March

Work-related:

1. I didn’t write a single word in all of March. I really didn’t intend to. I had too much on my mind.
2. I completed 5 editing projects for other authors in March!

Health-related:

1. I had an immunotherapy appointment. Such a breeze after chemo!
2. Otherwise, I pushed my health and my stats completely out of my mind. I didn’t need the stress!

Happiness-related: 

1. I attended my art guild’s meeting this month for a Show & Tell of what we’ve all been working on. It was really nice!
2. I painted every day until this last week as part of #the100dayproject. Here are a few small pieces I completed:

April

1. To complete 1 or 2 editing projects in April, but not beginning them until mid-month to give myself time to recover.

For health-related, I plan:

1. To undergo a radical hysterectomy, plus a couple of other organs on the 1st!
2. To undergo immunotherapy whenever my oncologist says I’m ready for more.
3. To rest and recover!

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To spend time with the family while I recover from surgery. I’ll be in the living room in a lift chair for quite a while. I’ll be impossible to ignore. LOL.
2. To continue the #100dayproject when I’m ready.

Contest

Comment on anything you’ve read in this post. Tell me what you’re doing to make yourself happier and healthier, or tell me what you plan to read in April…

Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

See you later!

I won’t be posting again until I feel well enough to do so. I do have some guests lined up to post while I’m away. Please be sure to stop in and tell them hello and thank them for picking up the slack for me! Until then, I hope you all stay safe and find happiness in all the little things. Love, DD

Report Card

Last week…

1. I worked my butt off on two editing projects I have to complete before my surgery on Tuesday! I’m almost there. I hope to finish both today!
2. I worked on getting caught up on some administrivia to get ready for my upcoming surgery and recovery.
3. I paused the #100daychallenge. I’ll resume the challenge when I’ve recovered enough to want to sit and paint. I’m hoping that will be mid-April, but I might be dreaming.
4. I went flea-market shopping with the girls. It’s a small thing, but something we all love to do. We like finding our random treasures. I found a white enamel covered box, rectangular, and I have no clue how I’ll use it just yet, but I love enamel, so I had to have it. When I’m recovered, I’ll figure out where it “belongs.”

This next week…

1. I will complete two sets of author’s edits today (I hope). One author still owes me her last pages (You know who you are! LOL)!
2. I have more administrative things to do today and tomorrow morning to “get my affairs in order” before surgery.
3. I need to make sure all my passwords still work on my phone and laptop because I won’t be going near my desktop for a month!
4. I have to pay all the monthly bills tomorrow so that won’t be lingering over my head as I recover.
5. Tuesday is the big day! All my girlie parts, plus a few others, are going bye-bye-bye!

Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs:

1. 1. Gabbi Grey: How I figure out what comes next! (FREE Read + Contest) — Last day to enter! Get your FREE read, plus enter to win another FREE story!
   2. Get your FREE read! WITH HIS ROCK BAND! — This offer ends Tuesday! Pick up your FREE read. This is a limited time offer!
   3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Welcome Spring! — Win an Amazon gift card!
   4. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Eliza Potter — Hairdresser, Social Critic, and Myth Buster (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
   5. Word Search: Favorite Book Hero Jobs (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
   6. Tell Me a Story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
   7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest — Favorite Fast Food — Win an Amazon gift card!

Just a quick note. I’ll go into surgery sometime on Tuesday. I’ll have guests on the blog, but there won’t be daily posts until I feel well enough to sit at my desk, so closing out current contests may lag. Also, I won’t be here to share my guests’ posts. If you can, please share them on your social media to help get out the word for them.  

It’s Saturday, and I have a list a mile long of things to place in my rear window. So, here’s a quick puzzle. The topic came to mind because…I’m hungry. 🙂

Solve the puzzle, then let me know what your favorite fast foods are for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

I have a huge To Do list that I keep trimming because I’m running out of time to do everything I thought I needed to get out of the way before my surgery next Tuesday.

