6 Months of Insanity: Rental Property & a Grandbaby

My preggo daughter!

Hello, my wonderful readers! I've missed you all tremendously & and been tweaking hard for some writing time. Soooo, I'm going to jump in and give you guys an update on the insanity that has become my life the last six months.

#1.  The hubby & I have been remodeling our rental house since July 2019. This started out as something "simple" and "necessary," but quickly escalated into a massive overhaul project before we knew it. The entire house was torn down to bare subfloors and some rooms were down to wall studs. We tore out old, dark, wood paneling and found good sheetrock behind it. We had to patch holes, replace some and re-rock the entire bathroom (which was the worst room in the house). We replaced flooring, carpets, lights, tore out the entire kitchen and started from scratch. And a million other little things too exhausting to recount. And to this day, we still have to lay flooring in the living room/dining room area and put down baseboards before cleaning it all.

All of this for reason number 2.........

#2.  Our middle daughter is making us grandparents for the first time! She is due in late May 2020 and we are all preparing for this little one's arrival. Aside from the house remodel, I'm also shopping for the baby, planning the massive baby shower, and attending ultrasound appointment to see my new grandbaby every chance I get. We are just a few days away from finding out if it's a boy or girl. And then the shopping spree really begins! Oh, and since I'm far too young to be a Granny or Mamaw, I've decided to be Gammie. So, Gammie's baby will be wildly spoiled once he or she makes their arrival in a few months.

And during all of this insanity I even jumped in and....

#3. I am now a Master Certified Life Coach! This has been something I enjoy and when the opportunity to become certified fell in my lap I certainly couldn't pass it up. I spent several months working on courses and exams before I finally celebrated the certification. I work online and off, with an office to work out of at my day job. If you're curious, feel free to check it out at TailgateLifeCoaching.com

In the meantime, I've been working that day job I enjoy, running the household, enjoying holidays and birthday, all while working on that dang house that I'm extremely sick of. My Army daughter came home for Christmas. I had her for two weeks and it was wonderful. The holidays were fun and peaceful. Nothing crazy at all (thank goodness!)

Now that the new year is here, it's time to celebrate two more birthdays: my youngest is turning 15 & I'll be 43. I'm slowly getting back to my book writing and plan to release the next Liz Baker book in 2020. Stay tuned for future updates.

Happy New Year & wish me luck! :)

School Starts & Writing Begins, Again!

It has been two weeks of luxurious silence in my house during the day. Granted, I haven't been home most of those days since I have the day job, BUT my youngest is back to school now and Fridays (the only weekday I am home) has been extremely productive on the writing front. YAY!

I only have the youngest at home now. She's in grumpy teenager middle school mode, but I am able to get a few grins out of her from time to time. This picture was from the first day of school and I had told her I'd keep taking pictures until she actually smiled. This is only pic #2. LOL! She knows I'm persistent.

Nonetheless, writing is moving forward on the new Liz Baker book and I'm hoping to have a release date for you guys by the end of the year. The words are flowing and the gang is getting into more trouble (like always), with a new bad guy leading the charge.

If you aren't all caught up with the Liz Baker series now is certainly the time to do that. The new book will be Book 7, and there are two free short stories in there, as well. The newest short story actually introduces Liz Baker to Penny Montague from my other series. Check out Sorrow Meets Death and see how an immortal and a dhampiress interact.

In the meantime, I hope everyone is having a great week and check back often to see what's happening around here.

Back on Schedule

It has finally happened! I'm now on a regular schedule with the new part time job AND my writing. Woohoo! I knew it would get there eventually and now it has. I don't have as many hours in the day for writing now, but I do have a good 2 hours each day after work to plug away. That has made all the difference in the story I'm currently working on. Granted, I'm used to writing for 6 hours a day and getting anywhere from 3,000-6,000 words a day. Now I'm garnering for at least 500-1,000 a day. However, I'll still get to where I'm going, just a little slower. I'm still optimistic about my tentative release dates, also! We'll just have to get there when we get there. :)

As for my new job: I'm really enjoying the shop where I work. It's a health foods/herbal shop that also has a chiropractor, several massage therapist, a hypnotist, counselor, and several other services. It's a lot of fun and the people are just wonderful. I even got my very first EVER chiropractic adjustment today. It was quite the experience. The popping and sudden jerks are a bit disconcerting, and slightly uncomfortable, but the body was definitely feeling relief afterward.

Overall, I just wanted to keep everyone in the loop and assure you all that, yes, I most definitely am still working away on Sorrow Meets Death. The crossover short story with Liz and Penny is coming along nicely, though slower than planned. I still feel confident that it'll be ready for a June release. Just make sure you're all caught up with Liz (six books) and Penny (one book) before jumping into this upcoming freebie. ;)

Oh, and before I forget, I'm working on the May newsletter, so if you aren't already subscribed jump over to the website and do so. Everyone who opens each newsletter is eligible for the drawing in the next newsletter for an Amazon gift card.

