Getting Back into the Swing

Yes... I'm back (again) and yes, I've been a bad blogger (again) and once more, I'm going to promise to be better about it (again.) So, keep your fingers crossed.

Anyway, here I am, trying to get back into the swing of everything. I've been a busy little bee, working on edits for my upcoming release, The Earl's Perfect Match, which is Elena Sebastiano's story and is coming from Entangled Publishing on July 23rd. Look! New cover art!

Lovely, isn't it? My cover artist rocks!

Anyway, I just turned in copyedits for this, and now I'm sorta starting to get excited about the release. Yay!

I've been working on a sooper seekrit project as well. I'll have news on that very soon, or so I hope. :D

I have a Facebook page, if you're at all interested. Pop by and check it out and like me. Otherwise, I'll cry. :(

I'm working on other books as well, in several different genres. Changes is good for the soul, right? Anyway, it's been interesting, forcing myself out of my comfort zone. Interesting and challenging.

And, let's see... Thing 1 goes for her license next week. I'm not the least bit nervous about her driving at all, Nope, not me. Not one little bit.

Yeah, totally lying on that. I'm trying REAL hard not to think about it. I sleep better that way.

If you're not following the Faleena Hopkins debacle, you really should. It's fascinating in a train-wreck kind of way. 

Okay, so that's a quick update. And another promise to try to be better at this. Bear with me. Change is good for the soul, but hard and lazy is soooo much easier!

Back in the Swing of Things

Well, sort of.

My family and I went on vacation two weeks ago, to visit my husband's family in Florida over Spring Break. It was a wonderful trip (despite the flight down being delayed and very turbulent and the return flight spending half an hour in a holding pattern over Virginia.) The weather was beautiful, if a little cold in the beginning. And by cold, I mean in the sixties kind of cold. The kind of cold that has Floridians running for heavy winter coats while those of us from the North wear short-sleeved tee shirts and say, "Ahhh... it's so warm here!"

We went to Naples, which is on the west coast, along the Gulf. My husband and I spent our honeymoon there, and this was the first time in almost sixteen years we were able to go back (the Girl has spent every Spring Break with her grandparents for a few years now, but this was the first year we thought the Boy could handle such a trip.) I'd forgotten just how beautiful Naples is - and after the long, seemingly endless winter we were having up here in NJ, it was a vacation in itself just to see the brilliant colors of all the blooming flowers and trees. Everything was just so pretty and so alive - a far cry from the yet-to-bloom trees and bushes up home.


The time leading up to the trip was hectic enough, since there were four of us but everything went smoothly. As I said, the flight down was pretty rough - with the drop-the-pit-of-your-stomach kind of turbulence (apparently there was some pretty severe weather through Georgia/Northern Florida and nowhere to go but through it. It reminded me very much of a roller coaster ride.) And considering this was the Boy's first flight, he handled it beautifully. He wasn't so crazy about the landing, but everything else was okay as far as he was concerned.

All in all, it was a relaxing vacation, with time spent on the beach, at the pool, at the Naples Zoo (I got licked by a giraffe while feeding it. Gross, but in a funny way.) We did some shopping, had tea at a wonderful little tea shop, and took the kids to the Children's Museum. We watched some gorgeous sunsets. Drank some terrific wine. And slept like babies every night. It was exactly what a vacation should be.

'Sup?

I'm finally back in the land of the living. For the most part, anyway. I finally caved and went to the doctor on Monday, since I'd really had enough of feeling so lousy. Wouldn't you know, what started out as a cold morphed into a sinus infection. No big surprise there, as I'm prone to them and ear infections. When I smoked, I used to get bronchitis like clockwork, which I don't miss at all.

And as I creep back into the world of the living, I'm back to work on a few new projects. I don't want to say much, since one is ins in the early stages and I have had problems with what I think are really great ideas petering out by 20 or 30 pages into the book. So mum's the word until it gets beyond that, but I will say that it's been fun so far.

The sick has been weaving its way through my house, though. My daughter's been sick off and on for the last two weeks, and my other half started with it on Monday. I can't wait for this winter to end. I'm waving the white flag and hooping Punxsatawney Phil is right on the money. Spring can't get here soon enough.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last year, I 'inherited' cooking Thanksgiving dinner from my mom. A few years ago, I suggested maybe I should take it over, and was met with stone-cold silence. Then last year, Mom decided she'd had enough. And so, it became my holiday.

