It’s Monday and I turn 44 today!

Yeah I know, most women don’t reveal their age, but I’m just happy to have another birthday every year. It’s crazy that I’m over 40. Me! I don’t feel 44. Most people say I don’t act 44 either. Well, last week while I had sickness, I felt over 40, but now after all the antibiotics and steroids I’m back to feeling young again.

Age to me is a frame of mind. If you constantly act your age, you will end up feeling your age. I try to enjoy every aspect of life. I try not to let everything get to me. My friends are constantly saying how do you stay so calm all the time. Well, letting things drag me down and keep me in depression doesn’t accomplish anything but developing an ulcer. Don’t get me wrong, I have regrets in my life. I have those moments of what if… I put a lot of those what if’s in my writing and go on with my life.

So, if you are in the dumps because you’re over 40, well get up off the ground you have threw yourself on and dust yourself off. Start living life to the fullest. You’re not promised tomorrow and the Good Lord gave you this time to live as He would have you live. Enjoy your family, play with your kids, decorate a tree, hug a friend, kiss your lover, tell someone you love them and live, by goodness live. Start today, right now. It will change your life.

That’s why I finally decided to publish my books and continue writing. It gives me immense pleasure. I get to live the life of my characters and enjoy what they enjoy. If only for a moment.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

Locations. How do you decide?

One of my be issues when writing a book is location. Where does the story take place? Will it be a mythical place, a well known town, a town out of my head (That’s scary :)) or will it be a mega city? I try to incorporate Georgia in most of my work. I’m a Georgia girl so I’m proud of my state. My newest novel, The Winner is Love” is based in Atlanta, but the characters go to Colorado and discuss Beverly Hills and Montana.

How do you decide? Sometimes I just never name the town, but describe it in words, not names. Sometimes I even say for example the town is south of a big city. Some books I’ve read have designated towns that are well known. In reading their books I get to know the town and want to visit it. It’s funny how if a book or movie highlights a certain town how the visitors flock in to see where it was filmed or written about.

It is important to designate an area. Some may say why is that? Well you can’t write about heavy snow if the characters are based in the south. Also, beaches don’t exist in the middle of a landlocked state. If you want a snowy region, then stick with the plan. It makes it more realistic. I read a book once that I was so confused when I finished because the author had at the beginning mentioned the cold regional weather, then ended the book in a warm region. The characters stayed in the same town. Really!

So as you write you manuscript, think about the location. Make sure you stay true to the region in regards to weather, dialect and details. It can make all the difference in the way it works out.

As always good writing and May God Bless You!

By the way, if you haven’t looked at the calendar it’s Friday and the last day of November! Tomorrow we’re officially in the month of December and the holiday season. Yikes! Only 24 shopping days left. I’d better get busy shopping online.

“The Winner is Love” coming soon!

Well, the book may not be totally finished for publishing, but the front cover is completed. This is the first of the two holiday romances that I have coming out. I am so excited about this new Christmas romance. The editing and finalizing has been harrowing, but it’s almost ready to unwrap, pardon the pun.

This is a romance about an Accountant from Atlanta that wins the “Win A Weekend With A Star” contest. She did not enter it, her best friend entered her. The star happens to be the hottest star out at the moment and she is a little leary spending a weekend in the Colorado mountains with him. What happens when a blizzard hits the first night and the power goes out? No heat, no cell reception and no lights, how will they cope? Will it be a weekend to remember? Check it out to see how they cope and what comes later.

I will keep you guys updated on the release date. Hope you like the sneak peek at the new cover. I’m real excited about it.

As always good writing and May God bless you!

Feels like winter in the south.

Well we are feeling winter on our heels. Can’t believe a hurricane is in the area. Crazy weather. The wind is brisk here in Georgia and definitely a lot cooler.

If you read my blog then you’ll know yesterday was my church’s big Fall Festival. Boy that was a treat. We had a great turn out, but the cold weather was crazy. The wind was whipping around us and we couldn’t keep things on our tables. We could have filmed a commercial for duct tape. I kept a roll around my wrist. I had everything duct taped down.

We did a bubble station with several different kinds and shapes of bubble wands. The kids only had to load the bubbles and hold them in the air. The wind would send bubbles flying everywhere. It was a definite blast.

Well, getting the fireplace ready this week for the coming winter. Expecting a possible first frost in the morning. Burr!!!

To all my blog friends in Sandy’s path, we are praying for your safety and Sandy’s quick retreat.

As always, good writing and May God Bless you!

Goodreads Giveaways!

I have set up a giveaway of 1 signed paperback of each of my five books on my author page at Goodreads. Just follow this link to the “Moonbeam & Roses” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36077-moonbeam-roses. Follow this link to the “Tender Flames” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36081-tender-flames. Follow this link to the “Ghost Lover” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36078-ghost-lover. Follow this link to the “With All My Heart…” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36079-with-all-my-heart. Follow this link to the “A Love Never Lost” giveaway http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/36010-a-love-never-lost.

