UPDATE: The winner is…Michelle Willms!
*~*~*

December

Work-related:

1. I didn’t write in December, but that was the plan until after my chemotherapy sessions ended.
2. I completed 2 editing projects for other authors in December.
3. I did post daily Advent Calendar giveaways for readers from the 1st to the 24th of December. And all the gifts have been mailed! Hope you enjoyed the posts!
4. After getting that hopeful news on Monday, I redid my work plan for the New Year. There will be books!

Health-related:

1. I underwent two rounds of chemo, the last being on the 30th of December where I got some hopeful news from my oncologist about my progress, which I already posted about here, yesterday! It gave me a huge, happy boost, which I so needed. What a way to begin the New Year.
2. Last night, I restarted my Weight Watcher’s subscription and downloaded a chair yoga regimen I’ll begin in January to further improve my health in the new year. Once I’m past the nausea, muscle and joint aches, and fatigue from my latest treatment, I’ll begin working out to lose some more weight and regain some muscle tone.

Happiness-related: 

1. My family has been astonishingly good to me over the months of my treatment, cleaning up after me, fetching things when I was too tired to fetch them for myself, etc., and they made the holiday so joyful. I’m lucky to have them. We watched Christmas movies, played games, and ate some wonderful food.
2. I painted only once this month. Here are the two small things I managed to paint:

January

 

For work-related, I plan:

1. To complete Ignition before the end of the month and publish it. I haven’t been able to persuade Amazon to give me back my pre-order ability, despite the fact I sent them proof I had good reasons for cancelling Ignition in the first place last year. I’m not giving up on that, but when I’m done writing the book, I’ll let you know when it’s ready for purchase.
2. To conduct a poll to see what themes might interest readers for a new Boys Behaving Badly Anthology this year! I’ll post the poll tomorrow to get your votes! After that, I’ll make my decision about the theme and post a Call for Submissions for authors. I can’t wait to get started!
3. To plot stories for the new year for my current series, Montana Bounty Hunters: Yellowstone, MT and We are Dead Horse.
4. To complete 2, maybe 3 editing projects in January. I have them on the books but haven’t received them from the authors yet, so we’ll see. But I’m ready to start!
5. To look at books I already have out that I might bundle together or publish in print.
6. To begin work on the next We Are Dead Horse book, Built Like Mack. The plan is to release it in March.

For health-related, I plan:

1. To undergo more scans to ascertain how far the cancer has been beat back, and to see a cancer surgeon in Little Rock to see if I am a candidate for removal of my girlie parts. Crossing fingers here!
2. To begin again watching what I eat to drop a few more pounds. I’ve rejoined WW.
3. To add physical activities to my daily routine so that I can regain some muscle tone. It may take until the middle of the month after I’ve recovered from this last chemo treatment, but I intend to take the stairs as often as I can manage and begin some daily chair yoga exercises.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To better organize my office so I can start off with a clean slate for the new year!
2. To clean up my art room, which has become a disaster! I’ve been tossing supplies on table tops and need to actually store them properly, so I have more workspace. I have plans to do an online oil pastels class and perhaps make some more collage fodder. I think the #100daychallenge starts toward the end of the month, and I will be there, painting every day when it begins!
3. To spend time with the family—more movies, meals, and flea market adventures!

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 January…

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

UPDATE: The winner is…Beth!
*~*~*

October

1. I wrote zero words! Zero! I didn’t even revise anything I’ve written, although I have a book coming out soon that needs it!
2. I completed 3 editing projects for other authors in October.
3. Still, with so little productivity, I feel like I climbed mountains.