My surgery is scheduled for some time on Tuesday. They’ll call the day before and let me know when. My sister, Elle James, has already volunteered to take me to Little Rock the day before. We’ll hole up in a hotel near the hospital, then she’ll be with me there for the duration of my stay. My lovely daughter will come for the surgery but has to head home afterward because…kids and animals. If all goes well, I’ll be there for two nights, then I’ll be sent home.

She’s having my lift chair moved to the living room while I’m gone because I won’t be able to go up and down stairs for about six weeks. I’ll be “installed” in the living room, which will be annoying for them, but I expect I’ll sleep a lot. I’ll be in the chair because my daughter, who had a hysterectomy years ago, says I won’t be able to comfortably get in and out of bed. She has it all planned out how she’s going to care for me. I hate that I’ll need that kind of help, to and from the bathroom, getting up to walk, etc. I know I’m going to be miserable, and a lot of things will fall by the wayside while I recover. Google says I won’t be able to swim for six weeks, and she just smiles and says I probably won’t feel like it anyway, but I hope to prove her wrong. Full recovery will take about six months.

I’ll be stranded away from my desktop for six weeks. Which means, I’ll be using my laptop, which I don’t love. I’m not sure how that will work. Likely, she’ll have to find some sort of desk/tray thing to place over my chair so I can reach the keys. How soon I’ll be back online is a huge question. I do have some guest authors’ posts to pre-post so this website won’t be completely dead. I’ll ask you all to support them, and me, by sharing their posts online. You won’t mind that, right?

I figure I’ll be back to editing in a couple of weeks—in short spurts. Lots of rest in between. The kids will watch movies with me so I don’t go stir-crazy. I think I’ll like their noise and commotion, the sounds of living, being around me upstairs.

Am I scared? It’s odd. I’m not. I know a million things can go wrong, but hey, I’ve made it this far, and this journey has been surprising. I’ve come farther than I could have hoped at the start last August. I hope I fly through surgery, that I avoid any major infection. The worst I will let myself consider is dealing with the discomfort and pain. I can do that. I already have experienced some of that. I’m feeling positive and making plans for the future. When they put my under, I’ll hold to an image of me floating in my pool with the sunshine beating down on me—my favorite place and activity in the world.

I always love watching basketball in Spring because the games have such high stakes and the fact so many friends and family members get behind their teams that make it to the tournament. I always have my main team (the school I went to) and then my other faves with teams that family or friends went to or that I took classes or went to conferences at. So, it made sense that I would write a college basketball romance where a teen soap opera star named Valeria runs into the ex she never got over on the streets of New York City. Davis St. James is still as adorable as ever and now he’s transferred to a school nearby where he’s playing basketball.

The two reconnect after Davis has a scary situation that Valeria helps him through. Pretty soon they become each other’s support systems again as she is dealing with self-doubt in her acting career and he’s stressed over the upcoming basketball tournament. But can two teens from different worlds make it work?

I had fun writing this one—especially the scene where Valeria and her friends watch the game and help coach by yelling at the TV—it’s pretty much what I do when I watch. Do you watch college basketball?

You can pick up a copy of the book here. It’s free in Kindle Unlimited.

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3
Amazon CAN: https://www.amazon.ca/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/Stars-City-Krysten-Lindsay-Hager-ebook/dp/B0C19THWX3

About the Author

Krysten Lindsay Hager is a bestselling author of YA and contemporary romance. She writes romance because she loves bringing people swoony moments and hope-filled happily ever afters. She writes about falling in love, fame, fitting in, frenemies, first loves, and finding your way in the world. She loves reading, watching movies, and lipstick.

Website: https://www.krystenlindsay.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krystenlindsay/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/krystenlindsay/

I love this photo. I’m sure there’s a story there. So, why don’t you take a stab at describing the story?

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me a story. It doesn’t have to be long, or even good, just have fun with the assignment! 

I’m late posting today! I had some administrative things to handle before I could move to fun things!

I have a puzzle for you. The theme is Favorite Book Hero Jobs! I listed some of mine.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, list yours!