her own house again. Until then, I'll try not to scream into a pillow and punch a wall.

Disappointment ensues.

Credit: ralaenin
sxc.hu

Month one of summer break is quickly coming to a close. My kids are having a blast, and I'm enjoying spending time with them. We've done a few projects (thanks, Pinterest!), enjoyed shopping days, worked outside and around the house, and even did some swimming (which my massive sunburn proves). My oldest is working her part time job, and my 13 yr old is working on her 9th grade summer reading. Plus, my 13 yr old will be turning the big 1-4 in a couple of weeks, so she's trying to convince me of all sorts of gift and party ideas. LOL! All that while my poor 9 yr old is pining for her best friend, who went to visit some family out of town.

It has been a crazy month, to say the least. In between all that, I've spent numerous late nights working on To Kill a Demon. I had planned to release it on June 30th, but it doesn't look like that will be feasible. There's still a lot of work to do in this book, and my regular editor is still M.I.A. Sooooo, I'm going to push the release to July 31st and see if that will do the trick.

As an indie author, it takes a lot of time and work to get these books written, designed, and published, especially when you have a family, animals, and rental properties to take care of at the same time. Eek! I want to thank all my amazing readers for their patience, and I hope you'll enjoy book 6 when it is ready for public consumption.  :)

Have a great day!

And the winners are...

Congratulations to Brandy, Lori, and Crystal!  They are the winners of the June blog tour giveaway.  Three Liz Baker books and two e-books were given away, and I hope you ladies enjoy the books.

Next up for me...  VACATION!  Woohoo!  I'll be leaving Sunday for a week of fun in the sun with my hubby and the girls.  Oh, and Rex the Chihuahua and Spike the Boston Terrier.  ;)

We'll be spending a week camping, swimming, grilling, sightseeing, relaxing, and possibly some mini golfing.  Can you guess that I'm looing forward to it?  LOL!  I haven't been out of town since February, for the Book 'Em conference.  It was fun, don't get me wrong, but it was work nonetheless.

Next up will be my middle daughter's 12th birthday party, touring a local historical site that will be in the next Liz Baker book, then school starting back, and then....

The Undead Conference and Anne Rice's Wolf Gift Ball in New Orleans in October.  Yay!

All in all, it's going to be a busy four or five months, and that's before the holidays come around again.  LOL.  It'll be crazy, but a lot of fun.

Holidays, 2012, Learner's Permits

I survived.

"What did you survive?" you may ask.

Well, I survived the holidays, my oldest daughter's 15th birthday, New Year's, illnesses, and even the teenager getting her learner's permit! Eek!

The holidays were a rush of my teen in my cousin's wedding, my mother's birthday, FIL in the hospital, hosting Christmas Eve, hosting Christmas Day, hosting the teen's 15th birthday, celebrating New Year's Eve, kids being home from school for two solid weeks, and then dealing with colds, ear infections, sinus infections, and being sick myself. Lastly, I took the teen on January 3rd, 2012 and she successfully passed the test to gain her learner's permit to drive.

So yes, I say... I survived!! Woohoo! I can't believe it's all finally over. Well, almost over. A week from today is my youngest daughter's 7th birthday. After that it's smooth sailing until April.

Yeah, yeah, smooth sailing... Bwahaha! I girl can be delusional at times, can't she?

I have a busy 2012 planned, but then again, aren't all my years busy? ;) I'll be attending the Book 'Em NC conference in a short 47 days from today. I have three stories to write and put out in 2012. Lots of home projects, including the addition of goats to our family in the spring. And all the normal work, family, friends stuff that I enjoy throughout the year. :)

Celebrating the new year is more than just saying "Hooray" when the clock strikes midnight. It's a celebration of surviving another year with my sanity intact (at least the majority of it anyway) and being able to enjoy the fresh start that each January 1st allows us.

Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you a happy and prosperous 2012!

Happy Thanksgiving!

As you read this, I'm on my way out of town for a day trip with Tim and our girls. We had the family Thanksgiving get-together last Saturday, freeing us up to do what ever we wanted today. With Tim off work and the girls out of school this week, what better time to take a trip?

Today we will spend the day in Pigeon Forge, TN. I have reservations for a late lunch and a show at Dixie Stampede at 1pm. When Tim & I saw the Christmas show there last year we knew we had to bring the kids back for it. And the best part: It's a Thanksgiving meal I don't have to cook or clean up after! Woohoo!