Health-related:

1. I underwent my third round of chemo and noted how I felt during the days after so I could try to figure out how to work around the chemo schedule. The fatigue continues to be the worst part. My 4th round, which was to start on the 28th, was canceled due to my extremely low platelet count. The chemo-induced anemia is kicking my butt. The aches only last a few days. My white blood count takes a beating, too, but the shots they give me after chemo bring it up quickly. They are going to adjust one of the medicines they give me to try to address the platelet issue.
2. I’m maintaining my 20 pounds weight loss.
3. I’m losing muscle tone. I know I need to add some sort of exercise to my schedule on days when I can get around, but I’ve just been so tired I tend to sleep a lot.
4. I had a CT scan with contrast yesterday. The “shadow” they previously saw on my spine is gone. The nodule on my liver is gone. They see reduction in the thickness of my omentum and the sizes of the tumors in my ovaries and uterus. I won’t know any numbers until next Monday. But progress! 🙂

Happiness-related: 

1. The family has been wonderful, doing takeout and watching movies nearly weekly, so we have family “events” to share.
2. I didn’t paint a thing this month. No drive at all. It’s like the writing—anything that requires imagination takes too much energy.

November

   

1. To revise, format, and upload The Demon Lord’s Cloak for its release on November 12th.
2. To complete Ignition, the fourth book in the Delta Fire series during November’s NaNoWriMo.
3. To complete 4 editing projects in November!
4. To write at least 1/4 of Built Like Mack during NaNoWriMo.
5. My writing goals may be pie-in-the-sky goals, given I have two bouts of chemo sceduled for the month, but I have to shoot for something.

For health related, I plan:

1. To go through two more rounds of chemo, which when I look at my calendar seems overwhelming, but I’ll get through it.
2. To continue to watch what I eat and hope I can manage to drop a few more pounds.
3. To up my physical activities so that I don’t lose any more muscle. Maybe I’ll give myself stairstep goals or walk the driveway to the gate and back goals—on days when I’m not sick as a dog.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To fiddle in my art room!
2. Attend the local art guild’s Potluck Dinner.
3. To spend time with the family—movies, meals, and flea market adventures! I’m not overly ambitious.
4. Enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas decorating with the family!

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 November…

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

This past week was basically all about keeping things together. Soldiering on. The busier I am, the stronger and more positive I feel. Lots happened last week, and this next week will be another rollercoaster.

Report Card

Last week…

1. I celebrated and promoted the release of Secret Identities anthology! I hope you all picked up your copies! There’s something for everyone inside that volume!
2. I worked on edits for one author.
3. I revamped my release schedule so that my book, Built Like Mack, is pushed off to September. Sorry, I know some of you were looking forward to it, but I’m not in the headspace at the moment.
4. I swam every day for the first part of the week. The next two items describe why that happened…
5. I went to the doctor for abdominal pain on Monday, thinking maybe it was my gallbladder or appendix. I wish. I was sent for a CT scan immediately and afterward was scheduled right away to see an oncologist.
6. My daughter and the girls returned from their vacation in Virginia with the flu and promptly gave me the bug, too.

This next week…

1. I see the oncologist on Monday. I’m sure he’ll schedule a biopsy and we’ll go from there. I hate waiting. That’s the worst part. I like action, solve it, figure out what I have to fight. Or maybe, it’s something other than cancer (I can hope).
2. I will finish editing one author’s manuscript and begin editing the next one in line.
3. I’ll work on finishing the next Delta Fire novella, Ignition. I only have a couple of chapters to write, and I think I can get through it while I wait for whatever procedures I will be going through.
4. I’ll continue swimming and trying to watch what I eat, although I am finding it hard not to want to eat my favorite things!
5. I’ll continue working on some small art projects while I declutter my art room.

Open Contests

On the Delilah’s Collections website!

1. GETTING TO KNOW N.J. WALTERS (CONTEST) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. GETTING TO KNOW M. JAYNE (CONTEST) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. GETTING TO KNOW GABBI GREY (CONTEST) — Last Day to enter! Win a FREE book!
4. In One Picture: Michal Scott’s “My Heavenly Phantom” (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!

Here, on this site!

