UPDATE: The winner is…Fedora!
*~*~*

I’m still playing catchup after the power outage. I finished a set of edits this week, and now, I’m working on another. Tomorrow, I’ll be starting a new story while editing the remaining shorties for the First Response: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology. As well, I have to work on new art pieces for the #100dayproject. Never a dull moment around here!

I’d love to hear what new things you are doing to keep busy in this crazy time. I haven’t added anything new to my plate, but maybe, some of you are growing bored with your first endeavors.

I’ll give you a little challenge now to help keep you occupied. 🙂

Finish the puzzle, then tell me a story about the image. One commenter will win a $5 Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is Mary McCoy!
*~*~*

Repeat: There’s no excuse for being bored!

When the kids get mopey, my daughter gives them chores. After she kept doing that, my granddaughter asked for a large canvas and some acrylic paint. My dd had the kids dress up twice now for fun “photo shoots” outside. There’s plenty to do other than watch Tiger King. You just have to find something that inspires you.

Okay, so I’m luckier than most. I get to be creative every day. It’s kind of my job. But when writing becomes work, I turn to paint and pens. When it started to look like this crazy lockdown would be a longterm thing for me, I looked around for something I could do that would keep me busy, so I joined the #100dayproject art challenge. Which is why I’m driving people on my Friends page in Facebook nuts with pictures of what I’m creating—the cool and the really, really bad. 🙂

So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what new challenge you will undertake if this thing goes on forever for you, too. Will you learn to paint? Take up writing poems? Dust off your camera?

Also, just a quick reminder here, folks…

New Orleans Nights: One Hot Night releases on Tuesday!! It’s FREE in Kindle Unlimited. It’s a fun, very fast-paced, and sexy story! Promise! You won’t be bored! Here’s what it’s about and where you can get it.

NEW ORLEANS NIGHTS:
Hot Sultry Nights, Hot-Blooded Heroes…

Part of the private security team hired to keep visiting international dignitaries safe, New Orleans detective, Remy Cyr, has several interesting run-ins with a certain local reporter hellbent on crashing the convention’s nighttime events. While she’s certainly a nuisance, sneaking inside in a variety of disguises, he can’t help admiring how resourceful and stubborn she is. As sexy as she is pretty, he soon can’t resist her attraction.

A socialite determined to earn her own way in the world, reporter Stacia Rice is determined to dig up dirt at the convention, anything to earn her a spot on her newspaper’s front page. But one handsome, dogged cop keeps getting in her way. When they find themselves alone, neither can resist the intensity of their instant attraction.

When a group of armed men invades the venue and takes the dignitaries hostage, Remy realizes that he and Stacia are the only ones who know, and the only ones who can save them…

Pre-Order your eCopy here!
Get your Print copy here!

And finally, the puzzle!

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
*~*~*

Psst! Just a quick reminder!
This offer is ending in just a couple of days!
Get your free read! Lily’s Last Stand

So, here we are in our third week of lockdown. It has been three weeks now, right? Hard to tell. The days blend together.

On the pro side of things (I don’t let myself think about any cons!)—I’m nearing the end of another book! Yay! My dd has been decorating/rearranging things in the house. It’s so pretty now! Her attention has now turned to the storage sheds. I’m not sure how that means multiple trips to the dump and the burn pile, but she has warned me not to look—so for my mental health, I have not! The kids have really liked their online classes and assignments. Sure, they miss their friends, but they’ve been hanging out on TikTok and FaceTime. They aren’t feeling horribly isolated. Not yet, anyway. And now, Arkansas has made the hard decision to close the schools through the end of the school year. What a relief!

Today, in addition to hopefully getting to the end of my book, I begin my #100dayproject art challenge! I’m stoked! I haven’t done anything to prepare, so I’ll be busy scrambling to do my first pieces. I’m sharing everything I do on Instagram. The good and the bad. (I’m sure there will be lots of horrific, too! 🙂 ) An artist, I am not, but I do love working with paints and color, so it feeds something inside me. Makes me happy. That’s the point.

So, three weeks in, how are you feeling? I saw something from Dr. Fauci saying that our return to normal will mean a “new normal.” Makes me sad that we will forever be hyper-aware of what we touch, who we stand next to, and that this disease will continue to be with us. I’m so very thankful that my family lives in a rural area, away from other people. I can’t imagine how paranoid people living in cities will become.

On a lighter note, I have another puzzle for you! It’s something fun! Solve the puzzle, then answer me this for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

If you were to write a YA book using this picture as the cover,
what would the story be about?

UPDATE: The winners are…Pansy, Michelle, Colleen, bn100, Jennifer, and Debra!
*~*~*

Here’s hoping you’re all doing well, not going stir-crazy, and that you’re actually taking this stay-at-home stuff seriously! I know it feels like the world is ending, but we can do things to keep connected—aren’t you ecstatic we have things like FaceTime?!