After our meal and show, we'll go spend some time shopping and visiting Gatlinburg before heading back home in the evening.

This is family togetherness at its best!

I hope you're having a beautiful day with the ones you love!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Chickens and Novels

No, I haven't lost my mind. Yes, I know you're thinking that chickens and novels have nothing in common. However, I've come to realize that raising chickens and writing a novel do, in fact, have a lot in common.

Two weeks ago one of my hens laid her first egg. I wasn't expecting any of them to start laying until mid- to late August, but there it was, our first egg. It took her a few days after that before she started laying one perfect egg each day. Now we just wait on the other two hens to catch up with her.

So what does that have to do with novels?

You raise these little fluffy chicks, putting all your care and attention into them, making sure they have all the ingredients they need to become healthy and productive egg layers, and then you toss them out into the world hoping for the best. Just biding your time, waiting for your payback in return for all you've given.

And then the big day arrives! Your first egg(s)! All the care you've put into your chickens has now paid off. And if you're anything like me, you coo and praise your girls each morning as you collect the lovely little gifts they've left for you.

Still not getting how it's like a novel? Well, let me see.

You put your heart and soul into writing your story. You make sure your characters behave (or don't) according to plan. Their perilous journey makes everyone life difficult, but eventually it comes to completion and the story is over. You edit, and edit, and edit, and then you have someone else edit, before you edit again. You pay attention to every little detail, putting all your care and attention into it, making sure it has all the ingredients needed for a healthy and productive future on the book market.

Sound familiar?

In the end, you just have to let it fly and wait to see if all your hard work is going to pay off. And when it does, you coo and praise it for all the lovely little gifts it leaves for you in the shape of loyal readers and royalty checks each month.

Pictured above are the first four eggs my hen left for me. We made a pancake and eggs breakfast with them, and they tasted better than any eggs I've ever had. :)

Life is crazy, but oh-so-fun!

Whew! It's hectic around here. July has been filled with appointments, birthdays, parties, surprises and dealines. It's no wonder I feel like I haven't slept all month and have a nonstop headache since June ended. Yeah, I think I need to hit the thesaurus for a stronger word than hectic.

So let's see . . . In the past week I've celebrated 2 birthdays, discovered that one of our chickens laid our first egg (albeit in the wrong place), hosted a pool party, and am rushing against a deadline. Most of my days are running wel past 1 A.M. each night, an my to-do list seems to be growing instead of shrinking.

Even with all the craziness, we've had a lot of fun. The party was a blast, even though I'm glad it's over. The deadline will pay off when the new book is out there in the world for all to enjoy. The headaches and sleepless nights will subside when the kids start back to school in September and I can work during the days again. Until then, I'm dosing with Excedrin Migraine, a can of Coke and working between loads of laundry and arguments between children.

Is it September yet?

Plans for the week

Last week was a bust, what with Tim being off work and the kids home for summer break. Everyone was here and no one wanted to get along. There was more than one occasion where I threw my hands up in the air and declared an end to my day. Yep, it wasn't pleasant.

This week Tim goes back to work and the fighting between the children seems to have slowed down. Maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get some actual work completed. At least I have a list showing me what all I want to complete this week.

That's not to say nothing was completed last week. Oh no, there was definitely a good bit marked off my list. However, most of that was household stuff and not book stuff. Yeah, I'm happy about the household stuff, but I'd rather have the peace, quiet and alone time to complete my book stuff. I get frustrated when my writing time is decreased.

So, here I am, typing up my plans for the week for all to see.

• Complete edits on a three book project


• Discuss the new cover of Alex & Fiona Forever with my beloved designer


• Work on Liz Baker, book 3--which is still untitled


• Remind everyone that TIME FOR DEATH (Liz Baker, book 1) is still on sale for only $0.99 on Kindle and Nook


• Continue working on the list of goodies I need to order for the Book 'Em NC event in February


• Take my children to the library on Friday


• Finish reading DEAD IF I DO by Tate Hallaway so I can take it back to the library


• And still be the perfect wife & mother with the clean house, clean laundry and three meals a day on the table.