It has been a great week. The trees are turning beautiful colors and the air is starting to turn crisp. This Sunday is our Church Fall Festival, which being the children’s minister I’m in charge of the activities. I’m excited. Wednesday is Halloween and time for our annual “Trunk or Treat” at the Church. Trying to figure out what I’ll dress as. I’ve been a bouquet of balloons, a cowgirl, a pumpkin, a little girl and so on. SO I have to figure out something cool.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. As always good writing and may God bless you!

Three cup Monday!

Have you ever had a day where you just wanted go just climb back in the bed and cover up your head? You know you have, so go ahead and raise your hand. This was one of those days. I dragged myself out of the bed at 6am. And dragged is the best way to describe it. I started with a early cup of coffee, drinking it almost in three gulps.

My son’s bus usually runs at 6:42 on the dot, well not today. She ran at 6:40 and guess who was not out there. Yes, my son. We were opening the garage door as she pulled off from the driveway. I stood there going, “This is not the morning for this to happen.” We walked back into the house, both of us properly upset. My husband of course being a man said, “You should have been out there earlier.” Well after the look me and my son gave him, he did not make any more comments on that.

So, usually after my son gets on the bus I have a leisurely breakfast and then I get on my laptop to blog. Well, this morning I had to get a quick shower and drive my son to school. I’m not a morning person, so sitting in school traffic both ways was not my morning plan.

Well, I walked back in the door and grabbed my coffee cup. I have got to try to get with the program. Oh, and my son has decided to try out for basketball today, which means I have got to get him an appointment for a physical today! Like that’s gonna happen.

Well, hope your day is going better than mine. But I shouldn’t be whining. At least I woke up this morning and was able to get out of bed. SO many people can’t.

Have a great day and May God Bless you.

Bragging Rights…

I usually don’t post directly about my family, but I was reminded last night again how lucky I am to have a wonderful son. I hear a lot of parents complaining about their teenagers. I’m not saying my son is perfect, but he’s close (in my eyes).

His life started out pretty rough. He was a twin, but his twin never developed past a blip on the sonogram screen. We were lucky they were in separate membranes. Well, that started the doctors putting me off my feet and on steroids to build him up. He was my miracle baby because he beat the odds and won.

He is an only child because I could not have any more children. Sometimes it bothers me that he doesn’t have someone other than me and his dad to entertain him, but he’s a trooper. He loves to fish and hunt. He participates in the 4-H Shotgun team and went to State this year. He did awesome shooting 22 out of 25. He is a country boy all the way.

He is also the Video Ministry leader at our Church. He is only 13, but he’s so mature and responsible for his age. He had two adults that work under him. It makes me so proud. He also works in the nursery. All the babies love him.

Last night I was tired so I got in a bubble bath with my Kindle for some relaxation. I was going to load the dishwasher when I got out, but my wonderful son took care of it while I was relaxing with a good book. He does things for me all the time to help out. Now, I’m not saying he doesn’t go “Teenager Attitude” some, but not much. I just give him the look and he knows it’s time to calm down.

So, parents, look at your child and be proud. They are our future, so train them up to be great.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You! Oh, and IT’S FRIDAY!

Levels of Love…

As I write this I ponder the different levels of love I’ve had in my 43 years of life. I am by no means an expert. This is just my outtake on the subject, so take it as you may.

Here goes:

Baby Love: I feel like as a baby you feel love, not positive because I do not remember being a baby, but I do remember how my son was as a baby. He would brighten up when I would walk in the room, so I feel like he was feeling love for me. So…

Child’s love: As a child you have such a reserve for real love. You have not been challenged by the things of the real world so you can be open to love with your whole heart. Children love unconditionally, well most of the time.

First crush love: You know the love I am talking about. Usually you experience it in your early teens or earlier for some. It is that feeling when you look across the aisle in class and lock eyes with a cute boy. You instantly think you are in love and you will just die if he looks back. Yeah, you remember that don’t you. Ok, you can quit laughing now.

Idol love: Well as a teenager usually you develop huge love issues for movie stars, musicians or even someone older in your life. It is the kind of thing that causes you to post pictures all over your walls and spend your whole allowance on anything with their picture on it. Yeah, been there done that…

First young love: Well this is the one that usually hurts and makes you think you will never love again. You are usually dating by the time this one hits and you think that nobody else can ever take their place. Well, you have not quite got to the real love stage, so you soon learn there is more out there. (Was engaged for 4 years to my first young love. Boy am I glad that went away.)

First real love: This is the love that comes and your heart just is taken away. It no longer belongs to you. Sadly, sometimes this is the love that we mistake for some other feeling and we don’t act on it as our heart tells us to. This is usually the love that if you don’t keep, you end up keeping it with you forever in your dreams. If you don’t realize it is real and you let it go, you spend a lot of time later in life thinking about that lost love.

