The Past Few Days

Hi, friends!  Happy Monday.

Wow, what a weekend it has been.  To be honest, I’m kind of relieved it’s the week.  Of course, this week is going to be hectic as well.  But backtracking…

On Saturday morning, I attended the Melissa Public Library writer’s group again, only this time, I went as a guest to support my friend, Paula.  I’m so thrilled for all that she’s accomplished in the few short months since she published her children’s book, Jack Learns to Grill.  The next book in the Jack Learns series, Jack Learns About Bullies, should be out next month!

https://paulawalkerbaker.wordpress.com

Later that evening, I had the honor of being a guest author at the Colony Library’s annual meeting.  There, I won a $15 gift card to Bath and Body Works (which has already been spent).  I also learned that Jeopardy is more a test of speed and reflex than actual knowledge.

But hey, I totally got to answer The Hunger Games question.

 

This weekend, my sunflowers also started to grow!  I realize I haven’t been very good at keeping y’all updated on my gardening adventures.  The sunflower, tomato, and bell pepper seedlings are all strong and healthy, but I’m a tad bit concerned about my butterfly weed.  We’ve had a lot of strong storms and they seem to be struggling a little.  If they don’t make it, however, I’ll try again in the fall in time for the monarch migration.

In other news, my dad is well on his way to getting that hole in his retina repaired.  We spent the morning with the surgeon who will be operating tomorrow.

The good news is that other than that hole, his eyes are in pretty good shape (granted, “pretty good” for his eyes is probably still “godawful” for a normal-sighted person, but what are you gonna do).

Since sitting around in a waiting room can get rather boring, I took some work with me…

The Lurking in the Deep anthology will be available May 7 and I could not be more excited about it!  I’m finally getting the chance to read everyone else’s stories and they are AMAZING!  I am so proud to be a part of this collection!  You can find LITD on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25396970-lurking-in-the-deep

Finally, before I go, I just have to share this.  Boy Band has been in the top 5,000 Kindle Bestsellers for the past three days and is currently in the top 2,700!  I am so, so touched and amazed and I simply cannot thank you all enough!  It is Young Adult, written for a pre-teen/teenage audience, so I understand that it’s not a book for everyone, but to everyone who has given it a chance, words cannot express my gratitude.  Thank you, thank you, thank you all and please continue to spread the word!

Love to all.

Gardening Journey Part II

Well, it’s the end of another week and my tomato sprouts are thriving.

However, after almost two weeks, I still hadn’t seen any sign of my bell peppers.  I was beginning to worry that I was over-watering them, or that maybe they weren’t getting enough sunlight.  So I turned to the infinite source of all wisdom and knowledge, Google.

The articles I read reassured me that depending on the temperature and environment, bell peppers can take longer to germinate than most seeds.  I decided no to give up on them.

Last night, my patience paid off.  I have several new bell pepper sprouts and more are popping up every hour!

The weather has been absolutely beautiful, so if I have time this weekend, I’m going to try to get my sunflowers and milkweed in the ground!  I’m just hoping the squirrels don’t dig them up again.  Grrrr.

Weekend Photo Album

This was an awesome weekend.  As a writer, it’s not often that I find words fall short, but in this instance, I’d rather let my pictures do the talking.

Enjoy!

First, I was honored to be a guest speaker at the Melissa Public Library’s writer’s group!

Then I celebrated Palm Sunday.

Then my seeds began to grow!

Finally, I got to spend a lovely day with two of my best friends and their horses!  It was so wonderful!

Grow For Me

After the success of my sunflower garden last year, I’ve decided to expand my garden.  This year, along with sunflowers, I’ve also decided to grow tomatoes, bell peppers, and milkweed (AKA butterfly weed).  Tonight, I plotted my tomatoes and bell peppers because they need to grow inside before they’re transplanted outside.

I’m particularly excited about the butterfly weed.  Monarch butterflies are very close to being put on the endangered list.  I love monarchs and want to do all I can to help them and raise awareness.  I’m hoping my butterfly weed is successful in attracting and feeding and nursing them and I encourage others to do the same!  They’re not seeds you’ll typically find at your neighborhood grocery store, so I ordered 5000 seeds off of Amazon.

I begin planting these seeds outside within the next few weeks.  It’s still a little cool and early in the season.

Happy gardening!

The Countdown is On

Hi, friends!  What’s up, what’s up?

I know I haven’t been as active here as I should be.  To be honest, my days are consumed with getting the new book ready to go IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS!  AGH!

Seriously, it does not feel like it’s that close.  I feel like I have all the time in the world when… I don’t!  I know that as an independent publisher, technically I don’t have to answer to anyone and if I wanted to postpone the release date, I could, because, let’s face it, I answer to no one. Mwa ha ha.  But the thing is, I am a professional, I want to be a professional, and a professional keeps her deadlines, especially her self-imposed deadlines.  That’s all there is to it.  I want my books to be just as high quality and on time as though they were coming from a big time publishing company.  And that means sticking to deadlines!

Unfortunately, thanks to all the computer work and reading and what not, I have developed a strain in my right eye.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but my eyesight is terrible.  Like, God-awful.  Without correctional lenses, I can’t even see the giant E at the top of the letter pyramid.

My dad has a history of genetic eye diseases which I am more likely to pass on to my son than he is likely to pass on to me, but at the same time, my oldest sister has the disease so, you know, stuff happens.  The point is, I have to take good care of my eyes, and unfortunately, I’ve chosen a profession with a lot of reading and a lot of computer time.  I haven’t been posting as much or as active online as I usually am.  Trying to give my poor right eye a rest.

What else is new? Well…

My sunflowers are beginning to actually look like future sunflowers!

Cemetery Tours is now up to 45 reviews on Amazon!  Just five shy of my goal for July 1!

And I had the best snow cone I’ve ever had in my entire life.

How has your week been so far?

Seedlings

Good news, everyone! 

MY SUNFLOWER SEEDS ARE OFFICIALLY SEEDLINGS!

They are brand, brand new, less than a day old.  I’m so excited to see them, though!  I hope I can keep them alive long enough to see them grow into big, strong, beautiful sunflowers!  

In other news, I’m still super busy getting ready for the readings and signings this weekend.  I’m really excited, but really afraid I’ll forget something or somehow end up doing something wrong.  I’m not sure what I could possibly do wrong, but nothing is impossible.  

Anyway, this is going to be a short post, but I will get back to regular blogging soon!