Whew! That's a lot to do in only 7 days. Well, I guess it's technically 6 days since today's Tuesday. It's no damn wonder I never feel like there's enough hours in the day. And here I am distracted from all this proposed work with wondering what color to paint my nails next.

Camping w/ casualties

Happy Monday! Time to start a brand new week. We spent most of last week in a camper up in Pigeon Forge, TN. The days went by fast, but everyone came home exhausted and suntanned (or burned). So I'd have to say it was a successful mini-vacation. There are a few pictures of the trip in the photo gallery.

We went up Wednesday morning and got there around lunch time. Tim had enough time to set the camper up and I fed the children their lunch before the rain started. It didn't end until well after dark. Day 1, no good. Grumpy kids couped up in a 29 foot camper isn't a pleasant way to spend your time. Trust me on that one.

As for the casualty, well, the storm brought high winds, hail, booming thunder that shook everything, and lots of lightning. There were eight campers in the campground that lost their awnings that night, and we just so happened to be one of them. Tim was extremely upset, but I assured him that everything is repairable. Once he found out we weren't the only ones his mood improved. LOL. Men!

After that first night everything went better. The sun came out; we did a lot of swimming; the kids enjoyed trips to the arcade, coming home with lots of little goodies; and we even tried two restaurants we'd never eaten at. Oh, and of course there was shopping to be done--most of it window shopping, but shopping nonetheless.

All in all, it was a fun trip. We're hoping to take another one toward the end of August, but that's just a consideration right now. We'll see how July goes first. LOL!

I hope you all had a nice weekend and a belated Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.

Week Two: Insanity Sets In

Summer Break: Week Two

This week isn't starting off the way I had hoped. Saturday went okay, but it all started down hill on Sunday morning. Yep, that's when the insanity started to grow. I knew things weren't going to go as easily this week as they did last week.

Sunday we had a family reunion to go to for Tim's mother's side of the family. We stopped down at FIL's house to see if he was ready; he was as far from it as he could be. FIL was having trouble breathing and I ended up calling 911 to take him to the hospital. That set it up with Tim going to the hospital with FIL and me taking the kids up the mountain to the reunion.

The day was beautiful for an outside family gathering, if only there had been family there. Yep, there were only 10 of us by the time I left, two hours after the scheduled time. Some were sick, the majority had a funeral to attend, and others just didn't show up. The kids were disappointed that their favorite cousins (and the only ones their ages) didn't arrive either.

At least we came back down off the mountain with full tummies and plates of food for later that evening. No cooking for Mommy--other than the more than two dozen homemade dinner rolls I made the night before and half were brought home due to no one being there to eat them.

There was a hospital visit with FIL (he has pneumonia, again) and then finally home for the evening.

That brings us to Monday. I won't even go into how screwed up that day was. Ugh! And it doesn't look like today will be any better.

I miss Liz. I miss my quiet days. I hate having to shush the kids all day so Tim can sleep. Now I remember why I'm always so relieved when school starts back. My fingers miss flying across the keyboard (which is probably why this entry is too damn long).

Whatever, I suppose. I'm now off to get dressed so I can run numerous errands, listen to whining children, and take more stuff to FIL in the hospital. Oh, and while we're there I get the enjoyment of making the children share the elevator button pushing responsibilities.

Mental Writing for the masses.

The other day I complained to Tim that I hadn't gotten any book work done this week other than mentally. He laughed and asked, "What the heck is 'mental' book work?" Duh! Geez, some people...

Those of you who are writers know exactly what mental writing is, but for those of you who don't, it's what we writers do when we don't have the time to sit down and actually type/write our stories or articles. Most writers write in their heads from the time they wake up 'til the moment their brains close down for the night. And some of us (myself included) continue "writing" in our sleep. Dreams come in handy when writing fiction.

When the kids are screaming about some sibling unfairness I'm wondering how Liz will tolerate me putting her in a swimsuit. When Tim is texting me from work because he's bored, I'm contemplating the color of Liz's hotel room comforter. As I'm fighting with my pillow and trying my damnedest to fall asleep, I'm being hit with the most perfect solution to tie the next Liz Baker book together with a planned short story I'll be offering for free here in the future.

Do you get it now? It's mental writing!

It helps to know that even when I can't seem to find the quiet time to put fingers to keyboard in my current book file I always have the time to work ideas out in my head, and my notebook and ink pen is never far away.