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 it prolific blooming this year.

This is it! Click here to see or purchase it on Amazon! 

 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

 June 2020

I am a strong believer that we are sometimes put through tests that are really crazy but which have amazing results at the end. I had surgery the end of May and was pretty darn sure I'd never be able to write again. It involved my right wrist, and I'm right handed. I did everything I could to finish both Dragon Unchained's second version and Dragons' Inferno at the same time. I didn't make it before the surgery took place, but I was right back at the keyboard a couple of days afterwards. The downside was having to type one-handed and to do everything on the computer without using my right hand at all. I have to keep my thumb completely immobilized for the surgery t work.

The diagnosis? Degenerative osteoarthritis, which destroyed all the cartilage between my thumb and my wrist bone. The solution? The surgeon removed the trapezoid bone, constructed a "hammock" which pretty much wired the end of my thumb to my index finger, and time is supposed to take care of filling in the gap with lots of scar tissue. A lot of fun. I've desperately needed my husband's help, and my dad was right there alongside him whenever needed.

I am now almost a month post surgery, and have been moved out of the original splint and into a brace. I'm not sure which is the worst torture, but they are pretty much awful. On the other hand, it's a lot of support and protection. If nothing else, it keeps me from doing something clumsy, which I am very inclined to do, and destroying the thumb by doing something awful to it. I am also doing occupational therapy on both hands, because not only do I have to have the same surgery done on my left hand someday, but for some reason the muscles in my left hand, especially the thumb, have begun to atrophy. I have to rebuild those muscles if I want hope for a good outcome with the second surgery.

I am ever so grateful that my husband took over the garden for me, listened when I told him how important it was for me to get a new computer – – especially before the old one died, which it was probably within weeks of doing – – and understood when I told him he was going to have to take over all the cooking, laundry, basic housework, errands, and shopping. Oh, wait. I think that was called woman's work once upon a time. Yeah, my man's been doing that pretty darn well for a while. We've had a few disagreements when he interprets things differently than I do, but hey folks, we all have to remember that there is more than one way to skin a cat or cook an egg. As much as I would like to be my normal anal retentive self, it was so wonderful to just back off, go back to bed, read/right, and watch Netflix. We don't get permission for that very often in life, and although the downside was the pain, struggling to get a little sleep, and finding ways to address the personal needs no one else can do for me as, it was nice to have someone have my back.

Here's some  of my thriving garden, and me with both a splint and later with the brace. 

My next entry will be my cover reveal for Dragons' Inferno. 

I am so excited! My cover artist does a great job, and I'm so thrilled to finally get cover and manuscript connected.

 May 2020

Isn’t it great when plans you make or things you’ve have on both back and front burners forever just get a life of their own and suddenly happen?

That's where I am right now. If you’ve followed any of my posts here, you know I love to garden. I've struggled for several years now, unfortunately, with my wrists. I can’t do heavy gardening anymore, and I've had to stop crocheting and knitting, which isn't fair. I was halfway through a beautiful cable sweater when I had to set the needles aside. I'm hoping that's one of those things I'll be able to pick back up again once I've healed.

I finally saw and was evaluated by my specialist and am going to have surgery next month. Not looking forward to it, but in the long run I know it will give me a better future. And I will enjoy writing a whole lot more, too! Yahoo! (Until then, it will be hunt and peck one-handed.)

Now this all means that I've been working really hard to catch up on several things. The garden of course, and I have pictures at the bottom of where we began this spring and where we are today. My weight loss plan for improved health: I’ve now lost 60 lbs! 

I'm also going to be working officially with FamilySearch, a program for genealogy that is unmatched anywhere else in the world and it's FREE! Just go look it up. FamilySearch.org. It's fun. Work, but fun.

And this post has the cover reveal for the second edition of Dragon Unchained! 

I hope you love it as much as I do.

Oh, by the way, you have to click on the Fantasy Tab to find it. Send me a note if you have any comments. 

 

Also, stay tuned for the cover reveal for the sequel, Dragons’ Inferno. That will happen in a few weeks. 

My flowers this year:

And in the beginning: small plants

And then they started to grow.

Now they are huge and gorgeous!

Mom left me lots of pots. I finally used them!

A friend gave me a magazine; I learned to make my own planter.

What a gorgeous Iris!

My Tropicana Rose. Huge! Beautiful.

The Immortality Iris buds just keep opening.

This morning's newest flower arrangement. The "brown" flower is an Iris, too. 

April 2020

 

Boy, have we had a lot going on! How about you? People are getting back to work, kids are going back to school—although the school year is almost over. Spring in full swing, and summer is on the horizon. 

My weight loss journey has been phenomenal, and my husband decided to embark on his own weight loss plan. For both of us, on two different diets (if that's what you want to call them), it's more about living healthier, happier, and more productive lives. 

