UPDATE: The winner is…Beverly!
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Here’s my end-of-month reckoning. It keeps me honest about my accomplishments and tells you what I should be working on (to shame me into doing the work)!

May

Work-related:

1. I completed my short story for Silver Soldiers and finished editing the entire book. It was published on May 9th!
2. I, along with the other Silver Soldiers authors, finished posting “Getting to Know” blogs on the Collections website to get readers ready for the release of the book. Then we posted fun “In One Picture” posts to celebrate and “hook” readers to get their copies of the book that released on May 9th!
3. I finished writing Cold Hard Cash and published it on May 23rd! Woot!
4. I completed only 3 editing projects for other authors in May.

Health-related:

1. I blew the diet—all month long. May was about LaLa’s graduation, and we had small celebrations, visitors from out of town, etc. I am afraid to step on the scale!
2. The pool finally got just warm enough that I began swimming a week ago. What are few goosebumps when you can do your favorite exercise activity?!

Happiness-related: 

1. Again, the month was about LaLa’s graduation, which occurred on the 20th. After that, it was about the other kid’s award ceremonies, etc.
2. I am still participating in the #the100dayproject online art challenge. As of today, I’m on Day 96. Here are a few of my May pieces…

June

1. To revise and publish a story I published through Harlequin many moons ago…Warrior’s Touch.
2. To publish a collection of first of series books in one volume.
3. To begin writing Jackson, the next in my Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT series which releases on July 11th!
4. To complete 4 editing projects in May!

For health related, I plan:

1. To resume counting those points for my Weight Watchers diet and hopefully shed at least 5 pounds, remembering, as always: Slow is good!
2. To continue to reduce salt, processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas, red wine).
3. To swim at least once a day!
4. To begin walking and counting my steps.
5. I’ll make myself do more housework, too, because my art room is a disaster (although it’s getting better slowly). And cleaning is exercise, ahem.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To spend quality time with the family—movie nights, swim-time, making fun meals together!
2. To complete #the100dayproject, and then work on “finishing” the art I produced (varnish, fixative, wrapping or framing).
3. To re-open my Etsy store! I now have enough art to do so!

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier. Tell me what you plan to read in June…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Laura!
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The past month, since the release of the latest Boys Behaving Badly collection, has been a whirlwind of activities! Today, I posted the last in the series of “In One Picture” blogs, so if you want to see inside the authors’ minds and want a chance to win prizes, head on over to the Delilah’s Collections website to check them out!

But back to today’s challenge. I have to start thinking about what I want to do next. Plus, I want to know what readers want to read and what authors would love to do next. So…

Below are the covers for the seven BBB anthologies we’ve already published. All are nice sized volumes of multiple sexy short stories, offered for only $0.99 each (for the eBook versions, anyway) and written by some authors you know and some you get to read for the first time. You can see we’ve already had a variety of themes from naughty rogues, blue collar hotties, pirates, heroes coming to the rescue, first responders, cowboys, and silver fox ex-military types. What would you like to see us do next?

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you’d love to read or write! This will start me thinking, and later I’ll do a poll to try to narrow down the options. For now, throw out some ideas!

It’s Memorial Day, and while the kids are gleeful they don’t have to go to school, we’re planning a feast, and the pool is almost comfortable for more than a 10-minute dip before my skin welts up from the cold, it’s not a “happy” holiday. So, today, give a thought or two to the men and women this day is meant to remember—those who fell in service to this county.

And if you didn’t already know it, I have a book centered around a Memorial Day—but only pick up a copy if you’re ready for a good cry.

Read More

UPDATE: The winner is…Jennifer Beyer!
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I’m a bookaholic. Or maybe there’s another word for a person who compulsively buys those mini-books in the racks near the bookstore counters? Mini-bookaholic? If the cover has a catchy title and bright colors, it catches my eye. If I open it, and it has numbers….? I’m done.

For example…

This is the cover for the Snapple Real Facts book. The book is maybe 4″ x 3.5″. It has a hard cover and glossy pages—yellow background with pretty fonts. The “Real Facts” are numbered!! I don’t know why that always excites me so much.

Anyway, I opened the book this morning to a couple of random pages, and these are a few of the facts I read (BTW, maddeningly, the facts aren’t listed in 1,2,3 order) …

Real Fact #22 — “Alaska has the highest percentage of people who walk to work.”