LOVE: Sometimes when we think we feel love we do things that are not in character for us. We may even marry someone thinking that it is love only to find out after the stars are out of our eyes that we were wrong. That is really sad, but it happens everyday. The divorce rate is prime example. A scary percentage of people are in marriages that started with misguided love.

Obsessive love: This is the sick kind of love where one person thinks that they can’t live without the other person who 9 out of ten times does not return their love. (I had a stalker that did that to me. I went out with him one time and Bam! he thought he was madly in love with me. He served 18 months for stalking me. I was only 17 and it was a scary time.)

Forever Love: This is the love we are strive for. It is the kind that when the person walks in the room, you almost swoon from the heart palpitations. Hopefully you all have felt this kind of love. Maybe it is with the person you are married to, hopefully. It is the kind of love that stops everything around you. When you lock eyes you know and it scares you sometimes the depths it can go. Now that is great love.

As I said before, this is just my take. There are so many more levels of love. It is endless. Hope you have Forever Love. It is always a great thing to have. Hopefully it is with your spouse or spouse to be, if you gave up on Forever Love and went in another direction, well try not to dwell on it too much, because it will drive you insane. Just my opinion.

As always, great writing and May God Bless!

Good Wednesday Morning!

It is a beautiful Georgia morning. The air has a slight crispness to it. As I sit here with the windows open, the cool breeze comes softly across me. I sip my coffee and have my laptop in my lap, just enjoying the morning. I can hear the birds chirping in the trees as if agreeing with me.

Of course I know that I need to get up and get ready for my day, but I just put it to the back of my mind. Life is so short and we run around all willy nilly not stopping to smell the roses or feel the breeze on our face. Why? If we miss life’s precious moments what have we accomplished?

I made a decision the first of the year to start stopping and smelling the roses. Sometimes it gets me behind on projects but I know the fact is I am getting older and missing out on many things. I have spent the last twenty odd years building my accounting practice and working constantly. I have missed out on so much that the sweet side of life has to offer. Well I have been doing more for myself.

One of the main things is publishing my books and writing in my spare time. It has been so refreshing and revealing to me. I did not realize how much I had missed. I actually feel better physically and mentally. It is as if a weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Well, try it yourself. Just stop and take a deep, cleansing breath. See if you don’t feel a little better. As always good writing and May God Bless You!

Crazy things that happen to Accountants!

Well Paula Acton one of my wonderful blog friends suggested it would be funny to list the top 10 funniest deduction requests. So I decided to tell some of the funny things that have happened over the years.

1: I had a lady put down as a dependent a child named “Fluffy Ball” complete with a birthdate but no Social. I just sat and looked at her like “Are you kidding me?”

2: I had a woman ask me if they could claim her husband’s mistress as a dependent. (He was sitting beside her at the time)

3: I have had so many marriage proposals I have quit counting. (Usually these come after I get them a huge refund or straighten out their messes) I always laugh and tell them to get a grip!

4: I had a guy that handed me his list of deductions for his Lawn Care business. It included his ski boat, new pistol and his new hunting rifle. I politely handed it back to him and told him to start over…

5: I had one guy ask me to move into his office because the phone calls and visits were not helping. He had a mess!

6: I am listed in several of my clients wills as the person to find out where everything is.

7: I had one wife that did not like me because her husband kept telling me he loved me. He got nice returns every year and he didn’t realize I was just doing my job.

8: I have one client that calls me his second wife and she agrees with him. I asked him one day if I was on the insurance policy and he just laughed and winked. (Yikes)

9: One client got angry when he owed tax and stormed out of the office. He returned ten minutes later when his wife brought him back to apologize and pay me a big tip for being an idiot. (Her words not mine, but I was thinking it!)

10: I had a lady ask if I could tell from the tax papers if her husband was having an affair. (No!)

11: For some reason most of my clients think I have a degree in Psychology. I did take it in college, but not my major or minor. They will call and want to get advice. I guess I am just too easy to talk to.

12: The best one was when this lady called and asked if I would handle their tax return. I said no problem, we still had a couple of weeks left in the season. When she arrived she asked me to hold the door for her. I was curious so I held the door as she proceeded to bring in ten large plastic bins full of paperwork. I turned to my assistant and smiled. I charge by the hour to separate tax paperwork over the normal stuff. She then proceeded to tell me they had not filed in 8 years. I had to sit down. The bins had everything from birth certificates, prom pictures and bullets!!!

So how many of you are rushing out now to get that Accounting degree. It is totally hilarious how crazy these people can be. I love it. The marriage proposals bother my husband as some of these men are wealthy, handsome men. I just smile and tell him it keeps him on his toes.

Now you know why I have to lose myself in writing. I have to get it off my brain. Some of it can cause nightmares!!!

SO as always, good writing and God Bless!