Category: Published Books

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!

Tax Season over tomorrow!!!

Well, another tax season is coming to a close. As I sit here in my office putting the finishing touches on yet another procrastinators return I wonder “why do I do this every year?” I guess because I love accounting. There is something about working with numbers and solving problems that just pulls me in. I do wish the IRS would get a handle on how they want to handle Accountants. They are constantly changing things and every year my tax books get thicker and thicker. It can get a little hectic around the office.

I guess that’s why I’m enjoying writing so much. I get to lose myself in another world for a little while every day. Well almost every day. Sometimes I can’t wait to get lost in another person’s life. I will be sitting at my desk figuring out plots and what will happen next. It’s so sad the life and mind (or lack of) of a writer. We are always churning out a story from everything we see. I can see someone on the street that is intriguing and BAM! a story comes to mind. I know, I have a problem, but if it publishes and sells books…

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday evening, or what’s left of it. Tomorrow it is back to school for my son. He has been out on Fall break. Man that clock is going to be terrible sounding at six in the morning. Oh well, life goes on. Good writing and My God Bless you tonight!

It’s Friday! Thank Heavens!

If you haven’t looked at your calendar, it’s Friday! I always feel a since of relief when Friday rolls around. Although Friday in an accounting office can be pretty hectic with payroll. After payroll is done though it gets pretty laid back.

On Friday it is a day to summarize the week and get ready for the weekend. I start figuring out what I will take care of on Saturday. Top of the list is house cleaning (and mine is desperately in need) and then there is my writing. Saturday is the day I do most of my writing. I wait until I have everything done, then I sit down and relax with my laptop and my current manuscript. I get giddy on Friday waiting on that special time when I can make my books come alive in my mind.

Think about the feeling you get when you look at the clock and it’s 4:30 on Friday. Your heart flips a little as you realize the weekend is only thirty long minutes away. You start watching the seconds count down. (My grandmother always said that makes time go slower to watch the clock or more precisely she said “A watch pot never boils.” Smiling at memory) Well I started when I got up this morning watching and waiting.

So have a wonderful Friday and remember the weekend starts in a couple of hours. As always good writing and may God bless you!

Publishing in today’s world…

It has been an interesting ride since publishing my first novel. I had always said I would never do social media. Well, guess again. I now tweet, blog, and do most of all the social media networks except Facebook. I do have a Facebook page for one of my books, but it is handled by my editor. Don’t get me wrong, Facebook is great, but just a little too social.

When I first decided to publish my books I played with the idea of a traditional publisher. I spoke with a couple and they said well send in your manuscript and we will let you know. Well if you have ever done this it is a long wait for the let you know part. After doing a lot of research on traditional publishing, I decided against that route. As I researched I discovered a lot of things I did not care for.

One of the things that bothered me was the royalties. They wanted to pay me just a fraction of what I would be charging for the book. One publisher said we can offer you 5% royalties on all books sold and the highest offer was 25%. I sat there doing the math and decided that was not happening. When you work hard on your novel and it is like part of you, why would you give a publisher 75%.

Well, then I discovered self publishing. I smiled at the thought of the tables turning in the other direction. With self publishing I had control of my own work. I could control where it went and how. I have not regretted that decision yet. I have been approached by several publishers wanting to get my already published books in their market. One even offered to take my books to new heights for the nice round figure of $3000. After I put my jaw back in place, I nicely told him thanks but no thanks. He wanted to put them where they already were at.

I know with traditional publishing you get the whole media, advertising, and all with it. But in reality, they wanted to put my books where they already were. Now you do have some wonderful Indie publishing companies that are not out to drain you of your profits. I may decide to go with one of those for some of my future work, just to see where it leads. Who knows.

This is not a post to discourage or persuade anyone from anything. I just wanted to give my experiences. As always, good writing and God Bless!

 

When Love is Rekindled…

Have you ever had a love in your life that you gave up? Did you always wonder what would have happened if you would have given that love a chance? What if there was more to the story? What if you had a good reason to step away from that love? Well, your heart will never be the same….

Check out an excerpt from the 2nd book in the “Flames of Love” Series, my current writing project, “Rekindled Flames”, it may have you thinking about that love that you gave up.

“As we lay our dear friend to rest, let’s reflect on his life for a moment.” As Lydia listened to the pastor start on her father’s great life, she lowered her head. It was hard to believe he was actually gone. As she tried to get her head straight, she felt as if someone was burning a hole in her from their stare. She’d been getting a lot of weird looks since she had come home for the funeral.

She finally decided to look up and as she gazed across the top of the grave, she locked eyes with the man that had haunted her dreams for the last two years. She knew she must have gasped because her mother reached over and grasped her hand. She looked quickly around at her mother. She was looking at Randy too. Her mother and father were the only two people on earth who knew her secret. They were well aware how fragile it was to her.

She decided that she needed to face the reality of the fact that he was at her father’s funeral. Didn’t she halfway expected it? He had gotten to know her father as their friendship blossomed. Her mind drifted back about four years and she had to close her eyes to hold back the pain. It still hurt badly.

What? Did you think I was going to tell all? Can’t do that, not yet. For one reason it is not yet finished and another reason is that it would give away the story. I am excited to continue this series. It was a special one for me. I hope you enjoyed the small excerpt. If things work out well, it will be finished soon, that is if I don’t have writers block.

As always, have a wonderful Tuesday and good writing. May God bless and keep you.

 

 

A Child’s Wish Becomes a Woman’s Dream…

As a child you wish upon a star. “I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish, I wish tonight.” Have you ever thought about those childhood wishes. Well I was reminded this weekend of some of my wishes as a child.

The first wish as a child was to be a concert pianist, which I studied music for eight years in order to make that wish come true. I wished on every star that I would play at Carnegie Hall and study at a top music school. I did get offered the chance at a full music scholarship, but I was engaged at the time and I turned it down. Thought my parent’s would kill me. By the way, I never married that man. I live my music dreams through my child. He has self taught himself to play drums, electric guitar and bass. My husband sings in the praise band at Church and plays guitar. So proud of both of them.

The second wish was to be a rancher and own as many horses as I could get. I even took riding lessons. Well, this too came to pass me on. I still love horses as anyone who reads my books soon find out. I also have horses everywhere in my house, so I am surrounded by one of my childhood dreams. If I ever make it big with my writing I plan to own horses, so that is still in the cards for my life, God willing.

The third wish was to be a writer. My grandfather used to hold me in his lap and tell me that he wanted me to be a journalist. He said I could spin a story out of anything. Well, that started me writing many of my manuscripts back when I was a teenager. I gave up on that dream when I started college and found out that I was enamored by accounting.

Well the Lord works in mysterious ways. It has taken almost twenty five years from the first manuscript to decide to publish, but it has been a wish upon a star that evolved into a dream come true. Through my writing I live the wishes and dreams of my childhood. It can be the channel to your dreams. As a writer I can own horses and be a concert pianist. Through writing I can be who ever I want to be and so can you. As a reader you can get lost in another world and live another life. But remember to come back to reality because God gave you the life you live and it can be wonderful, you just have to live it.

So, as I close this post I leave with you the wishes of a child that turned to the dream of a woman. Step out of your comfort zone and live. That first step is hard, but you can do it. Have a wonderful Monday and a blessed day!