Forgive me, Garrett Morris, for borrowing (and corrupting) your famous SNL tagline, but 2013 has been bery, bery good to me. As I look back at my first blog post for the year, my goals for 2013 included pitching some story ideas to Pennsylvania Magazine , querying Circle of Influence , finishing the second Zoe Chambers book, finishing the short story I was working on, and making my dream of traveling out west a reality. How did it turn out? I only pitched one story to Pennsylvania Magazine , but it was accepted. My article “Restoring the Past, One Buggy at a Time” appeared in the September/October issue. As for querying Circle of Influence … If you’ve followed this blog (or if you’ve kept tabs on me on Facebook or Twitter) you already know I signed a three-book contract with Henery Press in early September. Circle of Influence , the first in the Zoe Chambers mystery series, is set for release in late March 2014! (Available for pre-order now!) The second in the seri...

Yes, it’s that time again. Time to make my New Year’s resolutions. In other words, time to set myself up for failure yet again. In looking back to the goals I set for last year , I did fair. I’ll give myself a B-. I bought a used treadmill and was really good about using it up for most of the year. But then I got into this heavy duty rewrite thing and all my treadmill time got converted into writing time. But I kept up with the yoga and the weights until about a month ago. For some reason, when winter sets in, I can’t seem to drag my weary butt out of bed when it’s still pitch black outside. And the only time I can get a good workout in is before breakfast. The treadmill stuff comes later in the day for me. But the yoga or weights have to be done first thing in the A.M. It’s just the way it is for me. So I always slack off around mid-November. However, for most of 2011, I did really well with the fitness stuff. As for writing every day, I did well with that, too. Whil...

We visited Meadowcroft last weekend. This is one of my favorite places on earth, and I have a long history with them, from designing and helping to make the Meadowcroft Quilt that hangs in their visitor center to writing an article about them for Pennsylvania Magazine a few years back. This time we were there for a weekend devoted to Native American history. Especially interesting was this guy who demonstrated fire starting. First there was smoke. And then there was more smoke. And finally... FIRE!

I’m sorry to say I didn’t even last a week at the Write First Challenge. This just isn’t the time for me to not check email early. As I mentioned before, I’m taking a rather intense online course on querying given by C.J. Lyons. I’ve learned so much already that my head is spinning. The sheer number of messages produced by the participants has increased the mail in my inbox by about a thousand percent. When I let it get ahead of me, it takes hours to catch up. Yeah, I know. Excuses, excuses. The fact is I learned I’m not an early morning writer. I’ve trained my muse to be at the office by 9AM. Asking him to arrive earlier just doesn’t work. Or maybe it’s the fact the caffeine doesn’t kick in until then. Whatever. I’m going to come up with a different set of writing guidelines that work for me. But probably not this week. This week I’ll be writing, but my nonfiction efforts will be taking priority. Hey, writing and getting paid for it is a GOOD thing. I’ll be covering two different even...

There is a general assumption that if you work from home, you have plenty of spare time. If you are one of those who makes such assumptions, let me just say…STOP IT. Here is a sampling of what’s on my agenda for this week. Today: Post reminders about Thursday’s Pennwriters meeting to the area Yahoo group (done). Post critiques to online critique group (done). Write a blog post (in progress). Laundry (in progress). Read the latest class from an online workshop I’m taking. Return phone call to my new Avon District Sales Manager. Call the dentist office to make appointments for me and Mom. Start work on an article for Sisters in Crime. Work on a proposed article for Pennsylvania Magazine . Work on Chapter Two of new manuscript. Help Hubby with job search online. Tuesday: Anything that didn’t get done yesterday. Get blood work done. More laundry. Inventory, invoice, and package Avon delivery (This will take almost half the day). Read chapters for two critique partners. Get to work on long-...

It’s difficult to comprehend that I’ve spent three years on this manuscript. I’ve never taken that long to write a single novel before. Of course, there were a couple of interruptions in the process, including Mom’s multiple hip surgeries and extensive recovery, and coordinating the 2009 Pennwriters Conference. But on Friday, the status of my manuscript changed from WIP (work in progress) to “ Under Submission .” I’ve sent the fruits of my labor out into the world. And now the waiting begins. On Saturday, with no revisions and no edits on my to-do list, I cleaned house. Egads, it needed it! Camping, writing, and conferencing had taken up all my time for the last three or four weeks. Hubby and I could leave notes to each other in the dust. Sunday, I took a day off. Crashed on the couch with the newspaper. Went on a “hot date” with Hubby to Cabela’s followed by a belated anniversary dinner out. I’m not used to being lazy. It was kind of fun. But a little of that stuff goes a long way. N...

It’s the last day of 2009 (good riddance!) and apparently, I’m supposed to come up with some goals for 2010. The whole “goal” thing seems to be coming at me from all corners this week. Everywhere I turn, I’m being told to SET GOALS. I should warn you…I’m in a menopausal funk, and my cat has been throwing up all over the house all day. She doesn’t act sick. Basically, I think she’s adding her own touches to the décor. Bleh . As a result, I’m bordering on crabby, so my goals may not be as high-minded and optimistic as I’d like. But here goes… 1. I would like to stay in closer touch with my friends this year. I think I may have used this one last year. Not sure I did all that well in fulfilling it. I’ll try to do better. 2. As for writing, I want to have my current manuscript’s second draft completed by March and a polished version ready by May. On one hand, that seems like plenty of time. On the other hand, OH MY GOD , I need to spend more time writing. 3. Spend more time writing. 4. Aft...