Why I do what I do.

Andre Bergonzzi
freeimages.com

I've been writing since I was a small child. As a teenager friends would come to me to make up believable stories they could tell their parents when they wanted to do something completely different (i.e. trouble). I wrote in journals, notebooks, on scraps of paper, and had an avid love affair with all things books. Any money I made babysitting was spent on the newest book of the series I was reading at that time. I also loved (and still do) pens, stationary, blank journals, and bookmarks. The fancier the better!

But, even with all of that love of the written word, I didn't actually start writing until the summer of 2005. My kids were small, one in school and the other two home with me, and I was looking for an online way to make a little money. A lady I knew told me about a website that paid for articles, so I looked into it. I wrote for that company for about a year before I got tired of writing online articles about product reviews and recipes, so I took the leap and moved to the fiction I had always loved.

Fiction is fun. I get to be creative with fiction. There's no right or wrong when it comes to fiction. I enjoy creating my characters and their worlds. I like being able to tell a story about someone who meets, befriends, and even loves monsters. Or, hell, is one herself!

Why do I do what I do?  Simply put... I love it!

Catching Up & Writing

I swear I never thought getting a part time job would take up so much of my time. Yes, yes, I knew I'd be actually leaving my house on a regular basis, driving 20 minutes to the next town, and working for a few hours before making the trek back home, but for some reason 24 hours of job time didn't seem like a lot in the scheme of things.

That is, if I actually got 24 hours. Eek! The first week was 28 hours. The second week was 31 hours. This week is scheduled for 34 hours. However, I am the only person in this position... for now. Next week a full timer comes on and I'm supposed to finally get on a regular 24 hour schedule. Monday through Thursday from 8:30am to 2:30pm, and every other Saturday (9:30am-3pm) will make me a happy woman.

I'll bring home enough $$$ to make the job worth my while and still be able to pick my youngest daughter up from school every day. Not to mention the few hours every afternoon/evening of writing I'll be able to get in before dealing with dinner and preparing for the next day. Oh, and of course every Friday off to run my errands, pay bills, and buy groceries. And every other week I get a 3-day weekend. Woot, Woot!

Now if I can just get there. I'm off today, but the next two days will be long 9 1/2 hour days. I just have to keep reminding myself that this is for the greater good. I'm doing this for a reason. I do enjoy the job and the people I'm with all day. It will give me a greater sense of people by being out in the middle of all of them. (It's too peopley out there!) And, I've already seen some interesting folk who will be making appearances in future stories.

Overall, it's a good thing, but I'm really looking forward to a more rigid everyday schedule so I can get back to my writing. My goal of 3 books and a short story in 2017 NEEDS a more rigid schedule. The 500 words a week I've gotten over the last 3 weeks is soooooo not gonna get me there.

Okay, I'm off to get more writing done today (since it's my only day off 'til the weekend). I hope all of you are having a great week!

Oh, and Happy 41st Birthday to the love of my life, Tim! I love you, baby!

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. :)

Time to hit it!

O. M. G! School has started...finally! After three months of non-stop kids, I didn't think it would ever come. The first day of school arrive last Tuesday and I couldn't have been happier about it. And my kids were pretty thrilled, too!

I spent last week getting my house back in order, cleaning carpets, doing laundry, running errands, filling out school forms, and paying for all sorts of things to get everyone settled into the new school year. New routines were established (considering the oldest is a senior who drives herself, with only 1 class at the high school after her morning college classes, and my middle child started high school) and implemented while I watched the clock to make sure everyone got to where they needed to be in a timely manner. If everything goes as smoothly as last week went, I'll have a little more free time on my hands this year. Yay, me!

All of that means this week I can (finally!) jump back into my work routine. Summers are a bust for writing in the Silvers household. There's just too much fun stuff to do, and not enough time to do it all. But when school starts, I'm free to delve back into MY world. I'm excited to get back into Liz Baker's world and finish book 6 before she uses some of her unpredictable powers to knock my behind back into gear. Eek!

The next few weeks and months will see me finish book 6 an finally release it, and then I'll be starting on the first book in a brand new series. I've been wanting to start this new one for some time now, but I'm not one of those authors who can work on multiple books at once. Nope, I'm a one book kind of gal, so it had to wait.

So here we go! Onward and upward! I'm planning to have To Kill a Demon off to beta readers by early October ad hopefully the release date won't be far behind. And a big THANK YOU to my very patient readers. Lots of love to you all!