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: While the cat’s away… — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. July into August (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Gabbi Grey: What a Difference Seven Years Makes (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Cecilia Tan: A Recipe for Steamy, Steamy Steampunk (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Cottagecore Aesthetic/Trad Wife…? — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…ELF!
*~*~*

Before I get into July’s accomplishments/August’s future plans, I want to take a moment to say thank you to my readers! I woke up to see this today:

It’s the ranking for my latest anthology, Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology! I could not be more thrilled for the authors inside this collection! I wish I was one of them, but I had to reject the two stories I worked on because they just didn’t make the cut. Not sure why, or maybe I do, but I’ll explain more below.

Anyway, congrats to TEAM SECRET IDENTITIES! And if you haven’t gotten your copy, hit the link above. It’s only $0.99, and there’s something for everyone’s taste in this volume. Did I mention it starts with a big bang thanks to my sister Elle James’s terrific Brotherhood Protectors-related story!?

July

1. I published the first book in my Delta Fire series: Burning Up Memphis.
2. I revised and published the second Delta Fire book, Hotter with a Pole.
3. I revised and uploaded the third Delta Fire book, Rapid Entry, which will release on August 6th! (Have you pre-ordered your copy?!)
4. I finished work on Cyrus and published it on July 23rd!
5. I finished editing all the stories inside Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, and it was published on July 30th!
6. I completed 2 editing projects for other authors in July!

Health-related:

1. After all my annual scans, bloodwork, etc., that happened in June and July, I thought I was good to go. Full steam ahead. Enjoy the summer, write like mad. However, around mid-month, problems I had been thinking were minor (gas, indigestion, whatever), I started having some real abdominal pain. I thought gallbladder, then maybe appendix. So, I was sent in for a CT scan from my lungs down to my pubic bone. They found something, and statistically, the thing they found derives from metastatic cancer—but it could be inflammation due to infection, so I’m holding out for that, because hey, all that bloodwork and all those scans didn’t find tumors anywhere. Make it make sense. Not panicking, trying to keep busy so I don’t think about it too much. I’d appreciate any thoughts/wishes/prayers.
2. I paid attention to what I put in my mouth and lost 8.5 pounds this month!

Happiness-related: 

1. July was filled again with family activities. We’ve had movie nights at home and special meals where everyone participated in the food prep.
2. The pool is finally clear and beautiful. Whether I feel like it or not, I swim at least once a day.
3. Art kind of fell by the wayside this month. I have nothing wonderful to share with you. I’ll try better in August!

August

1. To publish Book #3 in the Delta Fire series, Rapid Entry on August 6th!
2. To delay the publication of Built Like Mack. I’m not writing much now, and I have a lot to write on this story. I will push off the publication date as far as I can into September. Sorry, I know some of you were looking forward to reading the next We Are Dead Horse story soon.
3. To complete Ignition, the fourth book in the Delta Fire series. I only have two or three chapters left.  If I can, I’ll have a September release.
4. To complete 3 or 4 editing projects in August!

For health related, I plan:

1. To get an answer regarding my stomach issues and then move forward.
2. To schedule the last of the health-related appointments I need to wrap up: Eye exam and dental exam.

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To fiddle in my art room!
2. To spend time with the family—movies, flea market adventures, and pool—before school starts and everything gets complicated!

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 August…

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

UPDATE: The winner is…Kristi Malloy!
*~*~*

Delta Heat

For those of you who haven’t been following me for a long time, you might not be aware of my earlier, sexier series. One of them was Delta Heat, which followed a group of Memphis police officers while they “helped” each other find their happy-ever-afters in unconventional ways. I began my writer’s journey by writing very sexy books. The Delta Heat books were previously published through Samhain and Entangled, but now that I have the rights back, I dusted them off, revised them, gave them new covers, and I hope to find new readers who will enjoy their adventures. The books will release one book a week, starting next Tuesday, May 14th, and finishing June 11th! If you like a sexier story with BDSM elements, I hope you’ll give them a try! Click on the covers to learn more about the books and how you can pre-order them!

Montana Bounty Hunters: West Yellowstone — Cyrus, Book 1

I don’t know much about this story yet. I’m starting this book this week. If you haven’t taken my poll, where I’m asking readers for input regarding the heroine’s identity, follow this link: Cyrus’s love interest.