Richard is using the Optivia plan; I have a different program. I have fibromyalgia and belong to a Facebook group that came out of Dr. R. Paul Saint Amand’s fibromyalgia treatment program in Marina del Rey, California. I have hypoglycemia, and although fibromyalgia doesn't have a special diet, people with either hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia (otherwise known as diabetes) and who are overweight do you need a special diet. The group has helped me learn how to "work it" and be successful at it.

For me to feel the best I can under the circumstances I must control my carb intake very tightly. I cannot eat sugar of any kind, which includes honey, molasses, any kind of syrups, and sugar by any other name like glucose, maltodextrin, dextrin, lactose, or fructose. Natural sugars are packed into all of the fruits and vegetables we eat, but the lower glycemic index ones are acceptable for me. I just can't have the processed variety. 

It's a challenge. That means I have to read a lot of labels and cook pretty much everything from scratch. It’s paying off. Richard just started on his plan, and I’m excited to see how it works for him. For me? I’ve lost 50 pounds! It’s been quite a benchmark, and I’m not done yet. Even better, it has made me feel so much better to eat the way I do. 

As for other exciting events? 

Well, our son-in-law got a new puppy. He’s a hound dog, and while I am not a fan of dogs that bay, they are a beautiful dog breed. His name is Emmet. Isn’t he adorable? And the grandson just loves this pooch. Can you tell?

 

Isn't the cute redhead even cuter than the adorable puppy. But the puppy is cute!

Introducing Emmet, the newest member of the family. For now the eyes are blue!

 

Greatest thing of all this month is that I’m back to writing! I have the cover for my second book done in the Dragon Unchained Trilogy, Dragons’ Inferno. It’s so beautiful that I asked my cover artist to redo the cover for Dragon Unchained so that they match. He did a great job. I’ll do a cover reveal with my next entry.

Unchained also needed a facelift. Readers found a few mistakes, and I fixed them, so the new book isn’t an update, it’s a new book, as required by the national rules and regulations of publishing. Not that many changes, so if you’ve bought Unchained, don’t buy a new one; but if you didn’t get it when it first came out, then maybe the cover will tempt you. 

Both books will ready to go by summer.

 

 

 

March 2021

 

This year has flown by so quickly. I’ve managed to do some writing but still struggling with balancing what little time I can get with so many other demands. 

For one thing, arthritis has destroyed my wrists. I need surgery. I love knitting and crocheting, but that and typing are starting to wear on me, and my specialist has sent me for tests out the wazoo. Waiting to make the decision about what’s next.  

Meanwhile, we’ve had to do a bunch of house repairs and our washer died. I really liked the one I picked. Hope it performs as well as they say it does. 

Top of the Line Kenmore. Love the lid, and it has an agitator, which I prefer and which is getting popular again. 

Another trip to one our favorite haunts was in order, so we headed over to Jedediah Smith River and took a few pictures. It still makes us want to pinch ourselves at being able to live here. 

We'd had some storms and the river was high! Beautiful with lingering fog and scattered clouds.

My outside flowers are starting to wake up, but I LOVE what my inside ones have given me. I have two orchids, and both are in full bloom. What a joyful thing to realize that this person, me, who has no idea how to garden or grow things, has managed to meet the needs of dozens of flowers, trees, and bushes and enjoyed how my garden grows. 

White Orchid, small plant and small blossoms.

Purple orchid I rescued from Grocery Outlet. Has she rewarded me. Big plant, huge blossoms.

 

I’ve also learned some new ways to plan meals. So glad for the Covid rest-from-reality time to work on it. I have a very particular, picky diet, so I have to plan and plan and plan for meals. I use the “Paprika” program for accessing my recipes on my devices, and I absolutely adore my Instant Pot pressure cooker. Ever used either of them? I recommend them. It will save you a ton of work, especially if you work during the day and want to come home to either an easy meal to toss in the Instant Pot (and there are other brands that are good, too), or set the Pot to slow cook. Either way it is so great. And no, I don’t work for either Paprika or Instant Pot, I don’t have any financial connection to them, and they haven’t paid me to advertise for them. The picture of my Pot is with a soup of my own I’d created, and it was great.

Yum Yum! Took about 30 minutes start to finish, and we loved it.

 

December 2020

 

It was a hellacious year, wasn’t it? I hated the vast majority of it.

 

BUT.  I also discovered a lot of good from it, and that was a life lesson for me that I want to share. I believe that for every storm cloud there is lifegiving rain—and sunshine just around the corner. I believe that for every bump in the road, there are things to see that we’d miss if we traveled too fast. I believe that when we have to change everything we’re doing, especially for a good reason, that we learn patience, appreciate what we have and those around us, and when disaster does strike, that we learn to both reach out and to accept help when we need it. When I had quiet time, I wrote. As much as I could write. Sometimes it was just in my journal, but sometimes I was working on the sequel to my Unchained Dragon book. The journal was soul lifting.