Really? How can that be? It’s the largest state and among the least populous (I think). Plus, it’s freezing cold during its long winter. I have to know. Does someone know why that is?

Real Fact #167 — “You have to play ping-pong for 12 hours to lose one pound.”

Who did a study to determine that fact? Then, I think: So, basically, this is telling me exercise, for the purpose of losing weight, is useless. Hmmm…

Real Fact  #160 — “One alternate title that had been considered for NBC’s hit “Friends” was “Insomnia Cafe.”

What do you think? Would the show have been as big a hit if they’d stuck with that title?

So, you learned three useless facts today. For a chance to win a FREE download of your choice from my backlist of books, tell me one useless fact (doesn’t have to be true!). Have fun with the challenge!

UPDATE: The winner is…Sara D!
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Argh! So far, I’ve only been in my pool maybe one handful of times. The weather here in Arkansas simply isn’t cooperating! I’m soooo frustrated. After tons of chemicals and scrubbing the sides and bottom, the water is crystal clear, but it’s too dang cold to swim comfortably.

We’ve had the pool since 2008, I think. In all these years, I’ve mustered the courage to brave a cool pool in April, knowing that by early to mid-May, it will be a comfy with the water temperature in the mid-80s. However, this year, Mother Nature is being a bitch. The outdoor temperatures here are still crazy cool for this time of year. Last night was in the upper 50s. Today’s temperature will only rise to 83.

It’s not that I have to swim in bathwater, but I’m actually allergic to the cold. The condition is called “cold urticaria.” If I’m submersed in water cooler than 80 degrees, I get welts all over my body and my skin itches like crazy. My symptoms get progressively worse the longer I’m exposed.

So, here I am. I’ll spend time today testing the water and treating it with some algaecide and looking at its crystal-clear depths. Maybe I’ll venture in for ten minutes just because I can’t stand not to (I am a water baby).

Anyway, that’s my gripe session for the day. I’ll keep busy editing some projects and cleaning up my space. I had a busy week working, and I let things pile up around me. I’ll keep busy so I’m not thinking about that lovely, ice-cold pool!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon GC, tell me what you’ll be doing today! Enjoy the puzzle! The image makes me sad. 🙂

I have a ton of edits to get through today and throughout the weekend. Not fun. I want a day off! Okay, so maybe I’ll squeeze some family time in tomorrow. More about that—tomorrow! Anyway, it’s Friday. I can’t wait for a couple of no-alarm mornings. You be sure to check out this ridiculously long list of open contests below! Good luck!

Open Contests

1. Genevive Chamblee: Summer Scents (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a mystery gift!
2. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: A Little Strategem Will Do Ya — Charlotte E. Ray — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. IN ONE PICTURE: N.J. WALTERS’ “THIS TIME FOREVER” (CONTEST) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. IN ONE PICTURE: BRENDA MARGRIET’S “OPERATION PURPLE SPARKLE DIAMOND” (CONTEST) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest Plus COLD HARD CASH reminder! — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
6. IN ONE PICTURE: A.J. HARRIS’S “FIGHTS LIKE CATS AND WOLVES” (CONTEST) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
7. COLD HARD CASH arrives tonight after midnight! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. IN ONE PICTURE: REINA TORRES’ “SARGE IN CHARGE” (CONTEST) — Win a FREE book!
9. IN ONE PICTURE: DENISE DEMARCO’S “SEAL IN DISTRESS” (CONTEST) — Win an Amazon gift card!
10. IN ONE PICTURE: KIMBERLY DEAN’S “STAR DIPLOMACY” (CONTEST) — Win an Amazon gift card!
11. IN ONE PICTURE: ELLE JAMES’S “STORM ON THE BAYOU” (CONTEST) — Win an Amazon gift card!
12. IN ONE PICTURE: AURORA RUSSELL’S “HANDFASTED TO THE HIGHLAND WARRIOR” (CONTEST) — Win a gift card!

It’s a thing. I don’t miss my daily posts. I think I’ve only failed to do so a handful of times over the last few years. I know it’s weird, but I’m obsessive that way. Anyway, I didn’t have time to post this morning because as soon as the kids were on their way to school, I had to shower and pack up because I volunteered to sit at the Art Center all day. When I go, I spend the entire day painting. I finished a couple of things, including this water-doodle. It was a happy, stress-free day.

Do you make time for yourself, away from home and obligations, to do something that gives you joy?