October snuck up on me! I'm not a lover of cold weather or Halloween or shorter days or my flowers dying off for the season, but I do love the changes of season because it prevents boredom. We had a week of all-but flooding rain this week. It rarely snows here on the great northwestern coast, but one thing I will say is that cold, wet weather allows me to write, do my proofreading (and some editing and beta-reading) and not having to weed (as much), mow the lawn, or trim the bushes. That will be there when the spring comes.

I'm excited to be making good profress on 3rd Dragon Unchained book. At this point, it's slated to be titled Dragons' Last Dance. Just like with the other two books, the title makes sense to readers when they read it. I plan to keep using Steven Novak as my cover creator, and he does a fabulous job, but I won't have him do it until I'm both sure of the book's size in paperback (I always make paperbacks) and the title.

Any opinons? The dragons and Theona, Gideon, and their loved ones are very much at risk from the upcoming war with the Central Alliance. I don't want to mess up the discovery for my readers, so I won't mention the reasons that having magic, Enya, and Ramah won't make it a slam-dunk win over the CA....but it won't.

Anyone want to hear more about other author's books? What genre? I love both epic fantasy and sweet romance, but I have a couple of thrillers on the back burner. We'll see how it goes! 

Have October! 

A New Lease On Life

I haven't been here for a while. Family concerns that turned into tragedies made writing anything difficult for a long time. Since then, my situation, my professional prospects, and my life have completely changed. I did publish the 2nd book in my Dragon Unchained trilogy, Dragons' Inferno, which I mentioned in at least one or two of my previous posts. I am also working hard on the final chapter...Dragons' Last Dance. I have at least three other books in the wings.

 I needed to make some professional changes for a reason I'll mention in a minute. I tried working as a BIA (now BISHA? Behavior Intervention Assistant) for the local school district in three different schools in both the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, but some "promises" made by the school district were either not realized or denied, and I had too many other goals in my life to stay put. Yes, we needed the income. But I love to write, anything about writing, and discovered something that has changed me, my opportunities, and my life. I am now certified as a freelance General Proofreader! I already have people who want me to proofread their manuscripts, and I think it will be delightful to serve others while doing something I really enjoy. 

 My father was elderly when we came to live with him, but he did well because of my wonderful, nutritious cooking (LOL), and my twenty-five years of experience with nursing. He had several serious health problems, most caused by the thing he hated the most: smoking. (Please don't smoke.  Don't use tobacco. It ruined a good part of his life.) He died in October 2022 of emphasyma/COPD and heart disease, caused by the tobacco per his physician. I won't bore or stress anyone with the details, but his passing was both unexpected (on the day it happened) and expected (he was 95 and in poor health). I will state that virtually every organ he had was troubled by something. Age does that to some people who live a long time, but rather than shortening his life, it just made him suffer. 

So, I lost Dad, and at about the same time, one of my daughters nearly died in a fall and hasn't been the same since. Heartbreaking. And about the same time another daughter decided to make changes in her life, which included turning her back on most of the family. Both of these women are beautiful, talented, and very bright. Their accomplishments outrank mine, which is the way families should build, but like a lot of our younger generation, they don't like my opinions and aren't willing to enjoy what we can share of life. Amazing that I've found myself able to "let go" and allow them their opinions in exactly the opposite way that they don't allow me mine. 

Life is full of crazy lessons, some very hard to face. I'm grateful I have a sweet husband and a lovely place to live. Dad and Mom were insistent that their home remain mine--enough that my name was on the deed before I even knew about it and before my husband and I moved in to take care of Dad. The home was purchased cash outright, so other than for property taxes, we owe nothing on it. What a rare and beautiful privilege. We love our redwoods and our Pacific Ocean coastline, and it's helped us so much with the strains of financial uncertainty in these difficult times. 

My Dad, my hubsand, and I got COVID around the same time in 2022, and I am fairly convinced that Dad suffered from the long COVID. He never did get back his normal breathing, despite the fact that he wasn't that ill. I was a lot sicker than he was. Still, his oxygen levels kept dropping, his breathing more anxious, and his satisfaction with life depressed. He could hardly walk anywhere without getting dizzy, couldn't drive, and couldn't do much of what he had always loved to do. I had to take him to his doctor appointments, and he had many before the end. I miss him every day. He was a stern man, a professional who didn't put up with anything less than top notch effort, but he was so very, very good to me and my husband and quite a character. 

