I used to be a last-minute shopper. You know, the one who hit the mall the night before Christmas to buy all the gifts. No kidding. It was horrendously stressful, but I hate shopping (unless it’s at a flea market!), so I procrastinated over Christmas.
These days, with online shopping, it’s soooooo nice. And I can stretch out the expense over several months instead of having all the bills hit at Christmas. I start early. Typically, in August. I list everyone I want to purchase a gift for then methodically start knocking it out. This year, I have six people in the house and my aunt to buy gifts for. I really, really try to consider Christmas cards for others, but again, I’m a horrible procrastinator. This year, I’m going to do better. I have a list. It’s getting “codified” in my planner. It will be done.
So, my question for you is whether you’re a procrastinator or do you squirrel away gifts over the year to give at Christmas time? A second question! Do you have any ideas for what I can do for my readers through my website or my Facebook pages? I was thinking about giving away free stories (downloads), mailing hand-painted bookmarks, and maybe doing one mailable gift for one lucky winner. Any ideas would be appreciated! I want to send some small handmade items to a couple of folks who’ve been part of my Team Delilah, too. I’ll put it in the plan!
So, for a chance to win your choice of one of my downloadable books, comment below!
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Another month gone! 2022 is flying! This month, the kids go back to school and my weekdays will be quieter. Soon, twice daily swims will be reduced to one as the water cools. 🙁 But there’s the string of lovely holidays coming with fall, so I won’t be sad for long…
July
Here’s what I managed to accomplish…
Work-related:
I completed writing and published Gabriel, Book #7 in my MBH: Dead Horse, MT, series. Fig finally got her man!
I completed 2 editing projects for other authors in July.
Health-related:
I have not climbed back aboard the Weight Watchers wagon. However, I maintained 25 pounds of my loss since January. Motivation is still lagging…
As for physical activity, I’ve upped my steps and make multiple trips up and down the stairs! I’m swimming at least once a day, usually twice.
I visited the dermatologist this month. I had a spot of skin cancer in the past, but this checkup was all clear. Yay!
Happiness-related:
I volunteered to serve on the board of my local art guild, so I HAVE to get out of the house and mingle with real people. Along with my board position, I committed to twice monthly “art days” where I paint at the art center with my artist friends.
I committed to participating in this year’s Festival of the Arts, so I must get some decent paintings done to sell in September! Yikes!
Here are a few of my recent pieces…
August
Do these covers excite you?
For work-related, I plan:
To complete a story set in my sister’s Brotherhood Protector’s world! The cover is coming soon!
To revise and compile the Danger Zone trilogy into a single bundle and get it ready for publishing in August!
To plot and chart out Hard Knox, my first We Are Dead Horse story!
To complete 5 editing projects in August!
For health related, I plan:
To restart Weight Watchers (count those points!) and hope to lose at least 5 pounds, remembering: Slow is good!
To swim at least one time a day while I can! Mid-September is when the water gets a little too nippy…
To begin some low-impact aerobics. I’ll do more housework, too, because my art room is a disaster!
For happiness-related, I plan:
To inventory the art I have and determine what I need to do next to get ready for the show!
To produce at least four finished pieces of art every week!
To blog about art (on my Emerald Casket site) just to keep myself honest! (No one actually has to read it! No one except my pal Susan does!)
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…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
Today, I’m reading through Gabriel one last time to catch my ugly nits—you know, grammar issues, misspellings, clunky sentences. As many times as I’ve read the chapters, you’d think there would come a time when I’d find ZERO to fix. Hah! I have things that are published now, and if I go grab a scene for something, I find another error. It happens. Even to writers who write for big publishing houses. I know, because I used to do that. Now, I’m on my own. I have three trusted beta readers who help me find some of my errors, but the rest is up to me.
If I were one of those authors who actually wrote their books months in advance of publication, I might have several chances to skim through what I’ve written, but I’m my own publisher now. So, it’s ALL on me.
Sometimes, I wish I was one of those authors who could sit without pressure and write pages and pages, following a production schedule plan. That’s not me. I require adrenaline to produce. I have to be staring at the deadline to upload my book before I can kick my ass into gear. It’s not just the problem of forcing myself to sit at my computer and type, it’s an issue of inspiration. I swear to you, I write better, my stories make more sense, and my scenes pop when I’m on a caffeinated frenzy to finish a book. The language of my books tends to be more realistic, too.