 We had two new grand-babies born, a boy and a girl, and a new great-niece. So fun! We won’t get to meet them in person in the near future because of travel restrictions and mom-and-dad-fears about Covid, but we love Face-Timing and love all the pictures the parents of our multitude of grandchildren post on Facebook. 

 I focused on losing weight, a proposition that has been undermined a million times by travel, eating out, holidays and special events, etc. I’ve lost 45 lbs and feel so much better!

 We also took the time to take care of ourselves in other ways. We got cataract surgeries done. We gardened—oh, the flowers were gorgeous this year!

Voodoo Fuchsias. So beautiful!

I still haven't figured out what it is, but I love it.

My Immortality Irises finally bloomed.

And I spent time crocheting blankets, hats, and booties for the new granddaughter and the great-niece. I took other gifts to the new grandson when I visited, so he didn’t get a blanket—it was July. He didn’t need a blanket. 

Same outfit, different lighting. This is one of the two sets I made. Proud of my work.

 The puppy didn’t work out. Or maybe, fairly, we didn’t work out for him; but God gave us a wonderful family who took him to a big home on an acre of property, a heap of grandchildren to play with and wear him out, and so much love that he’ll never want for anything. 

Love you, Toby, but you're too much dog for us. LOL.

We got another dog. Her name is Charlotte, and not only has she been a completely different sort of dog, my father is in love with her. He constantly pets her and hugs her and kisses her (and sneaks food to her under the table), telling her over and over that she’s a beautiful baby, a beautiful girl. She loves all of us, but actually attached more to me. Funny. We’ve had a number of dogs in our marriage and most were supposed to be mine and they attached to Richard. This pooch was to replace the dog Richard has always wanted--and she took to me! She's a character and loves to play catch. She'll wear out your arm before you ever wear her out. See, a silver lining in every cloud.

Our new Charlotte. Just about my size.

We had family for Thanksgiving, and we didn’t care what restrictions were out there. The family members were tested and we didn’t have hardly any Covid in our community, so we weren’t worried. And we had a great time. 

We love touring our forests, and thankfully some of the hiking trails were open. We enjoyed them all over again, which is real common for us every time we get the chance to go, but taking our daughter and family with us made it that much more wonderful. Add to that beach time and Thanksgiving dinner, and we had so much fun. 

Most of us at the table

Beautiful shot of the redwood forest

Grandsons are adorable, aren't they?

June 2020

Covid hit. Did it knock you off your feet like it did millions of us around the world? I'd been watching it before it became "the thing" and was shocked that no one seemed that concerned about it. In January, a cute little bride and her brand-new husband were on the British Cruise Ship Diamond Princess that was stranded outside Yokohama, Japan and couldn't come to port because the ship carried passengers and crew with Covid. Poor things were there so long they hardly had food to eat, and she got the plague! Thankfully she and her husband survived the disaster and made it home.
We are high risk in our household, so we took great care. I'm a retired nurse, and a lot of what I saw happening had me upset. We had a go-getter President that some people liked and others didn't, but I didn’t like the way politics got in the way of sensible management of a terrible disease that we didn't yet understand. Anyone else agree? I'll keep my opinions to myself, because the point of my blog is to share my books with my readership, but I have no doubt that many of you already know what I believe and why. 
For me, writing was dumped into a corner when we all got sent home to “hunker down”. I know some of my fellow writers went to town on it, but I have two special problems. Some of you may have the same challenges in your life, so I'll be honest. I have ADD and have to have quiet and minimal interruption to both write well and receive the inspiration that gives me something to write. My husband, who has ADHD, was going nuts with being off work and trapped at home. That meant he was driving ME nuts. LOL. And it meant that I had little opportunity to write and chose not to get too upset about it. 
Beyond that, my writing group shut down. We live in an area that is small and quaint, and while I know that all of my fellow writers in the group are capable online, they don't like it, so we didn't even work that way. Not having much feedback meant I could write all day and all night and still not have anyone to run my work past.
Now add to that my husband's insistence on doing what thousands and thousands of people all across the country were doing because of boredom  and I had a fine pickle to face. He wanted a puppy. Really? Awe, come on. So, we got a puppy. And he's a handful. A cute little stink, but he’s a handful.
In July I have a grand baby due, so I flew to my daughter’s home to help. That was a great way to let my husband take care of the puppy he just dreamed about and me not having to get clawed, bit, chewed on, jumped on and frustrated to death. In the long run, it wasn't a good decision, but such is life. 

 

At least we got the fence replaced that a small tornado took down and my flowerbeds started taking off! I’d been wanting to get that underway for some time. It just meant traveling everywhere and doing everything with a mask on, avoiding people as much as possible, and using a ton of alcohol rub. Sound familiar? I bet so!