This year, with my mom being sick (she's in the hospital right now. Keep your fingers crossed she's actually home in time for tomorrow,  but it isn't looking so good right now,) the entire family is gathering at my house for dinner. A dozen people. It's going to be crazy.

But at the same time, it'll be a good kind of crazy. Despite the less-than-ideal circumstance, I'm looking forward to having all of us here. My aunt and uncle are coming down from upstate New York, and since they never come down for Thanksgiving, I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

It's been a rough year for my family. My mom was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in July. She's been through two rounds of radiation and will start a third round soon, she's been hospitalized four times, spent six weeks in a rehab facility, and was admitted again to the hospital on Sunday morning. As I said, we're hoping to have her home for tomorrow, but it isn't looking too good.

But, I'm thankful that she's still here, with us. I'm thankful that, professionally speaking, it's been a good year for me. I've contracted five books, with four of them since July. It's kept me busy, and considering how my year's been, busy has been good.

What about you? As you sit down to Thanksgiving - what are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Stay safe and don't OD on the turkey!

Summer!

Yay! Summer's here! The kidlets wrap up school this week (yes, I know, it's late. My town has historically let out late for summer. When I was a kid, we swore someday it would be July before they let us out. Nice to know some things never change!) The weather's nice, even if it was a bit sticky yesterday. And our pool will be ready to go before the end of the week, or so I hope. We had to replace the liner and the pool guys were here Saturday to remove the old liner. They're due back sometime today to put in the new one. Right now, my pool is a freakin' huge hole in the ground. I should post pictures, really. It's amazing how huge this thing really is. I keep telling my other half I want to rappel down into the deep end and have him take a picture, for scale. It's enormous and I never really noticed it until the water was drained.

So, summer usually means rest and relaxation. And this year it will mean promos and book releases as well, not to mention the five gazillion other works in progress. But, there will be plenty of time for playing with the kidlets in the pool, cookouts, trips to the shore, and all that other summery-goodness that goes along with the heat and humidity. We have nothing planned aside from going to the shore to visit family. That's it. The Boy will be doing the special summer program again, so that rules out any serious vacations this year, which is fine by me. After all the running of the school year, I'm more than happy to kick back and just laze around. Ahhh... that's the perfect summer to me.


What about you? Any plans this summer, or are you a lazer, like me?

Quick Update

I'm running like a madwoman, since the Girl is making her First Communion this weekend. We're expecting almost 40 people (and they are all immediate family only.) And that is this week's excuse for not posting regularly. :D

I'm still revising The King's Bride (which is seriously in need of a new title. I hate this one. Hopefully, a new one will come to me.)

I'm awaiting the next round of edits on After the Storm and The Pursuit. And Murphy's Law will go into action, which means, they will arrive on the same day, within an hour or so of each other, and I will spend the two following weeks ripping my hair out because there are only 24 hours in a day. :D

I'm also sitting on that news. As soon as I can share, I will. Promise.

Dance with the Devil is almost finished. Well, the third draft, anyway. I decided I need a little break this week, so I'm working only minimally, seeing as how I'm spending most of my free time cleaning.

Soon this will all be over. Then I can go back to Tara...

Catching Up

Wow - I just realized how much time has passed since I last posted. Holy... I didn't realize it had been that long. Sorry 'bout that. Really.

Let's see... I've been writing like crazy. Finished two first drafts and a second draft, and am now in the process of revising them. I will be working on Tiger Eyes when I finish this, akshully. The work - it neveh stops!

It's also summer, and that means kidlets at home. The Boy and the Girl go back to school a week from Tuesday (YAY!), so that will mean a little more free time, which should (in theory) mean more blog posts. I hope.

I'm also knitting two blankets.

And I just got back from almost a week at the Jersey shore with the fam and the husband's fam. It's been busy these last few weeks, and that is why my poor blog has gone so neglected. Ooops. I have no other excuse really. I've just been busy. I can't believe the summer's almost gone, school's right around the corner (YAY!), and it'll soon be time for NaNo instead. Egads...

I'll work on getting more in-depth posts up. Time to go back and revisit my list of blog topics and see what all there is for me to blog about at all.

Keep your fingers crossed.

And this time, I mean it. :D