Cyrus releases June 25th!

We Are Dead Horse: Built Like Mack, Book 4

I’m far from through with Dead Horse. I might have written the last story about the bounty hunters in Dead Horse, but the town still has so many stories to tell. Next up in the We Are Dead Horse series is Built Like Mack, as in “built like a Mack truck.” Yeah, that’s all I know about this story so far. I tend to “meet” my characters as I write them—kind of like how you do as you “read” them.

Built like Mack releases on August 20th!

As you can see, I’m going to be busy this summer! All the books will initially be available only through Amazon so readers who use Kindle Unlimited can get their copies FREE! So, if you’re looking for some books to read over the summer, I have some suggestions… 🙂

Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me whether you’re interested in reading any of these stories. Have you read any of my sexier stories before?

Last week…

• I finished one editing job for another author.
• I found the art for the cover for my next We Are Dead Horse book, Built Like Mack, got the cover made, and the pre-order set up in Amazon.
• I had covers made for a series I’m republishing and created the pre-orders in KDP. Those links aren’t available because KDP wants to make sure I’m republishing my own books first.
• I began lightly revising the first of the series I’m republishing, which I hope to have out on May 14th. If you like kink, be watching for it!
• I worked on art for #The100DayProject—nearly catching up with the schedule.
• I’m still recovering very slowly from an injury to my knee. At first, I got around with a limp, then I used a knee brace, then a cane. I’m off the cane, but not 100% just yet!

This next week…

• I will work on two editing projects for other authors, finishing one!
• I will try to find art for the next anthology, Secret Identities. Plus, I’ll work on the webpage on the Collections site, adding loglines for each author’s story.
• I will complete editing the first and the second stories in the kink series I’m republishing and get them uploaded for pre-order.
• I will begin writing my next Montana Bounty Hunter story, the first in the West Yellowstone office, Cyrus.
• I will continue creating small art daily for #The100DayProject.
• I’ll work on a gazillion administrative things I need to catch up on.

And here I was hoping I could take a bit of a break…

Open Contests

1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: The Time Tunnel (Contest) — This one ends tomorrow! Win an Amazon gift card!
2. Hold on to Memories (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. April into May (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Word Search: Happy Batman Day! (Contest) — Win a beaded pen!
5. Remember when…? (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Happy Paranormal Day! (Giveaway!) — This offer ends soon! Get your FREE book while this offer lasts!
7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Why did the black bear cross the road? — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Jackie Wisherd!
*~*~*

Before I get started with the end of month rundown,
Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

March

Work-related:

1. I completed work on What Happens in Bozeman (Book #3 of We Are Dead Horse, MT) and published it!
2. I began work on Tyson’s Mission, my next Brotherhood Protectors book!
3. I continued to read short stories for inclusion in my upcoming Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.
4. I completed 3 editing projects for other authors in March.

Health-related:

1. I haven’t done well taking care of myself this month. I ate too many salty, fatty foods and didn’t monitor my blood pressure!
2. My sleep suffered this month, likely because of diet and lack of exercise.
3. The only good thing I did was drinking one cup of Turmeric tea a day.

Happiness-related: 

1. I continued working on the #the100dayproject art challenge.
2. Here are some examples of art projects I completed in March.

April

 

1. To complete writing Tyson’s Mission, my next Brotherhood Protectors, book, which releases on April 23rd!
2. To complete 4 editing projects in March!
3. To finish reading and selecting stories from among the submissions for the upcoming collection—Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology!

For health related, I plan:

1. To start back on my Weight Watchers diet, because it’s time to get serious! I HAVE to get back in the saddle!
2. To reduce salt and processed food, and incorporate foods good for blood pressure (spinach, broccoli, bananas) and my liver (apple cider vinegar, flax seeds, sunflower seeds).
3. To begin daily workouts using my recumbent bike and some chair yoga exercises.
4. To take my BP every day and log it!

For happiness-related, I plan: 

1. To continue #the100daychallenge where I’ll be painting something every single day!
2. To spend time with extended family during the ECLIPSE!

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!