The book I’m wrapping up today to format and load before TOMORROW’S deadline wouldn’t exist without adrenaline. Fig, my heroine, wouldn’t be as tangible. The action scenes wouldn’t be as crisp.
Yeah, sometimes, I wish I was one of those writers, but today, I’m happy I’m not.
Let’s just get started on my recap! I have a bunch of s**t to do today! ‘Kay? 🙂
June
Here’s what I managed to accomplish…
Work-related:
I completed writing and published Victoria’s Six—which I hated while I was writing it but love, love, love now! It’s funny how that works.
I completed 4 editing projects for other authors in June!
The bad news? I cancelled the release of Wild Thing. I simply could not squeeze in another book in June. My goal now is to push the book toward the end of the year, releasing it in November or December.
Health-related:
I have not climbed back aboard the Weight Watchers wagon. However, I maintained 25 pounds of my loss since January. Motivation is lagging…
As for physical activity, the pool is finally sparkling clear and warm! I’m swimming at least once a day, usually twice. The little ones don’t have to do more than show up at my door with a quivering bottom lip to talk me into joining them.
Happiness-related:
After the #100DayChallenge ended in May, so did my artistic ambition. I puttered but painted very, very little. I’m embarrassed to share the “best” of what I produced, but here it goes…
July
Come hell or high water…
For work-related, I plan:
To complete and publish my next bounty hunter book, Gabriel!
To revise and compile the Danger Zone trilogy into a single bundle and get it ready for publishing!
To begin work on my next Brotherhood Protectors romantic suspense story.
To complete 3 editing projects in July!
For health related, I plan:
To restart Weight Watchers (count those points!) and hope to lose at least 5 pounds, remembering: Slow is good!
To swim at least one time a day!
To begin some low-impact aerobics. Maybe, I’ll do more housework, too. Gah.
For happiness-related, I plan:
To participate in an online #fodderchallenge beginning July 5!
To produce at least two finished pieces of art every week!
To blog about art (on my Emerald Casket site) just to keep myself honest! (No one actually has to read it!)
Contest
Solve the puzzle then comment on anything you’ve read in this post, share something you plan to do in July, or just tell me what you plan to read…
Like I said, comment on anything for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
“Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me”…! Well, I prefer the Beatles’ birthday song! If the Stones had only done one… LOL
Yes, that’s me a 64, sitting at my desk, getting a few wrinkles, letting the silver in the blond just happen, and yes, that’s the devil looking over my shoulder. What you can’t see is God on the left and Jesus to the right! Of course, the watercolor painting of the little girls is my sister and me!
My dd is trying to make the day special. I’ve already gotten a bag of goodies from her, and she’s talking about a trip to the flea market (the only shopping I love—oh, the “treasures” we will find!). I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Hum the subject line to the music of “Singing in the Rain”… That’s what I’m doing in my head.
That picture isn’t me, my girls, or my pool, but that’s what I was doing today. I took a break from an editing project and hit the pool. The temperature was in the mid-90s until some clouds rolled by and dumped a bunch of rain. Since there was only thunder in the distance, we all ran out to the pool. Lord, it felt so good.
That’s all I’ve got. I finished up the edits a little while ago, and I’m going to close down my computer and do NOTHING for the rest of the evening. I’ve earned some laziness. I don’t even have the energy to break out the paints.
I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend—that you’re recharged and ready for another week. I start on my next book tomorrow! Whee!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there! And if you have a dad sitting beside you, please pass along the greeting!
I’m thinking about my own dad today. The art above reminded me of this picture I took with my dad in 2018. It was for my birthday, and he felt silly holding that photo booth sign, but he still did it. I had no way of knowing he wouldn’t be with us for another birthday or Father’s Day. I miss him terribly. He was quiet, so quiet, but always busy fixing things or building things. He’s my guidepost when I think about how a man should be.
I wish a Happy Father’s Day to my SIL, Dexter, and my son, Connor. They’re the inheritors of my dad’s legacy. They’re both living up to the high standard he set. 🙂