 It took a year to settle everything as best we could, including having to make some necessary, costly repairs on the home. My hubby would love to retire, but Social Security is never enough (remember that if you're still working and can save/invest!), and we lost our investments in the 2008 crash--never recovered them. So that means we work until we follow in Dad's footsteps, or at least for as long as we can. 

That said, there is a famous quote from Marc Athony that says, "If you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." I plan to write and proofread until I drop over, so I guess I will work without working. Sounds great to me. 

 Leave any comments and questions, and enjoy your day!

My dad, carrying his younger brother on his back. Weren't they both handsome guys?

 August is here already?

I'm always stunned when time bowls over me like a runaway train. It's been especially difficult for us, here in the "Great Northwest", where it never gets as hot as it does inland. 

In fact, unlike many people who expect the country to explode into infernal flames it's so hot, we have had a cooler-than-normal summer this year. Is it summer? We're lucky to burn the fog off by two or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and we're lucky to break 60° each day. Occasionally we get a very pretty 64° or 65°, but if the skies are clear, the wind comes up. Chill factor makes it feel a lot more like 58°. We normally have pretty warm weather in July and then August and September can be on the verge of hot--75 to 80°. Not sure that's going to happen this year. Very odd.

At least the garden has continue to thrive, and we've been able to tackle of lot of needed honey-do's. Yard work was only part of it. We had to repair stairs, replace the back door, fix the molding around the door that got dry-rot, and work on some really big changes in our church activity. Loads more responsibility, for us mainly focused on family history--otherwise known as genealogy in some parts of the world. I've also been engaged with the grueling work of occupational therapy to retrieve as much normal function in my right hand as I can. The OT says I'm doing well, but for me it seems like it's never going to work right. Sigh. I guess we'll know if it's not all better in the next year.

I am loving the paperback copies of Dragons' Inferno I finally received. Shall soon be marketing them at Farmers Market at the marina. It's so much fun to see how beautiful the books are in real life. I love holding them, riffling the pages, reading the front and back, and admiring the artwork that my cover artist did for me. It's a joy I could've only dreamed about as a child and that I have great delight in seeing become reality in my more mature years.

Blogs aren't as popular as they once were, and I know I have far less traffic here than I used to have. Thank you if you've come here. If you don't mind sharing your experience both with me and with fellow readers, that would be great. 

As it is, because ownership has changed hands, some of the features on Blogger don't work right anymore. I can no longer access all of the gadgets on the right hand side of the blog. That means that I cannot either change or add direct links to other sites. That said, I can put them here, or they are in the tabs in the crossbar above. So you will not see any of my new books as they come out listed on the right hand side of this blog post. But I will put links in the post themselves. 

Enjoy the pictures, and I hope you're enjoying your summer, however warm or cool it may be.

Mr. Lincoln roses

                                                                                 Gorgeous fuchsia buds

Late blooming gladioli

Another fuchsia that shocked us with its

prolific blooming this year.

 June 30, 2021 – – the last day of the month

This is it! My cover reveal for Dragons' Inferno. I am so excited that my cover artist, Steven Novak, did such a good job for me. The e-book is up and ready for pre-order, and will be released on Friday, July 2. Cool day. I had hoped to release it on July 1, but given what's been going on in my life recently, I think July 2 as a miracle. On the other hand, it's also special day. It's mine and my husband's anniversary! We may be getting older, but we haven't lost our commitment to get old together.

                                         

The paperback version is still waiting for the full cover, but it's on its way and after I get it, it shouldn't take more than a few days to get it up, approved, and ready for sale. I will be taking copies with me wherever I go, along with copies of the revised Dragon Unchained, and as soon as the doctor says I can handle it, I will be selling them at the Farmers Market at the harbor in Crescent City, CA. Hop on over and take a look! 

Check out the tabs above. You'll get more information, plus the links to the books there.

Happy reading. 

Susan