We’ve battened down the hatches. Our only constant concern is my SIL, the cop, bringing the disease into the house. We loaded him with Lysol wipes and hand cleaner. He has his PPE kit. He heads straight to the bathroom after getting home to strip and shower, and his clothes go right into the washing machine. That’s as much as we can do to try to keep the virus out.

My son turned 38 today—my how time flies! Wish I could be with him. I gave him a He-Man blanket. Made his day. That was his hero when he was kid, and he’s a little nostalgic. I had a thing for He-Man, too, but it had more to do with the guy who played him in the movie. Whew! 🙂

Anyways, here’s a game for you! Play and you’ll be entered to win your choice of one of my recent releases. And I’ll pick three winners! Keep safe and have fun! ~DD

Tell me a story!

I bought this little brainstorming tool years ago at some writers’ conference. “Story Cubes” is a brainstorming game. You roll the dice and whatever pictures appear face-up are the ones you use to riff off a story.

Here’s the roll…

Do any of these symbols tell you anything?
You can pick some or use all of them. 

UPDATE: The winner is…Laura!
*~*~*

We’re doing okay here. The kids aren’t going stir-crazy. My dd keeps them working on “projects”—like yardwork, pool prep, etc. Today, they cleaned off the back porch and hung solar lights around the seating area…just in time for a humongous lightning storm!

Yeah, weather’s bad here and getting worse. We’re under a tornado watch, hence today’s puzzle theme. Work it. You’ll enjoy it!

Another thing. We’re reluctant to brave Walmart or the other grocery store in town. We’re going to use the pick-up service, but they are limiting the number of items you can buy. Can you imagine a family of eight being limited to one carton of eggs or one gallon of milk? Yeah, if you could get eggs. We can’t. Also, no hamburger, no rice, no egg noodles, no pasta… Ugh! So, we’re going to get creative this week with what we have in the pantry. I do have a can of spam…

Hope you’re doing okay where you are. I also hope you’re hunkering down. The sooner we flatten this curve, the sooner we can get out and about. Although, it does look as though I’ll be sequestered in my rooms for the next year—past the second wave or until the appearance of a vaccine…

Let me know if you’re experiencing shortages and what you’re doing to entertain yourselves for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card! Love you. Take care! ~DD

Yes, it’s Tuesday. And like I said before…er, sometime or other…it’s hard to remember what day of the week it is when you’re on lockdown. So, it’s my pleasure to remind you and to offer you some light entertainment while you’re slowly going out of your mind…

Okay, none of that is happening here. It’s been a bit of an adjustment, and we’re having to cook way too many meals. What is it with kids? They think every meal should be an event! Any other time, they’d be happy with PBJ or ramen. Ha! Okay, again, none of that crazy sh*t is goin’ on here. 🙂

(Do you sense that I’m ready for a spa day?)

Ah well, next best thing to a day of self-care is a FREE story, right? Something short to tide you over. You can tell the kids or your SO you won’t be long. Just a few pages more… And you’d be telling them the truth! In addition to the free story, I have an inspirational puzzle. Something of a morning pick-me-up. *wink-wink*

Enjoy both! And you’re welcome! ~DD

P.S. Tell me how you’re coping! No crazy sh*t going on there, right?

FREE Read — Lily’s Last Stand

A wife gives her husband a sexy surprise…and then he ups the ante…
Get your copy here!
*~*~*~*

The Puzzle

At least, we’re trying to make it that way.

I’m under self-quarantine. At my daughter’s insistence. The kids have been briefed several times about handwashing, not touching things when they’re out and about, not touching their faces, coughing into their elbows… And we all have coughs at the moment, but we’re also sneezing, which means, most likely, we have our seasonal allergies hitting us hard. After all, the pollen has started to drop.

We canceled a weekend trip to New Orleans and are planning to stay at home. So, of course, we’re planning on lots of movie nights, game nights, etc. We’re stocking up on popcorn. 🙂

Right this minute, my dd and the older kids are shopping at Walmart, hoping there’s something left to buy for meals. We’ve already ordered a large crate of TP from Amazon, have dog and cat food stored, lots of canned and dried goods put back. We think we’re ready for whatever comes. Her hubby’s a cop, so he stocked up on manly things. I swear, he thinks it’s going to be like The Walking Dead, and we need more bullets. Gah. Although after watching numerous videos of families warring over toilet paper at the supermarket, maybe he’s right.

We live in a rural area, with lots of woods and pasture around us. It’s peaceful here, except inside our house. Four kids, who aren’t really all that well-behaved, make life a little chaotic. Thank goodness for game stations!

As for work… My dd is a fulltime mom. Her hubby’s a cop. He has to work no matter. So, we don’t have to worry about missing a paycheck there. I work from home anyway, so we’re very, very lucky. We know this. So many families will be worrying about where the money’s coming from. I hope something’s done so people who have to stay at home will get some sort of assistance. Otherwise… [Play the theme music from The Walking Dead.]

For now, here’s a puzzle. My way of giving you something fun to do when you have a quiet moment and don’t want to think about a zombie apocalypse…